1.
Czech Republic
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The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, is a nation state in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west, Austria to the south, Slovakia to the east and Poland to the northeast. The Czech Republic covers an area of 78,866 square kilometres with mostly temperate continental climate and it is a unitary parliamentary republic, has 10.5 million inhabitants and the capital and largest city is Prague, with over 1.2 million residents. The Czech Republic includes the territories of Bohemia, Moravia. The Czech state was formed in the late 9th century as the Duchy of Bohemia under the Great Moravian Empire, after the fall of the Empire in 907, the centre of power transferred from Moravia to Bohemia under the Přemyslid dynasty. In 1002, the duchy was formally recognized as part of the Holy Roman Empire, becoming the Kingdom of Bohemia in 1198 and reaching its greatest territorial extent in the 14th century. Following the Battle of Mohács in 1526, the whole Crown of Bohemia was gradually integrated into the Habsburg Monarchy alongside the Archduchy of Austria, the Protestant Bohemian Revolt against the Catholic Habsburgs led to the Thirty Years War. After the Battle of the White Mountain, the Habsburgs consolidated their rule, reimposed Roman Catholicism, the Czech part of Czechoslovakia was occupied by Germany in World War II, and was liberated in 1945 by the armies of the Soviet Union and the United States. The Czech country lost the majority of its German-speaking inhabitants after they were expelled following the war, the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia won the 1946 elections. Following the 1948 coup détat, Czechoslovakia became a one-party communist state under Soviet influence, in 1968, increasing dissatisfaction with the regime culminated in a reform movement known as the Prague Spring, which ended in a Soviet-led invasion. Czechoslovakia remained occupied until the 1989 Velvet Revolution, when the communist regime collapsed, on 6 March 1990, the Czech Socialistic Republic was renamed to the Czech Republic. On 1 January 1993, Czechoslovakia peacefully dissolved, with its constituent states becoming the independent states of the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic. The Czech Republic joined NATO in 1999 and the European Union in 2004, it is a member of the United Nations, the OECD, the OSCE, and it is a developed country with an advanced, high income economy and high living standards. The UNDP ranks the country 14th in inequality-adjusted human development, the Czech Republic also ranks as the 6th most peaceful country, while achieving strong performance in democratic governance. It has the lowest unemployment rate in the European Union, the traditional English name Bohemia derives from Latin Boiohaemum, which means home of the Boii. The current name comes from the endonym Čech, spelled Cžech until the reform in 1842. The name comes from the Slavic tribe and, according to legend, their leader Čech, the etymology of the word Čech can be traced back to the Proto-Slavic root *čel-, meaning member of the people, kinsman, thus making it cognate to the Czech word člověk. The country has traditionally divided into three lands, namely Bohemia in the west, Moravia in the southeast, and Czech Silesia in the northeast. Following the dissolution of Czechoslovakia at the end of 1992, the Czech part of the former nation found itself without a common single-word geographical name in English, the name Czechia /ˈtʃɛkiə/ was recommended by the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs
2.
Districts of the Czech Republic
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In 1960, Czechoslovakia was re-divided into districts often without regard to traditional division and local relationships. In the area of the Czech Republic, there were 75 districts, a reform in effect since January 2003 replaced the districts with 204 Municipalities with Extended Competence (obce s rozšířenou působností, also obce III. Stupně - third-level municipalities, unofficially also called little districts which took over most of the administration of the district authorities. Some of these are divided between Municipalities with Commissioned Local Authority. The old districts still exist as units and remain as seats of some of the offices, especially courts, police. In 2007 the borders of the districts were slightly adjusted and 119 municipalities are now within different districts, regions of the Czech Republic ISO 3166-2, CZ http, //www. czso. cz/lexikon/mos2003. nsf/index
3.
Metuje
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The Metuje is a river in north-eastern Czech Republic. It is 78.18 kilometres long and is a tributary of the Labe River. The Metuje flows through several towns, including Teplice nad Metují, Náchod, the mouth of the Metuje is located in Jaroměř. One of its tributaries called Bystra, comes from Kudowa-Zdrój in Poland, information at the Water Management Research Institute
4.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
5.
Central European Summer Time
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It corresponds to UTC + two hours. Other names which have been applied to Central European Summer Time are Middle European Summer Time, Central European Daylight Saving Time, and Bravo Time. Since 1996 European Summer Time has been observed between 1,00 UTC on the last Sunday of March and 1,00 on the last Sunday of October, the following countries and territories use Central European Summer Time. In addition, Libya used CEST during the years 1951–1959, 1982–1989, 1996–1997, European Summer Time Other countries and territories in UTC+2 time zone Other names of UTC+2 time zone
6.
German language
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German is a West Germanic language that is mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, South Tyrol, the German-speaking Community of Belgium and it is also one of the three official languages of Luxembourg. Major languages which are most similar to German include other members of the West Germanic language branch, such as Afrikaans, Dutch, English, Luxembourgish and it is the second most widely spoken Germanic language, after English. One of the languages of the world, German is the first language of about 95 million people worldwide. The German speaking countries are ranked fifth in terms of publication of new books. German derives most of its vocabulary from the Germanic branch of the Indo-European language family, a portion of German words are derived from Latin and Greek, and fewer are borrowed from French and English. With slightly different standardized variants, German is a pluricentric language, like English, German is also notable for its broad spectrum of dialects, with many unique varieties existing in Europe and also other parts of the world. The history of the German language begins with the High German consonant shift during the migration period, when Martin Luther translated the Bible, he based his translation primarily on the standard bureaucratic language used in Saxony, also known as Meißner Deutsch. Copies of Luthers Bible featured a long list of glosses for each region that translated words which were unknown in the region into the regional dialect. Roman Catholics initially rejected Luthers translation, and tried to create their own Catholic standard of the German language – the difference in relation to Protestant German was minimal. It was not until the middle of the 18th century that a widely accepted standard was created, until about 1800, standard German was mainly a written language, in urban northern Germany, the local Low German dialects were spoken. Standard German, which was different, was often learned as a foreign language with uncertain pronunciation. Northern German pronunciation was considered the standard in prescriptive pronunciation guides though, however, German was the language of commerce and government in the Habsburg Empire, which encompassed a large area of Central and Eastern Europe. Until the mid-19th century, it was essentially the language of townspeople throughout most of the Empire and its use indicated that the speaker was a merchant or someone from an urban area, regardless of nationality. Some cities, such as Prague and Budapest, were gradually Germanized in the years after their incorporation into the Habsburg domain, others, such as Pozsony, were originally settled during the Habsburg period, and were primarily German at that time. Prague, Budapest and Bratislava as well as cities like Zagreb, the most comprehensive guide to the vocabulary of the German language is found within the Deutsches Wörterbuch. This dictionary was created by the Brothers Grimm and is composed of 16 parts which were issued between 1852 and 1860, in 1872, grammatical and orthographic rules first appeared in the Duden Handbook. In 1901, the 2nd Orthographical Conference ended with a standardization of the German language in its written form
7.
Kuks
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Kuks is a village in the Czech Republic, Hradec Králové Region, Trutnov District. Its main feature is a spa building with famous sculptures by Matthias Braun. On the slope of the Elbe in Kuks, there used to be mineral springs, in 1692–96, Count Franz Anton von Sporck, the owner of the county, directed three of them at one place and built a simple spa. The interiors and exteriors were decorated with Baroque sculptures by Matthias Braun, the German Count Georg Ludwig Albrecht von Rantzau stayed in Kuks together with the Duke and Duchess of Brunswick in 1726. In his memoirs, he calls this place the most pleasant, Špork died in 1738 and his heirs were not interested in maintaining the spa. A flood in 1740 destroyed most of the infrastructure and put the spa out of business, the Hospital, Church, and Pharmacy buildings have been preserved, along with historic furnishings, and are considered masterpieces of the Baroque. Brauns exterior sculptures also survive, but have been fast eroding due to the action of water, from rainfall, for this reason, the Kuks Forest Sculptures were listed in the 2000 World Monuments Watch by the World Monuments Fund. Between 1867 and 1918, Kuks was part of the Austrian monarchy, located in the Dvůr Králové nad Labem district and it was one of the 94 Bezirkshauptmannschaften in Bohemia. A post-office was opened in 1869, in 1938, it was occupied by the Nazi army as one of the municipalities in Sudetenland. The German-speaking population was expelled in 1945 and replaced by Czech settlers, the railroad Pardubice-Jaroměř-Trutnov, which goes through Kuks, crossed the border four times within about 40 kilometres. A scanned image of the relevant page from the 1944 German rail timetable can be viewed here, more Baroque statues from Matthias Braun, so-called Bethlehem, are in a nearby village of Žireč. Other places of interest in the area are in Dvůr Králové Zoo), mémoires du comte de Rantzow, vol. First translation ever published by Renate Ricarda Timmermann, Die Memoiren des Grafen von Rantzau, vol
8.
Trutnov
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Trutnov is a city in the Hradec Králové Region of the Czech Republic. It has a population of 31,239 and lies in the Krkonoše in the valley of the Úpa River, Trutnov is located on a 12th-century Slavic settlement named after the Úpa River, the first written mention of this settlement is from 1260. In order to develop the countryside, King Wenceslaus I of Bohemia granted German settlers the right to establish a town at the pre-existing settlement. The first mention of the German name Trautenau, from which the modern name Trutnov is derived, is from a document of King Wenceslaus II in 1301, since the end of the 14th century, Trutnov was a dowry town for the Bohemian queen. Its stout defenses repelled all enemies except for a capture by Jan Žižka during the Hussite Wars in 1421 and it also was the site of the Battle of Trautenau in 1866 during the Austro-Prussian War. Trutnov is the birthplace of Samuel Fritz, Jesuit missionary who was the first to produce a map of the Amazon River in 1707. For centuries, Trutnov relied on farming for its economy, in 1823, Johannes Faltis constructed a linen manufactury and a cotton weaving mill. Textiles remain an important part of the citys economy, germans were the ethnic majority in the town until their expulsion in 1945. Since 1990, Trutnov has hosted the annual Trutnov Open Air Music Festival, since 1999 also annual Obscene Extreme Festival
9.
Broumov
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Broumov is a town in the Czech Republic, in the Náchod District of the Hradec Králové Region, near the border with Poland. The municipality is located on the small Stěnava River in the northeast of Bohemia and it is the centre of the Broumovská vrchovina area of the Central Sudetes range, along with the adjacent Adršpach-Teplice Rocks a protected area popular with mountain climbers. Broumov was first mentioned as a town in 1256, the Přemyslid king Ottokar I of Bohemia had granted the remote area around Police to the Benedictine monks of Břevnov Abbey in Prague, who began to colonize the lands in 1213. After a fire in 1306 the provostry was largely rebuilt and extended as a complex, including the Saint Lawrence Church. The medieval church of Panna Marie, however, survived the fire, and is the oldest extant wooden church in the Czech Republic, dating back to the 12th century, the building is still in use. The town was the centre of the abbeys manors, its privileges were confirmed by King Charles IV in 1348. The Broumov monastery remained strongly tied to Břevnov Abbey, from where the monks fled during the Hussite Wars in 1420, from 1703 until 1810 Legnickie Pole Abbey in Silesia was a filial monastery of Broumov. With Bohemia, the became part of the Austrian Empire in 1804. From 1868 it was the seat of Bezirk Braunau, one of 94 districts in the Austrian Kingdom of Bohemia, comprising the towns of Broumov. After the Austro-Prussian War of 1866, numerous citizens emigrated to Latin America, especially to Chile, upon World War I and the dissolution of Austria-Hungary, Broumov with its predominantly German population became part of the new state of Czechoslovakia according to the 1919 Treaty of Saint-Germain. After the Munich Agreement, Broumov was occupied by Nazi Germany in October 1938, the Holy See officially separated the Benedictine monasteries of Broumov and Břevnov the next year. After two monks had been deported by the Nazis to Dachau concentration camp during World War II, pursuant to the Beneš decrees, the German-speaking population was expelled, including the abbeys monks, who re-established the Braunau in Rohr Abbey in Bavaria. The Broumov monastery was abolished in 1950, after the Velvet Revolution of 1989. Alois Jirásek, writer, attended school at Broumov Abbey, jiří Petr, agroscientist, attended school at Broumov. Broumov is twinned with, Forchheim, Germany Nowa Ruda, Poland Media related to Broumov at Wikimedia Commons Official website Broumov region Broumov airport
10.
John of Bohemia
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John the Blind was the Count of Luxembourg from 1309 and King of Bohemia from 1310 and titular King of Poland. He was the eldest son of the Holy Roman Emperor Henry VII and he is well known for having died while fighting in the Battle of Crécy at age 50, after having been blind for a decade. Raised in Paris, John was French by education, but deeply involved in the politics of Germany, in 1310 his father arranged the marriage of the 14-year-old to Elisabeth from the Přemyslid dynasty, sister of the deceased King Wenceslaus III of Bohemia. The Castle at Prague was uninhabitable so John made residence in one of the houses on the Old Town Square and he thereby became one of the seven prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire and – in succession of Wenceslaus III – claimant to the Polish and Hungarian throne. His attempts to follow his father as King of the Romans failed with the election of Louis IV of Wittelsbach in 1314. He later would support Louis in his rivalry with Frederick the Fair of Habsburg, culminating in the 1322 Battle of Mühldorf, like his predecessor Henry, he was disliked by much of the Czech nobility. John was considered to be a king and gave up the administration of Bohemia after a while. He parted ways with his wife and left the Czech country to be ruled by the barons while spending time in Luxembourg and his travels took him to Silesia, Poland, Lithuania, Tyrol, Northern Italy and Papal Avignon. A rival of King Władysław I the Elbow-high to the Polish crown and he also made several Silesian dukes swear an oath of allegiance to him. In 1335 in Congress of Visegrád, Władysławs successor King Casimir III the Great of Poland paid a significant amount of money in exchange for Johns giving up his claim to the Polish throne. John lost his eyesight at age 39 or 40 from ophthalmia in 1336, a treatment by the famous physician Guy de Chauliac had no positive effects. At the outbreak of the Hundred Years War in 1337 he allied with King Philip VI of France and was governor of Languedoc from 30 November 1338 to November 1340. At the Battle of Crécy in 1346 John controlled Phillips advanced guard along with controlling the large contingents of Charles II of Alençon and Louis I, John was killed at age 50 while fighting against the English during the battle. His men said, Sir, we cannot tell, we think he be fighting. Then he said, Sirs, ye are my men, my companions and friends in this journey, I require you bring me so far forward, the legend, which first appeared in 1614, has been proved to be false. John was succeeded as King of Bohemia by his eldest son Charles, in Luxembourg, he was succeeded by his son by his second wife, Wenceslaus. The manner of his death gave rise to the obsolescent idiom, to fight like King John of Bohemia, one of John of Luxembourg’s first steps as king was the re-establishment of authority and to secure peace within the country. Although the aristocracy was encouraged to raise armies when peace within the country was threatened, on the other hand, the king’s right to appoint a foreign official to office was abolished
11.
Thirty Years' War
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The Thirty Years War was a series of wars in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648. It was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, as well as the deadliest European religious war, resulting in eight million casualties. Initially a war between various Protestant and Catholic states in the fragmented Holy Roman Empire, it developed into a more general conflict involving most of the great powers. These states employed relatively large mercenary armies, and the war became less about religion, in the 17th century, religious beliefs and practices were a much larger influence on an average European than they are today. The war began when the newly elected Holy Roman Emperor, Ferdinand II, tried to impose uniformity on his domains. The northern Protestant states, angered by the violation of their rights to choose that had granted in the Peace of Augsburg. Ferdinand II was a devout Roman Catholic and relatively intolerant when compared to his predecessor and his policies were considered strongly pro-Catholic. They ousted the Habsburgs and elected Frederick V, Elector of the Rhenish Palatinate as their monarch, Frederick took the offer without the support of the union. The southern states, mainly Roman Catholic, were angered by this, led by Bavaria, these states formed the Catholic League to expel Frederick in support of the Emperor. The Empire soon crushed this rebellion in the Battle of White Mountain. After the atrocities committed in Bohemia, Saxony finally gave its support to the union, Spain, wishing to finally crush the Dutch rebels in the Netherlands and the Dutch Republic, intervened under the pretext of helping its dynastic Habsburg ally, Austria. No longer able to tolerate the encirclement of two major Habsburg powers on its borders, Catholic France entered the coalition on the side of the Protestants in order to counter the Habsburgs. Both mercenaries and soldiers in fighting armies traditionally looted or extorted tribute to get operating funds, the war also bankrupted most of the combatant powers. The Thirty Years War ended with the treaties of Osnabrück and Münster, the war altered the previous political order of European powers. Lutherans living in a prince-bishopric could continue to practice their faith, Lutherans could keep the territory they had taken from the Catholic Church since the Peace of Passau in 1552. Those prince-bishops who had converted to Lutheranism were required to give up their territories and this added a third major faith to the region, but its position was not recognized in any way by the Augsburg terms, to which only Catholicism and Lutheranism were parties. The Dutch revolted against Spanish domination during the 1560s, leading to a war of independence that led to a truce only in 1609. This dynastic concern overtook religious ones and led to Catholic Frances participation on the otherwise Protestant side of the war, Sweden and Denmark-Norway were interested in gaining control over northern German states bordering the Baltic Sea
12.
Frederick V of the Palatinate
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Frederick V was, as the son and heir of Frederick IV, Elector Palatine, the Elector of the Rhine Palatinate in the Holy Roman Empire upon his fathers death in 1610. This defeat was followed by an Imperial invasion of Fredericks Palatinate lands and he was forced to flee to Holland in 1622 and he lived the rest of his life in exile with his wife and family at the Hague. Frederick was born at the Jagdschloss Deinschwang near Amberg in the Upper Palatinate and he was the son of Frederick IV and of Louise Juliana of Orange-Nassau, the daughter of William the Silent and Charlotte de Bourbon-Montpensier. An intellectual, a mystic, and a Calvinist, he succeeded his father as Prince-Elector of the Rhenish Palatinate in 1610 and he was responsible for the construction of the famous Hortus Palatinus gardens in Heidelberg. In 1618 the largely Protestant estates of Bohemia rebelled against their Catholic King Ferdinand, Frederick was asked to assume the crown of Bohemia. He accepted the offer and was crowned on 4 November 1619, however, James opposed the takeover of Bohemia from the Habsburgs and Fredericks allies in the Protestant Union failed to support him militarily by signing the Treaty of Ulm. His brief reign as King of Bohemia ended with his defeat at the Battle of White Mountain on 8 November 1620 – a year and four days after his coronation. After this battle, the Imperial forces invaded Fredericks Palatine lands and he had to flee to his uncle Prince Maurice, an Imperial edict formally deprived him of the Palatinate in 1623. He lived the rest of his life in exile with his wife and family, mostly at The Hague and his eldest surviving son Charles I Louis, Elector Palatine returned to power in 1648 with the end of the war. His daughter Princess Sophia was eventually named heiress presumptive to the British throne, Frederick was born on 26 August 1596 at the Jagdschloss Deinschwang near Amberg in the Upper Palatinate. His father, Frederick IV was the ruler of Electoral Palatinate, his mother was Louise Juliana of Nassau, Frederick was related to almost all of the ruling families of the Holy Roman Empire and a number of diplomats and dignitaries attended his baptism at Amberg on 6 October 1596. In 1604, at his mothers urging, he was sent to Sedan to live in the court of his uncle Henri de La Tour dAuvergne, during his time at Sedan, Frederick was a frequent visitor to the court of Henry IV of France. His tutor was Calvinist theologian Daniel Tilenus, a professor of theology at the Academy of Sedan and these views are likely to have shaped Fredericks future policies. On 19 September 1610, Fredericks father, Frederick IV, died from extravagant living, under the terms of the Golden Bull of 1356, Fredericks closest male relative would serve as his guardian and as regent of the Palatinate until Frederick reached the age of majority. Frederick V welcomed John to Heidelberg, whereas Wolfgang William was denied entry and this led to a heated dispute among the princes of the Holy Roman Empire. In 1613, Matthias, Holy Roman Emperor intervened in the dispute, the dispute ended in 1614, when Frederick attained his eighteenth birthday. However, much bad blood among the houses was caused by this dispute, Frederick IVs marriage policy had been designed to solidify the Palatinates position within the Reformed camp in Europe. Frederick IV had hoped that his daughter Katharina would marry the future Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden, in keeping with his fathers policy, Frederick V sought a marriage to Elizabeth Stuart, daughter of James I of England and VI of Scotland
13.
Battle of White Mountain
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The Battle of White Mountain was an important battle in the early stages of the Thirty Years War. It was fought on 8 November 1620, the site is now part of the city of Prague. The battle marked the end of the Bohemian period of the Thirty Years War and its aftermath drastically changed the religious landscape of the Czech lands after two centuries of Protestant dominance. Roman Catholicism retained majority in the Czech lands until the late 20th century, Ferdinand saw Protestantism as inimical to the Empire, and wanted to impose absolutist rule on Bohemia while forcefully encouraging conversion to the Roman Catholic faith. Particularly galling to Protestants were perceived violations of Emperor Rudolf IIs 1609 Letter of Majesty and this incident, known as the Second Defenestration of Prague, triggered the Bohemian Revolt. In November 1619, Elector Palatine Frederick V, who many of the rebels was a Calvinist, was chosen as King of Bohemia by the Bohemian Electorate. In 1620, now established as Emperor, Ferdinand II set out to conquer Bohemia. Tillys army enjoyed the advantage of including two of the most successful leaders in European history - Tilly himself and the future General Wallenstein. Tillys force was made up of two groups, Imperial troops commanded by Charles Bonaventure de Longueval, Count of Bucquoy. All of the armies of the day employed numerous mercenaries, including, by some definitions, serving with the Catholic League as an official observer was the future father of modern philosophy, René Descartes. After conquering most of western Bohemia, the Imperial army made for Prague, the Bohemians attempted to block them by setting up defensive positions, which the Imperial army simply bypassed. Force-marching his men, Christian of Anhalt managed to get ahead of the Imperial army just before Prague and he thus gained an advantageous position on the White Mountain, actually a low plateau, but had little time to set up defensive works. Enthusiasm for joining battle was low on both sides, on November 8 a small Imperial force was sent to probe the Protestant flank. To their surprise, the Bohemians retreated at their advance, Tilly quickly sent in reinforcements, and the Bohemian flank began to crumble. Anhalt tried to retrieve the situation by sending infantry and cavalry led by his son Christian II. The cavalry charged into the Imperial infantry, causing significant casualties, the Bohemian infantry, who were only now approaching the Imperial army, saw the cavalry retreating, at which they fired one volley at extreme range before retreating themselves. A small group of Imperial cavalry began circling the Protestant forces, with the Bohemian army already demoralized, company after company began retreating, most without having actually entered the battle. The Battle of White Mountain was more a skirmish than a full-fledged battle, the Bohemian army was no match for the Emperor Ferdinands troops
14.
Albrecht von Wallenstein
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He became the supreme commander of the armies of the Habsburg Monarchy and a major figure of the Thirty Years War. Several Protestant victories over Catholic armies induced Ferdinand to recall Wallenstein, dissatisfied with the Emperors treatment of him, Wallenstein considered allying with the Protestants. However, he was assassinated at Eger/Cheb in Bohemia by one of the officials, Walter Devereux. His mother Margaretha died in 1593, his father Wilhelm in 1595 and they had raised him bilingually – the father spoke German while his mother preferred Czech – yet Wallenstein in his childhood had a better command of Czech than of German. The religious affiliation of both his parents was Lutheranism and Utraquism, after their deaths, Albrecht for two years lived with his maternal uncle Heinrich Slavata of Chlum and Košumberk, a member of the Unity of the Brethren, and adopted his uncles religious affiliation. His uncle sent him to the school at Košumberk Castle in Eastern Bohemia. In 1597, Albrecht was sent to the Protestant Latin school at Goldberg in Silesia, while German became Wallensteins everyday language, he is said to have continued to curse in Czech. In February 1600, Albrecht left Altdorf and travelled around the Holy Roman Empire, France and Italy, by this time, Wallenstein was fluent in German, Czech, Latin and Italian, was able to understand Spanish, and spoke some French. Wallenstein then joined the army of the Emperor Rudolf II in Hungary, in 1604, his sister Kateřina Anna married the leader of the Moravian Protestants, Karel the Older of Zierotin. He then studied at the University of Olomouc and his contact with the Olomouc Jesuits was partly responsible for his conversion to Catholicism in the same year. Wallenstein was later made a member of the Order of the Golden Fleece, in 1609, Wallenstein married Czech Lucretia of Víckov, née Nekšová, of Landek, rich widow of Arkleb of Víckov who owned the towns of Vsetín, Lukov, Rymice and Všetuly/Holešov. She was three years older than Wallenstein, and he inherited her estates after her death in 1614 and he later endowed a monastery in his dead wifes name and had her reburied there. In 1623, Wallenstein married Isabella Katharina, daughter of Count Harrach and she bore him two children, a son who died in infancy and a surviving daughter. Examples of the couples correspondence survive, the two marriages made him one of the wealthiest men in the Bohemian Crown. The Thirty Years War began in 1618 when the estates of Bohemia rebelled against Ferdinand of Styria and elected Frederick V, Elector Palatine, Wallenstein associated himself with the cause of the Catholics and the Habsburg dynasty. Sympathizing with the Bohemians, he used his position as commander of the troops of the Moravian estates to escape with the Moravian treasure-chest to Vienna. There, however, the authorities told him that the money would go back to the Moravians — but he had shown his loyalty to Ferdinand, the future Emperor. Wallenstein recovered his lands and after the Battle of White Mountain he secured the estates belonging to his mothers family and he grouped his new possessions into a territory called Friedland in northern Bohemia
15.
Cheb
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Cheb, is a city in the Karlovy Vary Region of the Czech Republic, with about 33,000 inhabitants. It is situated on the river Ohře, at the foot of one of the spurs of the Smrčiny, from 1850 it was given the twin official names of Eger and Cheb. From 1938 to 1945 it was one of the municipalities in Sudetenland, the twin towns of Cheb are Hof in Germany, Rheden in the Netherlands, Nizhny Tagil in Russia and Bắc Ninh in Vietnam. The earliest settlement excavated in the area was a Slavic stronghold at what is now called Jánský Vrch, north of the town-centre. In 807 the district of todays Cheb was included in the new margraviate of East Franconia, which belonged at first to the Babenbergs, depold II of Vohburg built the castle about which the town then grew. In 1179 town status was achieved, in 1265 it was taken by the king Ottokar II of Bohemia, who retained it for eleven years. Several imperial privileges, however, continued to be enjoyed by the town until 1849 and it suffered severely during the Hussite Wars, during the Swedish invasion in 1631 and 1647, and in the War of the Austrian Succession in 1742. In 1634, during the Thirty Years War, Albrecht von Wallenstein was killed here, married his daughter and fathered two sons in the city. From the Middle Ages until 1945, the lands around the town were known by the German name Egerland, in 1723, Cheb became a free royal town. The northern quarter of the town was devastated by a fire in 1809. Until 1851, the renowned spa-town of Františkovy Lázně belonged to the Magistrate of Cheb, the carbonated mineral water coming from these springs was delivered to spa visitors residing in Cheb. Geographers of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy proclaimed the nearby 939m high Tillen as the centre of Europe. This claim was documented on a plaque mounted at the summit. Austrian National Socialism and hence German National Socialism can trace its origins to Cheb when Franko Stein transferred a small newspaper from Vienna to Cheb in 1897, there he organized a German workers congress called the Deutschvölkischer Arbeitertag, which published the 25-point program. The terms of the 1919 Treaty of St. Germain triggered civil unrest between the Sudeten German population and the new Czechoslovak administration, just as in the rest of the Sudetenland, as elsewhere, protests in the town – now officially named Cheb – were eventually suppressed by force. On 3 October 1938, the town was visited by Adolf Hitler, shortly afterwards German troops marched into the Sudetenland, from 1938 until 1945 the town was annexed to Germany. The administrative seat of the Regierungspräsident lay in Karlsbad, however, Cheb was liberated by the 97th Infantry Division of the US Army on 25 April,1945. After the end of World War II the region was returned to Czechoslovakia, under the Beneš decrees of the same year, the German-speaking majority of the town was dispossessed of their homes and property, and was forcibly expelled from the country
16.
Ottavio Piccolomini
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Ottavio Piccolomini was an Italian nobleman whose military career included service as a Spanish general and then as a field marshal of the Holy Roman Empire. Piccolomini was born in Florence and received an education as a young boy. He became a tercio pikeman for the Kingdom of Spain at the age of sixteen,1618 saw the outbreak of the Thirty Years War. Piccolomini was appointed captain of a regiment in Bohemia, sent by the Grand Duke of Tuscany to the emperors army. He fought with distinction under Count Charles Bucquoy at the Battle of White Mountain in 1620, in 1624 he served for a short time again in the Spanish army and then as lieutenant-colonel of Gottfried Heinrich Graf zu Pappenheims cuirassier regiment in the war with the Milanese. In 1627 he returned to the Imperial service as colonel and captain of the guard of Albrecht von Wallenstein. In this capacity Piccolomini fell into disgrace for attempting to extort money from people of Stargard in Pomerania, but his dedication and contrition saw him returned to the rank of Colonel of horse and foot. In 1629 his younger brother, Ascanio Piccolomini, was appointed Archbishop of Siena which secured the older Piccolomini brother a position of influence in the diplomatic world. Italians were at the centre of diplomacy in Europe and this was more so the case for a family that had seen two of its members elected to the papal throne. Wallenstein made use of his subordinates capacity for negotiation and intrigue, during the Mantuan War, Piccolomini took a prominent part in the dual role of subtle diplomat and plundering soldier of fortune. In 1630 came the invasion of Germany by Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden, Piccolomini was captured and held hostage at Ferrara for helping in unauthorised negotiations for peace with the Swedish Empire. Despite his support for Wallenstein, he was not included in the list of promotions when the Duke resumed action against Saxony, Brandenburg, Sweden, thereafter, Piccolomini served as a colonel under Feldmarschallleutnant Heinrich Holk, a Danish officer, in the battle of Lützen and other operations. Nineteenth century authors were so impressed by Piccolominis role in the battle of Lützen that they ascribed to him the command of the entire Imperial left wing. Piccolominis efforts at Lützen were recognised by his contemporaries too – on reading the report of the battle. In the campaign of 1633 Piccolomini was appointed commander of a detachment posted at Königgratz assigned to bar the advance from Silesia into Bohemia. In May, Wallenstein entered Silesia with the army in an attempt to compel the electors of Brandenburg. Piccolomini was with Wallenstein but disapproved of his policy and joined in the conspiracy to oust the Duke. Nevertheless, the conspiracy developed into a plot to assassinate the Duke, Piccolominis reward was his marshals baton,100,000 gulden and the estate of Náchod in the Orlické mountains in East Bohemia
17.
Peter von Biron
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Peter von Biron was the last Duke of Courland from 1769 to 1795. Peter was born in Jelgava as the son of Ernst Johann von Biron, future Duke of Courland, when 16 years old, he was forced to follow his family into the Siberian exile. In 1769, Peter was given the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia by his father and he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1771. In 1775, he founded Academia Petrina in Jelgava hoping that the school would grow into a university and he ceded the government in the Duchy and then its territory to the Russian Empire in 1795, and received in return a high appanage. This helped him to buy and refurbish for his purposes a palace in Berlins street of Unter den Linden, in 1785, he bought the park and palace in Friedrichsfelde, which he rebuilt in luxurious beauty. In April 1786, he purchased the Duchy of Sagan from the Bohemian Lobkovic family, in 1795, Russia determined the further fate of Courland when with its allies it began the third division of Poland. Given a nice recommendation by Russia, Duke Peter von Biron gave up his rights to Russia, with the signing of the final document on 28 March 1795, the Duchy of Courland ceased to exist. Five years later, Peter died in Gellenau, Peter married, Princess Caroline of Waldeck and Pyrmont in 1765, divorced in 1772 Princess Eudoxia Borisovna Yusopova in 1774, divorced in 1778 Countess Dorothea von Medem in 1779. They had six children, of two died in infancy. The remaining four were, Princess Wilhelmine, Duchess of Sagan, on Peters death, it was she who inherited the duchy of Sagan in Silesia, Princess Johanna Katharina, married Francesco Ravaschieri Fieschi Squarciafico Pinelli Pignatelli y Aymerich, Duke of Acerenza. In 1806, she inherited the Kurland-Palais in Prague and on her mothers death inherited the Herrschaft of Löbichau in Altenburgischen, Princess Dorothea, married Edmond de Talleyrand-Périgord, 2nd duke of Talleyrand and 1st duke of Dino in Calabria. A Polish nobleman, Alexander Batowski, was her biological father, on Peters death she inherited the Kurland-Palais in Berlin and the Herrschaft of Deutsch Wartenberg, on her half-sister Paulines death in 1845 she also inherited the Duchy of Sagan. In, Stopami Dějin Náchodska, Nachod 1997 Alois Jirasek, Na dvoře vévodském, Historický Obraz
18.
Don Giovanni
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Don Giovanni is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It is based on the legends of Don Juan, a fictional libertine and it was premiered by the Prague Italian opera at the National Theater, now called the Estates Theatre, on 29 October 1787. Da Pontes libretto was billed as a dramma giocoso, a designation of its time that denotes a mixing of serious. Mozart entered the work into his catalogue as an opera buffa, although sometimes classified as comic, it blends comedy, melodrama and supernatural elements. A staple of the operatic repertoire, Don Giovanni for the five seasons 2011/12 through 2015/16 was ninth on the Operabase list of the most-performed operas worldwide. It has also proved a fruitful subject for writers and philosophers, the opera was commissioned as a result of the overwhelming success of Mozarts trip to Prague in January and February 1787. The subject matter may have chosen in consideration of the long history of Don Juan operas in Prague. For Bertati, the setting was Villena, Spain, whereas Da Pontes libretto only specifies a city in Spain, the score was completed on 28 or 29 October 1787 after Da Ponte was recalled to Vienna to work on another opera. Reports about the completion of the overture conflict, some say it was completed the day before the premiere. More likely it was completed the day before, in light of the fact that Mozart recorded the completion of the opera on 28 October. The score calls for double woodwinds, two horns, two trumpets, three trombones, timpani, basso continuo for the recitatives, and the string section. The composer also specified occasional special musical effects, in act 2, Giovanni is seen to play the mandolin, accompanied by pizzicato strings. In the same act, two of the Commendatores interventions are accompanied by a chorale of oboes, clarinets, bassoons. The instrumentation and vocal writing are very reminiscent of Mozarts treatment of the voice of Neptune in Idomeneo, the opera was first performed on 29 October 1787 in Prague under its full title of Il Dissoluto Punito ossia il Don Giovanni – Dramma giocoso in due atti. The work was received, as was often true of Mozarts work in Prague. The Prager Oberpostamtzeitung reported, Connoisseurs and musicians say that Prague has never heard the like, the Provincialnachrichten of Vienna reported, Herr Mozart conducted in person and was welcomed joyously and jubilantly by the numerous gathering. Mozart also supervised the Vienna premiere of the work, which place on 7 May 1788. These cuts are very seldom performed in theatres or recordings, the operas final ensemble was generally omitted until the early 20th century, a tradition that apparently began very early on
19.
Princess Wilhelmine, Duchess of Sagan
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Katharina Friederike Wilhelmine Benigna, Princess of Courland, Duchess of Sagan was a German noble from the ruling family of Courland and Semigallia and a sovereign Duchess of Sagan. Wilhelmine is mainly known for her relationship with Klemens Metternich, a statesman of the Austrian Empire, french transcription of her name is Wilhelmine Catherine Frédérique Biron, Czech Kateřina Frederika Vilhelmína princezna Kuronská. Among the Czechs she is known as kněžna Kateřina Zaháňská, Wilhelmine was born to Peter von Biron, the last Duke of Courland, and his third wife Anna Charlotte Dorothea von Medem. Wilhelmine spent her earliest childhood in Mitau, in 1795 the Duke was forced to cede his Duchy to the Russian Empire, and the family moved to the Duchy of Sagan in Silesia, which had been acquired in 1786. Among other properties bought by her father during the 1780s was County Náchod in Bohemia, Wilhelmine, who inherited both Sagan and Náchod, selected this castle as her summer residence. The young duchess was very beautiful, intelligent, eloquent and educated in philosophy and she fell in love with Swedish general Gustav Armfelt, her mothers lover and her tutor. The secret relationship with an older and married Armfelt resulted in the birth of an illegitimate daughter named Adelaide Gustava Aspasia. The delivery was traumatic, and, due to an incompetent midwife, Wilhelmine gave up her child to one of Armfelts relatives in Sweden and never saw her again. Wilhelmine greatly regretted this decision as time went on, the marriage did not last and ended in divorce in 1805. Wilhelmine spent the rest of her moving between Vienna, Prague, Ratibořice and Sagan. She also undertook journeys to Italy, England and France and her second marriage with prince Vasily Troubetzkoy, which lasted from 1805 to 1806, also ended in divorce. In Vienna, she set up a salon attended by the highest nobility, an attractive woman, she attracted many aristocratic lovers. She had a short-lived and turbulent relationship during the spring of 1810 with Alfred I, Prince of Windisch-Grätz, although Wilhelmine first met Prince Klemens Wenzel von Metternich in 1801, their love affair did not start until the spring of 1813. The passion between the two is documented by over 600 letters written by Metternich that were discovered in 1949 by Marie Ulrichová in Plasy Cloister. These letters also describe the details of the political situation of the day. Modern historians speculate that Wilhelmine, who hated Napoleon, was the one who pushed Metternich away from a cautious pro-French position, the negotiations in 1813 that resulted in an anti-Napoleonic coalition between Prussia, Austria and Russia were held in one of Wilhelmines homes, Ratibořice Castle. During the Congress of Vienna, the relationship ended, as Wilhelmine didnt like playing the role of an unacknowledged mistress, because of the impossibility of having any more children, she became a foster parent to many young girls. From 1819 until 1828, Wihelmine was married to Prince Karl Rudolf von der Schulenburg and this marriage also ended in divorce
20.
Klemens von Metternich
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One of his first tasks was to engineer a détente with France that included the marriage of Napoleon to the Austrian archduchess Marie Louise. For his service to the Austrian Empire he was given the title of Prince in October 1813, under his guidance, the Metternich system of international congresses continued for another decade as Austria aligned herself with Russia and, to a lesser extent, Prussia. This marked the point of Austrias diplomatic importance, and thereafter Metternich slowly slipped into the periphery of international diplomacy. At home, Metternich held the post of Chancellor of State from 1821 until 1848, after brief exile in London, Brighton, and Brussels that lasted until 1851, he returned to the Viennese court, this time to offer only advice to Ferdinands successor, Franz Josef. Having outlived his generation of politicians, Metternich died at the age of 86 in 1859, born into the House of Metternich in 1773, the son of a diplomat, he was named after his godfather, Clement-Wenceslas, Archbishop of Trier. Metternich received an education at the universities of Strasbourg and Mainz. He was of help during the coronation of Francis II in 1792, after a brief trip to England, Metternich was named as the Austrian ambassador to the Netherlands, a short-lived post, since the country was brought under French control the next year. He married his first wife, Eleonore von Kaunitz, in 1795, despite having numerous affairs, he was devastated by her death in 1825. He would later remarry, wedding Baroness Antoinette Leykam in 1827 and, after her death in 1829 and she would predecease him by five years. Before taking office as Foreign Minister, Metternich held numerous posts, including ambassadorial roles in the Kingdom of Saxony. One of Metternichs sons, Richard von Metternich, was also a successful diplomat, a traditional conservative, Metternich was keen to maintain the balance of power, in particular by resisting Russian territorial ambitions in Central Europe and lands belonging to the Ottoman Empire. He disliked liberalism and worked to prevent the breakup of the Austrian empire, for example, by crushing nationalist revolts in Austrian north Italy, at home, he pursued a similar policy, using censorship and a wide ranging spy network to suppress unrest. Metternich has been praised and heavily criticised for the policies he pursued. His supporters point out that he presided over the Age of Metternich and his qualities as a diplomat are commended, some noting that his achievements were considerable in light of the weakness of his negotiating position. His decision to oppose Russian imperialism is seen as a good one and his detractors describe him as a boor who stuck to ill-thought-out, conservative principles out of vanity and a sense of infallibility. Other historians have argued that he had far less power than this view suggests and he was named in honour of Prince Clemens Wenceslaus of Saxony, the archbishop-elector of Trier and the past employer of his father. He was the eldest son and had one older sister, at the time of his birth the family possessed a ruined keep at Beilstein, a castle at Winneberg, an estate west of Koblenz, and another in Königswart, Bohemia, won during the 17th century. At this time Metternichs father, described as a boring babbler, Metternichs education was handled by his mother, heavily influenced by their proximity to France, for many years Metternich considered himself able to communicate better in French than German
21.
Charles Vane, 3rd Marquess of Londonderry
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Charles William Vane, 3rd Marquess of Londonderry KG GCB GCH PC, born Charles William Stewart and raised to the peerage as Baron Stewart in 1814, was a British soldier, politician and nobleman. Charles Stewart was educated at Eton and was commissioned into the British army in 1794 and he saw active service in Flanders and Ireland before being elected a member of the Irish House of Commons. In 1803 he was aide-de-camp to King George III and four later became Under-Secretary of State for War. He fought in the Peninsula War under both Sir John Moore and Sir Arthur Wellesley, in 1810 Stewart was appointed Envoy Extraordinary to the Prussian Court in Berlin and remained in that position until end of the war in 1814. In 1815 he was appointed British Ambassador to Vienna, and was at the Congress of Vienna with his half brother Lord Castlereagh, Lord Stewart succeeded his half-brother as 3rd Marquess of Londonderry in 1822. The following year he was created Earl Vane and Viscount Seaham, from 1823 he was Governor of County Londonderry and was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Durham in 1842. He was made a Knight of the Garter in 1853, born in Dublin, Charles Stewart was the only son of Robert Stewart, 1st Marquess of Londonderry, by his second wife Lady Frances, daughter of Charles Pratt, 1st Earl Camden. Robert Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh, was his half-brother, Charles Stewart was educated at Eton, and at the age of 16 was commissioned into the British Army as a lieutenant. He saw service in Flanders in 1794, and was lieutenant colonel of the 5th Royal Irish Dragoons by the time he helped put down the Irish Rebellion of 1798. Two years later he was elected to the Irish House of Commons as Tory representative for Thomastown, County Kilkenny and he sat for the latter constituency until the Act of Union in 1801, and then represented Londonderry in the British House of Commons until 1814. By the time of the Great Irish Famine in the 1840s and he owned land across Ulster in addition to property in Britain. In 1803 Stewart was appointed aide-de-camp to King George III, and four later became Under-Secretary of State for War. During the Corunna Campaign of 1808–1809 he commanded a brigade of cavalry and he received the thanks of Parliament in 1810, and on 20 November 1813 was made Colonel of the 25th Light Dragoons, becoming a Knight of the Bath that same year. Until the end of the war he was Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Berlin, the recipient of numerous foreign honours, Stewart was also, in 1814, ennobled as Baron Stewart, of Stewarts Court and Ballylawn in the County of Donegal. That same year he received degrees from Oxford and Cambridge, was admitted to the Privy Council. He was appointed GCH in 1816 and made colonel of the 10th Regiment of Dragoons on 3 February 1820. His first wife was Lady Catherine Bligh, daughter of the 3rd Earl of Darnley and she died during the night of 10–11 February 1812, of fever following a minor operation, while her husband was on active service in the Peninsula. Lord Stewart married his second wife Lady Frances Anne Vane-Tempest, daughter and heiress of Sir Henry Vane-Tempest, on 3 April 1819 at her mothers house on Bruton Street, Mayfair
22.
Alexander I of Russia
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Alexander I reigned as Emperor of Russia from 23 March 1801 to 1 December 1825. He was the son of Paul I and Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg, Alexander was the first Russian King of Poland, reigning from 1815 to 1825, as well as the first Russian Grand Duke of Finland. He was sometimes called Alexander the Blessed and he was born in Saint Petersburg to Grand Duke Paul Petrovich, later Emperor Paul I, and succeeded to the throne after his father was murdered. He ruled Russia during the period of the Napoleonic Wars. As prince and emperor, Alexander often used liberal rhetoric, in the first years of his reign, he initiated some minor social reforms and major, liberal educational reforms, such as building more universities. He promised constitutional reforms and a desperately needed reform of serfdom in Russia, Alexander appointed Mikhail Speransky, the son of a village priest, as one of his closest advisors. The Collegia was abolished and replaced by the The State Council, plans were also made to set up a parliament and sign a constitution. In foreign policy, he changed Russias position relative to France four times between 1804 and 1812 among neutrality, opposition, and alliance and he fought a small-scale naval war against Britain between 1807 and 1812. He and Napoleon could never agree, especially about Poland, the tsars greatest triumph came in 1812 as Napoleons invasion of Russia proved a total disaster for the French. As part of the coalition against Napoleon he gained some spoils in Finland and Poland. He formed the Holy Alliance to suppress revolutionary movements in Europe that he saw as threats to legitimate Christian monarchs. He helped Austrias Klemens von Metternich in suppressing all national and liberal movements, in the second half of his reign he was increasingly arbitrary, reactionary and fearful of plots against him, he ended many earlier reforms. He purged schools of teachers, as education became more religiously oriented as well as politically conservative. Speransky was replaced as advisor with the artillery inspector Aleksey Arakcheyev. Alexander died of typhus in December 1825 while on a trip to southern Russia and he left no children as heirs and both of his brothers wanted the other to become emperor. After a period of confusion that included the failed Decembrist revolt of liberal army officers, he was succeeded by his younger brother. Alexander and his younger brother Constantine were raised by their grandmother, some sources allege that she planned to remove her son Paul I from the succession altogether. From the free-thinking atmosphere of the court of Catherine and his Swiss tutor, Frédéric-César de La Harpe, but from his military governor, Nikolay Saltykov, he imbibed the traditions of Russian autocracy
23.
Congress of Vienna
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The objective of the Congress was to provide a long-term peace plan for Europe by settling critical issues arising from the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. The goal was not simply to restore old boundaries but to resize the main powers so they could balance each other off, the leaders were conservatives with little use for republicanism or revolution, both of which threatened to upset the status quo in Europe. France lost all its recent conquests, while Prussia, Austria and Russia made major territorial gains, Prussia added smaller German states in the west, Swedish Pomerania and 60% of the Kingdom of Saxony, Austria gained Venice and much of northern Italy. The new Kingdom of the Netherlands had been created just months before, the immediate background was Napoleonic Frances defeat and surrender in May 1814, which brought an end to twenty-five years of nearly continuous war. Negotiations continued despite the outbreak of fighting triggered by Napoleons dramatic return from exile, the Congresss Final Act was signed nine days before his final defeat at Waterloo on 18 June 1815. However, others praise it for having created relatively long-term stable, the Congress of Vienna settlement, despite later changes, formed the framework for European international politics until the outbreak of the First World War in 1914. The Treaty of Chaumont in 1814 had reaffirmed decisions that had made already. The Treaty of Chaumont became the cornerstone of the European Alliance which formed the balance of power for decades, other partial settlements had already occurred at the Treaty of Paris between France and the Sixth Coalition, and the Treaty of Kiel which covered issues raised regarding Scandinavia. The Treaty of Paris had determined that a general congress should be held in Vienna, the opening was scheduled for July 1814. The Four Great Powers had previously formed the core of the Sixth Coalition, as the Congresss sessions were in Vienna, Emperor Francis was kept closely informed. Great Britain was represented first by its Foreign Secretary, Viscount Castlereagh, then by the Duke of Wellington, in the last weeks it was headed by the Earl of Clancarty, after Wellington left to face Napoleon during the Hundred Days. Tsar Alexander I controlled the Russian delegation which was led by the foreign minister. The tsar had two goals, to gain control of Poland and to promote the peaceful coexistence of European nations. He succeeded in forming the Holy Alliance, based on monarchism and anti-secularism, Prussia was represented by Prince Karl August von Hardenberg, the Chancellor, and the diplomat and scholar Wilhelm von Humboldt. King Frederick William III of Prussia was also in Vienna, playing his role behind the scenes, France, the fifth power, was represented by its foreign minister, Talleyrand as well as the Minister Plenipotentiary the Duke of Dalberg. Talleyrand had already negotiated the Treaty of Paris for Louis XVIII of France, Sweden – Count Carl Löwenhielm Denmark – Count Niels Rosenkrantz, foreign minister. King Frederick VI was also present in Vienna, the Netherlands – Earl of Clancarty, the British Ambassador at the Dutch court, and Baron Hans von Gagern Switzerland – Every canton had its own delegation. Charles Pictet de Rochemont from Geneva played a prominent role, mecklenburg-Schwerin – Leopold von Plessen Virtually every state in Europe had a delegation in Vienna – more than 200 states and princely houses were represented at the Congress
24.
Principality of Schaumburg-Lippe
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The division occurred because Count Otto V of Holstein-Schaumburg had died in 1640 leaving no male heir. It was further threatened by the policies of ruling Count Friedrich Christian. To counter these threats, Friedrichs grandson Count Wilhelm retained a standing army of up to 1000 troops - quite a lot for such a small territory, with Wilhelms death in 1777 the junior Schaumburg-Lippe-Alverdissen inherited the County thereby reuniting Schaumburg-Lippe with Lippe-Alverdissen. Schaumburg-Lippe was a county until 1807 when it became a principality, in 1913, it was the smallest state in the German Empire in terms of population. The capital was Bückeburg, and Stadthagen was the other town. Schaumburg-Lippe sent one member to the Bundesrat and one deputy to the Reichstag and it lasted until the end of the German monarchies in 1918, when it became a free state as the Free State of Schaumburg-Lippe. In November 1918, Prince Adolf was the second last reigning German monarch to abdicate
25.
Czechoslovak border fortifications
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With the rise of Hitler and his demands for unification of German minorities and return of other claimed territories, the alarmed Czechoslovak leadership began defensive plans. While some basic defensive structures were built early on, it was not until after conferences with French military on their design that a full scale effort began. A change in the philosophy was noticeable in the pillboxes. The original plan was to have the first stage of construction finished in 1941-42, moreover, many other objects were near completion and would have been functional at least as shelters despite missing certain heavy armaments in some structures. The east–west portion of the line ran from Ostrava to Opava which is a river valley with a steep rise to the south. During World War II the Germans had removed many armored parts like domes, cupolas, some objects became subjects of German penetration shells or explosives testing and are heavily damaged. In the post-war period, many of the remaining armoured parts were scrapped as a result of a loss of their strategic value, after the war they were further stripped of useful materials, and then sealed. A couple of the underground structures continued to be used long after as military hardware storage. Today almost all of the light objects are freely accessible. Some of the objects are also accessible, others may be rented or sold to enthusiasts. A certain number were turned into museums and very few into depots, the Hanička Artillery Fort was being rebuilt into a modern shelter for the Ministry of Interior between 1979 and 1993, but declared unneeded in 1995. A museum has been created here, many of the open museums are located between Ostrava and Opava, close to the present Polish border which had been the German border before World War II. The basic philosophy of the design was a defensive line. The only frontal armament was machine gun ports in cupolas designed for observation, any enemy units that tried to go between the Blockhouses would have been stopped by anti-tank, anti-infantry barricades, MG and cannon fire. A few of the larger Blockhouse, or Artillery Forts, had indirect fire mortars, Most of the lines consisted of just the smaller pillboxes. 37, besides a system of obstacles, a heavy steel plate could be slid down to quickly close the tiny hole for added protection. The Heavy Objects, infantry blockhouses are very similar to the part of the Maginot line. Just like the pillboxes, the cannons and machine guns were pivoted at the tip, the fortresses had a full ventilation system with filtration so even chemical attacks would not affect the defenders
26.
Munich Agreement
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The agreement was signed in the early hours of 30 September 1938 after being negotiated at a conference held in Munich, Germany, among the major powers of Europe, excluding the Soviet Union. Today, it is regarded as a failed act of appeasement toward Germany. The purpose of the conference was to discuss the future of the Sudetenland in the face of demands made by Adolf Hitler. The agreement was signed by Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Sudetenland was of immense strategic importance to Czechoslovakia, as most of its border defenses, and banks were situated there, as well as heavy industrial districts. Part of the borderland was invaded and annexed by Poland, the phrase Munich Betrayal is also used because the military alliance Czechoslovakia had with France and Britain proved useless and also known because of the phrase About us, without us. This phrase is most hurtful for people of Czechoslovakia, Today the document is typically referred to simply as the Munich Pact. In Germany the Sudeten crisis led to the so-called Oster Conspiracy, from 1918 to 1938, after the breakup of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, more than 3 million ethnic Germans were living in the Czech part of the newly created state of Czechoslovakia. Sudeten German pro-Nazi leader Konrad Henlein founded the Sudeten German Party that served as the branch of the Nazi Party for the Sudetenland. By 1935, the SdP was the second largest political party in Czechoslovakia as German votes concentrated on this party while Czech, on 24 April, the SdP issued a series of demands upon the government of Czechoslovakia, that were known as the Carlsbad Program. Among the demands, Henlein demanded autonomy for Germans living in Czechoslovakia, the Czechoslovakian government responded by saying that it was willing to provide more minority rights to the German minority but it refused to grant them autonomy. As the previous appeasement of Hitler had shown, the governments of both France and Britain were intent on avoiding war, the French government did not wish to face Germany alone and took its lead from the British government of Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain. Chamberlain considered the Sudeten German grievances justified and believed Hitlers intentions were limited, both Britain and France, therefore, advised Czechoslovakia to concede to Germanys demands. Beneš resisted and on 19 May initiated a partial mobilization in response to possible German invasion, while recognizing that this would still be insufficient for a full-scale naval war with Britain, Hitler hoped it would be a sufficient deterrent. Ten days later, Hitler signed a directive for war against Czechoslovakia. On 22 May, Juliusz Łukasiewicz, the Polish ambassador to France, told the French Foreign Minister Georges Bonnet that if France moved against Germany in defense of Czechoslovakia, Łukasiewicz also told Bonnet that Poland would oppose any attempt by Soviet forces to defend Czechoslovakia from Germany. Daladier told Jakob Surits, the Soviet ambassador to France, Not only can we not count on Polish support but we have no faith that Poland will not strike us in the back. Hitlers adjutant, Fritz Wiedemann, recalled after the war that he was shocked by Hitlers new plans to attack Britain. In the meantime, the British government demanded that Beneš request a mediator, Not wishing to sever his governments ties with Western Europe, Beneš reluctantly accepted
27.
Keep
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A keep is a type of fortified tower built within castles during the Middle Ages by European nobility. The Anglo-Normans and French rulers began to stone keeps during the 10th and 11th centuries, these included Norman keeps, with a square or rectangular design. Stone keeps carried considerable political as well as military importance and could take up to a decade to build, during the 12th century, new designs began to be introduced – in France, quatrefoil-shaped keeps were introduced, while in England polygonal towers were built. In Spain, keeps were increasingly incorporated into both Christian and Islamic castles, although in Germany tall towers called Bergfriede were preferred to keeps in the western fashion, in the second half of the 14th century, there was a resurgence in the building of keeps. In France, the keep at Vincennes began a fashion for tall, heavily machicolated designs, meanwhile, tower keeps in England became popular amongst the most wealthy nobles, these large keeps, each uniquely designed, formed part of the grandest castles built during the period. By the 16th century, however, keeps were slowly falling out of fashion as fortifications, many were destroyed in civil wars between the 17th and 18th centuries, or incorporated into gardens as an alternative to follies. During the 19th century, keeps became fashionable once again and in England, despite further damage to many French and Spanish keeps during the wars of the 20th century, keeps now form an important part of the tourist and heritage industry in Europe. Since the 16th century, the English word keep has commonly referred to large towers in castles. The word originates from around 1375 to 1376, coming from the Middle English term kype, meaning basket or cask, the term came to be used for other shell keeps by the 15th century. By the 17th century, the word keep lost its reference to baskets or casks. Early on, the use of the keep became associated with the idea of a tower in a castle that would serve both as a fortified, high-status private residence and a refuge of last resort. By the 19th century, Victorian historians incorrectly concluded that the etymology of the keep and tenazza were linked. As a result of evolution in meaning, the use of the term keep in historical analysis today can be problematic. Contemporary medieval writers used various terms for the buildings we would today call keeps, in Latin, they are variously described as turris, turris castri or magna turris – a tower, a castle tower, or a great tower. The 12th-century French came to them a donjon, from the Latin dominarium lordship, linking the keep. Similarly, medieval Spanish writers called the buildings torre del homenaje, in England, donjon turned into dungeon, which initially referred to a keep, rather than to a place of imprisonment. This ambiguity over terminology has made historical analysis of the use of keeps problematic, while the term remains in common academic use, some academics prefer to use the term donjon, and most modern historians warn against using the term keep simplistically. The fortifications that we would today call keeps certainly did not necessarily part of a unified medieval style
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Renaissance architecture
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Stylistically, Renaissance architecture followed Gothic architecture and was succeeded by Baroque architecture. Developed first in Florence, with Filippo Brunelleschi as one of its innovators, the style was carried to France, Germany, England, Russia and other parts of Europe at different dates and with varying degrees of impact. Italy of the 15th century, and the city of Florence in particular, was home to the Renaissance, the scholarly approach to the architecture of the ancient coincided with the general revival of learning. A number of factors were influential in bringing this about, Italian architects had always preferred forms that were clearly defined and structural members that expressed their purpose. Many Tuscan Romanesque buildings demonstrate these characteristics, as seen in the Florence Baptistery, Italy had never fully adopted the Gothic style of architecture. In the 15th century, Florence, Venice and Naples extended their power through much of the area that surrounded them and this enabled Florence to have significant artistic influence in Milan, and through Milan, France. Successive Popes, especially Julius II, 1503–13, sought to extend the Pope’s temporal power throughout Italy, in the early Renaissance, Venice controlled sea trade over goods from the East. Trade brought wool from England to Florence, ideally located on the river for the production of fine cloth, by dominating Pisa, Florence gained a seaport, and also maintained dominance of Genoa. In this commercial climate, one family in particular turned their attention from trade to the business of money-lending. The Medici became the chief bankers to the princes of Europe, becoming virtually princes themselves as they did so, along the trade routes, and thus offered some protection by commercial interest, moved not only goods but also artists, scientists and philosophers. This commenced in the mid 15th century and gained momentum in the 16th century, the construction of the Sistine Chapel with its uniquely important decorations and the entire rebuilding of St Peters, one of Christendoms most significant churches, were part of this process. In wealthy republican Florence, the impetus for church-building was more civic than spiritual, the unfinished state of the enormous cathedral dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary did no honour to the city under her patronage. The dome inspired further religious works in Florence, through Humanism, civic pride and the promotion of civil peace and order were seen as the marks of citizenship. Some major ecclesiastical building works were commissioned, not by the church. During the Renaissance, architecture became not only a question of practice, printing played a large role in the dissemination of ideas. The first treatise on architecture was De re aedificatoria by Leon Battista Alberti in 1450 and it was to some degree dependent on Vitruviuss De architectura, a manuscript of which was discovered in 1414 in a library in Switzerland. De re aedificatoria in 1485 became the first printed book on architecture, Sebastiano Serlio produced the next important text, the first volume of which appeared in Venice in 1537, it was entitled Regole generali darchitettura. It is known as Serlios Fourth Book since it was the fourth in Serlios original plan of a treatise in seven books, in all, five books were published
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Austro-Prussian War
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This conflict also paralleled the Third Independence War of Italian unification. It saw the abolition of the German Confederation and its replacement by a North German Confederation that excluded Austria. The war also resulted in the Italian annexation of the Austrian province of Venetia, for centuries, Central Europe was split into a few large states and hundreds of tiny entities, each maintaining its independence with the assistance of outside powers, particularly France. After 1815, the German states were again reorganized into a loose confederation. When Austria brought the dispute before the German Diet and also decided to convene the Diet of Holstein, when the German Diet responded by voting for a partial mobilization against Prussia, Bismarck claimed that the German Confederation was ended. Crown Prince Frederick was the member of the Prussian Crown Council to uphold the rights of the Duke of Augustenberg. Although he supported unification and the restoration of the medieval empire, the ultimate aim of most German nationalists was the gathering of all Germans under one state. Two ideas of national unity eventually came to the fore – once including, US newspaper The New York Times summarized its views of German nationalism shortly after the outbreak of the war, There is, in political geography, no Germany proper to speak of. There are Kingdoms and Grand Duchies, and Duchies and Principalities, inhabited by Germans, yet there is a natural undercurrent tending to a national feeling and toward a union of the Germans into one great nation, ruled by one common head as a national unit. Bismarck maintained that he orchestrated the conflict in order to bring about the North German Confederation, the Franco-Prussian War, taylor thinks Bismarck manipulated events into the most beneficial solution possible for Prussia. On 22 February 1866, Count Karolyi, Austrian ambassador in Berlin, sent a dispatch to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, possible evidence can be found in Bismarcks orchestration of the Austrian alliance during the Second Schleswig War against Denmark, which can be seen as his diplomatic masterstroke. It was in the Prussian interest to gain an alliance with Austria to defeat Denmark and settle the issue of the duchies of Schleswig, the alliance can be regarded as an aid to Prussian expansion, rather than a provocation of war against Austria. Many historians believe that Bismarck was simply a Prussian expansionist, rather than a German nationalist and it was at the Gastein Convention that the Austrian alliance was set up to lure Austria into war. The timing of the declaration was perfect, because all other European powers were bound by alliances that forbade them from entering the conflict. Britain had no stake economically or politically in war between Prussia and Austria, the details of the discussion are unknown but many historians think Bismarck was guaranteed French neutrality in the event of a war. Italy was already allied with Prussia, which meant that Austria would be fighting both with no major allies of its own, Bismarck was aware of his numerical superiority but still he was not prepared to advise it immediately even though he gave a favourable account of the international situation. When the Prussian victory became clear, France attempted to extract concessions in the Palatinate. Naturally I was not doubtful of the answer for a second, I answered him, Good, then its war
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Jan Letzel
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Jan Letzel was a Czech architect, most famous for designing a building in Hiroshima whose ruins are now the A-Bomb Dome or Peace Memorial. Jan Letzel was born in the town of Náchod, Bohemia and his parents were hotel owners Jan Letzel and his wife Walburga, née Havlíčková. In 1901 he won a scholarship to study architecture at the School of Applied Arts in Prague, in 1902 and 1903 he undertook study tours in Bohemia, Dalmatia, Montenegro, and Herzegovina. From June 1904 to August 1905 he worked at architectural firm Quido Bělský in Prague, at the same time he designed and built a sanatorium and a pavilion in the Art Nouveau style in Mšené-lázně. In October 1905 he received his mediation and worked in Cairo for a while, in the spring of 1907 he went back to Prague after visiting Rome, Milan, Venice, and other Italian cities. Letzels next work was in Japan, after a short stay in Prague and Nachod, he arrived in Tokyo in June 1907, where he worked at a French architectural firm. Letzel and his friend Karel Hora founded their own firm in 1910 in Tokyo. In the next few years he designed about 40 buildings, including the French school, Sacre Coeur, the Jesuit College, the German embassy, and several hotels and office buildings. His most famous design was the administrative building of the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Hiroshima. Hiroshima at that time was dominated by wooden buildings. It became famous after surviving the attack on the city in 1945. It was rededicated, still as a ruin, as the Hiroshima Peace Memorial, Letzel himself never lived to see the transformation of his Industrial Promotion Hall into the A-Bomb Dome. When his partner Karel Hora returned to Bohemia in 1913, Letzel led the firm alone. In 1918, Czechoslovakia became an independent country, Letzel was appointed commercial attaché at the Czechoslovak embassy in Tokyo in 1919, in March 1920 he returned home, but went back to Japan few months later for his attaché post. In November 1922, Letzel traveled to Japan and later witnessed the destruction of many of his buildings in the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake, deeply disappointed, he returned to Prague in November 1923 and died a few years later at the age of 45
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Halberstadt, Germany
Kudowa-Zdrój, Poland
Warrington, England
Bauska, Latvia
Media related to Náchod at Wikimedia Commons