!!!Tschechien - Österreich

The ties between Austria and the neighbouring regions of  Bohemia and  
Moravia have been closer than with most of Austria´s other 
neighbours. In both countries German and Czech speaking people lived 
side by side. In 1527 Ferdinand I of Habsburg was made king of 
Bohemia. Not only Ferdinand I but also Rudolf II resided in 
Prague and it was from Prague that Austria became involved in the  
Thirty Years´ War. From the 17%%sup th/%  century onwards 
the Austrian aristocracy owned property and land in Czechia, and it 
was especially land belonging to the Protestant nobility that fell to 
Austria and was given by Ferdinand to Austrian noblemen as a 
compensation for services rendered. The "Renewed Land 
Ordinance" promulgated by Ferdinand II in 1627 strengthened 
the position of the rulers in the Bohemian lands, a situation that was 
of course not at all satisfactory for Bohemia. The Bohemian 
Chancellery was later moved to Vienna. From the 17%%sup th/%  to the 
19%%sup th/%  centuries Bohemian noblemen exercised a major influence 
at the Viennese court in politics and military affairs. For Maria 
Theresia and Joseph II the social and economic changes in Bohemia 
and Moravia were amongst the main problems in Austrian politics. 
Joseph II abolished serfdom and promoted the use of Czech as a 
literary language that had developed from a central Bohemian dialect 
(school books, textbooks and devotional books were published and a 
chair for Czech language and literature was established in Prague). At 
the end of the 18%%sup th/%  century a large number of Germans 
and  Czechs began to settle in Vienna and other industrial towns in 
Austria. From the second half of the 19%%sup th/%  century 
onwards the nationalist movements in Bohemia influenced Austrian 
politics and finally led to considerable estrangement. In the First 
World War Austria could not rely on the loyalty of Czech troops and 
"Czech legions" were established in Russia, Italy and 
France. Czech emigrants around T. G.  Masaryk and E. Beneš 
succeeded in 1918 in persuading the USA to recognise the Czechs as a 
belligerent nation, and on October 28, 1918 before the end 
of the war the Czechoslovak Republic was proclaimed in Prague.

\\
In the interwar period, although relations between Austria and the 
Czechoslovak Republic remained close, the conflicts between the 
German-speaking and Czech-speaking population groups continued to be a 
major problem. In October, 1938 the Czechoslovak Republic had to 
cede border territories which were mainly settled by Germans to the 
Third Reich, southern Bohemia and southern Moravia were made Austrian 
gaus. On March 14, 1939 Czechoslovakia was proclaimed the 
"Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia". After 1945 all 
German-speaking inhabitants had to leave the country, in 1948 the 
Czechoslovak Republic was turned into a people´s democracy and 
the  Iron Curtain was established at the borders. Until 1989 relations 
were reduced to a minimum. Since then efforts have been made to 
normalise relations between Austria and Czechoslovakia.

!Literature
K. Bosl (ed.), Handbuch der Geschichte der Boehmischen 
Laender, 4 vols., 1967-1974; F. Prinz, Deutsche Geschichte im 
Osten Europas. Boehmen und Maehren, 1991.


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