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Czechs

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Czechs
Češi
Regions with significant populations
 Czech Republic[note 1]   6,732,104[1]
 United States1,462,000[2]
(including German Bohemians)
 Canada94,805[3]
 Italy80,000-90,000
 United Kingdom30,000–90,000
 Germany20,000–50,000
 Slovakia30,367[4]
 Argentina38,000
 Australia21,196[5]
 Austria20,000
 Switzerland20,000
Other countries
 Ukraine11,000
 France10,731 (1990)
 Croatia9,641 (2011)
 Chile8,600
 Israel8,000
 Sweden7,175 (2001)
 Ireland5,451[6]
 Spain5,622 (2006)
 Russia5,000–6,000
 Brazil5,000[citation needed]
 Netherlands3,500
 Romania3,339 (2002)
 Poland3,000
 South Africa2,300
 Mexico2,000
 Serbia1,824 (2011)[7]
 Colombia1,200
 Kazakhstan1,000[8]
 Bosnia and Herzegovina600–1,000[9]
 Bulgaria436
Languages
Czech
Religion
Mainly non-religious (Atheism, Agnosticism, Deism) or Roman Catholicism[10]
Related ethnic groups
West Slavs[11] (Poles, Slovaks), Germans, Austrians, Celts

Czechs, or Czech people (Template:Lang-cs, Czech pronunciation: [ˈtʃɛʃɪ], archaic Template:Lang-cs [ˈtʃɛxɔvɛː]) are a nation and an ethnic group native to the Czech Republic in Central Europe, who speak the Czech language. Historically, the Czech population known as Bohemians until the end of 19th century after the late Iron Age tribe of Boii and their land Bohemia, descended from peoples of Celtic origin, later mixing with West Slavic and Germanic settlers.

Smaller populations of Czechs also live in the United States, Canada, Italy, the United Kingdom, Germany, Slovakia, Australia and Argentina among others countries.

History

An overview of the Celtic Hallstatt (yellow), the preceding La Tène (green) cultures and Boii

The Czech people are the descendants of Celts and the Gallic tribe Boii mixed with West Slavs who settled in Bohemia, Moravia and Austria in the 6th century and Germanic Marcomanni and Quadi in 1st century and later also Germans in the 13th century.

According to a popular myth, the Slavic settlers come from Forefather Čech who settled at Říp Mountain. In 880, Prague Castle was constructed by Prince Bořivoj and the city of Prague was established. Vratislav II was the first Czech king in 1085.

St. Wenceslaus I, Duke of Bohemia. A patron saint of the Czech people. Statue at the Holy Trinity Column in Olomouc.

The second half of the 13th century was a period of large-scale German immigration into Czech lands. The number of Czechs who have at least partly German ancestry probably runs into hundreds of thousands.[12] The Habsburg Monarchy focused much of its power on religious wars against the Protestants. While these religious wars were taking place, the Czech estates revolted against Habsburg from 1546 to 1547 but were ultimately defeated.[13]

Czech patriotic authors tend to call the following period, from 1620 to 1648 until the late 18th century, the "Dark Age". It is characterized by devastation by foreign troops; Germanization; and economic and political decline. It is estimated that the population of the Czech lands declined by a third due to the Thirty Years' War and the expulsion of Protestants.[14]

At the turn of the 20th century, Chicago was the city with the third largest Czech population, after Prague and Vienna.[15][16]

In 1918, independent Czechoslovakia was proclaimed, and Czechs formed the leading class in the new state from the remnants of the Austrian-Hungarian Monarchy. In 1938 the Munich Agreement severed the Sudetenland, with a considerable Czech minority, from Czechoslovakia, and in 1939 the German Nazi regime established the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia for the so-calling "remaining Czechia" (Resttschechei). Emil Hácha became president of the protectorate under Nazi domination, which only allowed pro-Nazi Czech associations and tended to stress ties of the Czechs with the Bohemian Germans and other parts of the German people, in order to facilitate assimilation by Germanization. In Lidice, Ležáky and Javoříčko the Nazi authorities committed war crimes against the local Czech population. On May 2, 1945 the Prague Uprising reached its peak, supported by the Russian Liberation Army. The post-war expulsion of Germans from Czechoslovakia and the immediate reprisals against Germans and Nazi collaborators by Czech resistance and the Czechoslovak state authorities, made Czechs – especially in the early 1950s – settle alongside Slovaks and Romani people in the former lands of the Sudeten Germans, who had been deported to East Germany, West Germany and Austria according to the Potsdam Conference and Yalta Conference.

Tens of thousands of Czechs had repatriated from Volhynia and Banat after World War II. Since the 1990s, the Czech Republic has been working to repatriate Romania and Kazakhstan's ethnic Czechs.[17][18]

The Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968 was followed by a wave of emigration, unseen before and stopped shortly after (estimate: 70,000 immediately, 300,000 in total),[19] typically of highly qualified people.

Following the Czech Republic's entry into the European Union in May 2004, Czechs gained the right to work in some other EU countries.[20]

Genetics

The population of the Czech lands has been influenced by different human migrations that wide-crossed Europe over time. In their Y-DNA haplogroups, which are inherited along the male line, Czechs have shown a mix of Eastern and Western European traits. 34.2% of Czech males belong to R1a, which is particularly common in a large region extending from South Asia and Southern Siberia to Central Europe and Scandinavia.[21] According to a 2000 study, 35.6% of Czech males have haplogroup R1b, which is very common in Western Europe among Germanic and Celtic nations, but rare among Slavic nations.[22]

A high frequency of mutation of the G551D gene CFTR (cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator), causing cystic fibrosis is found in the Czech Republic, Austria, and among the Celtic nations: Wales, Scotland, Cornwall, Ireland and Brittany.[23]

About 3% of inhabitants of Moravia have also intermixed with Central Asian nomadic tribes, who migrated into Central and Eastern Europe in the early Middle Ages.[24]

Notable figures

The brothers Lech and Czech, founders of West Slavic lands of Lechia (Poland) and Bohemia in "Chronica Polonorum" (1506)

Mythology

See also: Slavic mythology

There are also ancient folk stories about the Czech people, such as the Forefather Čech, who according to legend brought the tribe of Czechs into its land,[25] or Přemysl, the Ploughman,[26] who started the dynasty that ruled for 400 years until 1306.

Historical figures

The most successful and influential of all Czech kings was Charles IV, who also became the Holy Roman Emperor.[27] The Luxembourg dynasty represents the heights of Czech (Bohemian) statehood territorial and influence as well as advancement in many areas of human endeavors.[28]

Many people are considered national heroes and cultural icons, many national stories concern their lives. Jan Hus was a religious reformist from the 15th century and spiritual father of the Hussite Movement.[29] The teacher of nations Jan Amos Komenský is also considered a notable figure in Czech history.[30] Josef Jungmann is often credited for expanding the modern Czech language, and preventing its extinction.[31]

Modern politicians

First President of the Czech Republic Václav Havel

One of the most notable Velvet Revolution figures is Václav Havel, who became the first president of the independent Czech Republic.[32] The current president (3rd) is Miloš Zeman.[33]

The Czech Republic has had multiple prime ministers the first of which was latter president Klaus, the second under Havel was Josef Tošovský[34] and the last prime minister under Havel was prominent ČSSD member Miloš Zeman.[35]

Sports

Sports have also been a contributor to famous Czechs especially tennis, soccer, hockey, and athletics:

The arts

Music

Title page of Česká mariánská muzika by Adam Václav Michna z Otradovic(1647)
The Slav Epic

Czech music started develop by first significant pieces, created in the 11th century.[39] The great progress of Czech artificial music has begun in the end of Renaissance and early Baroque era, concretely in works of Adam Václav Michna z Otradovic, where the specific character of Czech music was rising up by using the influence of genuine folk music. This tradition determined the development of Czech music and has remained the main sign in the works of great Czech composers of almost all eras – Jan Dismas Zelenka and Bohuslav Matěj Černohorský in Baroque, Bedřich Smetana and Antonín Dvořák in Romanticism, Leoš Janáček and Bohuslav Martinů in modern classical or Miloslav Kabeláč in contemporary classical music.

Czech musicians played also important role in the development of European music. Jan Václav Antonín Stamic in 18th-century contributed to the creation of Classicism in music[40] by innovations of compositional forms and founding of Mannheim school, similarly Antonín Rejcha's experiments prefigured new compositional techniques in 19th-century.[41] The influence of Czech musicians has been gone later beyond the borders of European continent, when Antonín Dvořák brought into life new American classical music style, using the potential of the richness of ethnic music of that country during his mission in USA. The contribution of Alois Hába to microtonal music in 20th-century must be also mentioned.

Czech music reached as far as Qing China. Karel Slavíček (Chinese: 严嘉乐, December 12, 1678 - September 24, 1735) was a Jesuit missionary, scientist and sinologist who was introduced to the Kangxi Emperor on February 3, 1717 in Beijing. The emperor favored him and employed him as court musician. (Slavíček was a Spinet player).[citation needed]

Some notable Czech musicians who came down in modern history are US-based composer and guitarist Ivan Král or rock band The Plastic People of the Universe which played an important part in the underground movement during the communist regime.

Literature

Poet Jaroslav Seifert was awarded the Nobel Literature Prize.[36] Božena Němcová has become a cultural icon and gained much fame for her book Babička.[42]

Painting

Mikoláš Aleš was a painter, known for redesigning the Prague National Theatre.[43]/

Alphonse Mucha was an influential artist in the Art Nouveau movement of the Edwardian period.

František Kupka was a pioneer and co-founder of the abstract art movement.

Film

Film director Miloš Forman, known best for his movie, One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest is of Czech origin and started his career in Czechoslovakia.[44] The influential surrealist filmmaker and animator Jan Švankmajer was born in Prague and has been resident in the Czech Republic throughout his life.

National performers such as Karel Kryl,[45] Helena Vondráčková,[46] Karel Gott[47] (singers), Zdeněk Svěrák (director and actor), Vlastimil Brodský,[48] Vladimír Menšík[49] (actors) or Ivan Mládek (comedian), have also made a mark in modern Czech history.

Saints

Czech culture involves many saints,[50] most notably St. Wenceslaus (Václav), patron of the Czech nation,[51] St. John of Nepomuk (Jan Nepomucký),[52] St. Adalbert (Vojtěch),[53] Saint Procopius or St. Agnes of Bohemia (Anežka Česká).[54]

Geography

Simple map of the Czech Republic

The Czech Republic is compound from 3 historical lands: Bohemia, Moravia and Czech Silesia;[55] today the country is divided into 14 regions.[56] There is a slightly varying culture in each of the lands.[57] Each part speaks Czech but there are certain local dialects (like Central Bohemian, Moravian, Těšínian, etc.).[58]

Czech language

Main article: Czech Language
See also: History of the Czech language

The Czech language is spoken by approximately 12 million people around the world including most of the people in the Czech Republic.[59] It developed from the Proto-Slavic language in the 10th century[59][60] and is mutually intelligible with the Slovak language.[61]

See also

Further reading

  • Hroch, Miroslav (2004). "From ethnic group toward the modern nation: the Czech case". Nations and Nationalism. 10 (1/2): 95–107. doi:10.1111/j.1354-5078.2004.00157.x. {{cite journal}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |quotes= and |month= (help)
  • Berka, Petr and Palan, Ales and Stastny, Petr: Xenophobe's Guide to the Czechs, Oval Books, London, 2008
  • Holý, Ladislav: The Little and the Great Czech Nation, Cambridge University, 1996

References

Footnotes

  1. ^ This number is a lower estimate, as 2,742,669 people opted out declaring ethnicity in 2011.

Notes

  1. ^ Obyvatelstvo podle národnosti podle krajů
  2. ^ 2004 survey
  3. ^ "Ethnic Origin (264), Single and Multiple Ethnic Origin Responses (3), Generation Status (4), Age Groups (10) and Sex (3) for the Population in Private Households of Canada, Provinces, Territories, Census Metropolitan Areas and Census Agglomerations, 2011 National Household Survey".
  4. ^ http://portal.statistics.sk Štatistický úrad SR
  5. ^ 2006 census Data : View by Location
  6. ^ "CSO Emigration" (PDF). Census Office Ireland. Retrieved January 29, 2013.
  7. ^ Попис становништва, домаћинстава и станова 2011. у Републици Србији: Становништво према националној припадности - „Oстали“ етничке заједнице са мање од 2000 припадника и двојако изјашњени
  8. ^ http://www.joshuaproject.net/people-profile.php
  9. ^ http://www.bosna.unas.cz/bosnacesko.html
  10. ^ "Population by religious belief and by municipality size groups". Czech Statistical Office. Retrieved 2012-04-23.
  11. ^ Slav (people) — Britannica Online Encyclopedia
  12. ^ Ethnic German Minorities in the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia
  13. ^ The Habsburg Monarchy and Rudolph II
  14. ^ Agnew, Hugh (2004). The Czechs and the Lands of the Bohemian Crown. Stanford: Hoover Press. p. 72. ISBN 0-8179-4492-3.
  15. ^ Czechs and Bohemians
  16. ^ Czech and Slovak roots in Vienna, wieninternational.at
  17. ^ The Czech ethnic minority in Romania, 29-12-2004 - Radio Prague
  18. ^ Government completes 13-year program to integrate Kazakh Czechs, The Prague Post, 31 October 2007
  19. ^ "Day when tanks destroyed Czech dreams of Prague Spring" (Den, kdy tanky zlikvidovaly české sny Pražského jara) at Britské Listy (British Letters)
  20. ^ Czech politicians say restrictions on free movement of workers within EU should be removed, Radio Prague
  21. ^ F. Luca, F. Di Giacomo, T. Benincasa et al., "Y-Chromosomal Variation in the Czech Republic," American Journal of Physical Anthropology 132:132–139 (2007).
  22. ^ O. Semino et al, The genetic legacy of paleolithic Homo sapiens sapiens in extant Europeans: a Y chromosome perspective, Science, vol. 290 (2000), pp. 1155-59.
  23. ^ Doc. Dr. Milan Macek, CSc., Dr. Milan Macek ml., Dr. Alice Krebsová, Doc. Dr. V. Vávrová, DrSc. ,Centrum pro diagnostiku a léčbu cystické fibrosy, RELATIVNĚ VYSOKÝ VÝSKYT MUTACÍ G551D A CFTRDEL21KB CFTR GENU V ČESKÉ REPUBLICE U PACIENTŮ S CYSTICKOU FIBROSOU OBJEKTIVNĚ PROKAZUJE, ŽE NAŠE POPULACE JE SLOVANSKÉHO A KELTSKÉHO PŮVODU. Dostupné on-line
  24. ^ Mitochondrial DNA Variability in the Czech Population, with Application to the Ethnic History of Slavs
  25. ^ The Polish Eagle
  26. ^ [1]
  27. ^ Charles IV (Karel IV.) - Czech king and Holy Roman Emperor
  28. ^ Travel guide - Luxembourg dynasty (1310–1378) - accommodation in hotels and apartments
  29. ^ Jan Hus
  30. ^ Jan Amos Comenius
  31. ^ Josef Jungmann (1773–1847)
  32. ^ Václav Havel
  33. ^ Václav Havel - Radio Prague
  34. ^ Vláda České republiky | Jmenný rejstřík předsedů vlád
  35. ^ Milos Zeman - outgoing prime minister - 19-06-2002 - Radio Prague
  36. ^ a b CzechSite: Famous Czechs
  37. ^ Antonin Panenka - the footballer Pele described as "either a genius or a madman" - 20-06-2007 10:19 UTC - Radio Prague
  38. ^ Josef, Ladislav. "Masopust's memory lingers on". Archived from the original on 2007-12-22. Retrieved 2008-02-01.
  39. ^ http://www.eu2009.cz/en/czech-republic/music/history/history-of-czech-music-2374 History of Czech music
  40. ^ http://www.czechmusic.net/klasika/stamic_jv.htm Jan Václav Antonín Stamic (in Czech)
  41. ^ http://www.classical.net/music/comp.lst/reicha.php Antonín Rejcha
  42. ^ Partridge, James. "Book Review: The Grandmother". Central Europe Review. Retrieved 2008-02-10.
  43. ^ Tyman, Jaroslav. "Mikoláš Aleš". Retrieved 2008-02-11.
  44. ^ Erickson, Hal. "Milos Forman, biography". Allmovie. Retrieved 2008-02-10.
  45. ^ Karel Kryl
  46. ^ The official website of Helena Vondráčková
  47. ^ "Karel Gott". Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic. Archived from the original on 2008-01-01. Retrieved 2008-02-01.
  48. ^ Vlastimil Brodsky - Czech Film - Worldpress.org
  49. ^ "Czech-Slovak film Database, Vladimír Menšík". POMO Media Group. Retrieved 2008-02-11.
  50. ^ Maurice, Edmund (1908). The story of Bohemia from the earliest times to the fall of national independence in 1620;: With a short summary of later events. Fisher, Unwin.
  51. ^ Mershman, Francis. "St. Wenceslaus". Kevin Knight. Retrieved 2008-02-10.
  52. ^ Krčmář, Luděk. "St. John of Nepomuk - life". MultiMedia Activity. Retrieved 2008-02-10.
  53. ^ Attwater, Donald and Catherine Rachel John. The Penguin Dictionary of Saints. 3rd edition. New York: Penguin Books, 1993. ISBN 0-14-051312-4.
  54. ^ Order of the Knights of the Cross with the Red Star - 757 years
  55. ^ Political subdivision of Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia
  56. ^ Area size - Czech republic
  57. ^ Czech regions - Czech republic
  58. ^ Czech
  59. ^ a b "Czech Language". Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic. Archived from the original on 2008-01-18. Retrieved 2008-02-01.
  60. ^ http://www.kortlandt.nl/publications/art066e.pdf
  61. ^ czech-language.cz
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