• Military Menu                       

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Industry
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• WMD
• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

Early History

The first inhabitants of the Czech lands were prehistoric fish. That's because the country, at the time, was covered by a prehistoric ocean - thanks to which it is possible to find some very nice fossils of trilobytes in the Czech Republic today.

Today's Czech Republic was later populated by dinosaurs of all sorts, and later by neanderthals and even by mammoths. The prehistoric settlement of the present-day Czech Republic by people culminated in the fourth century B.C. with the arrival of the Celts, the first modern human inhabitants of this territory that we know of. In fact, the Latin name for the Czech lands, "Boiohaemum" (Bohemia), is derived from the name of the Boii Celtic tribe; and the Czech name for the Moldau River (which flows through the capital city of Prague) is Vltava - which is said to come from the Celtic "Vlt" meaning wild, and "Va" meaning water.

The Czech Celts were in part chased out of the region and in part assimilated by the next peoples to inhabit the area: the Germanic Marcomanni and Quadi tribes from the west and the Romans from the south. (The Romans didn't actually occupy Czech territory - they only got as far north as the Danube River, which flows from Germany - through Austria along its border with Slovakia - and then over to Hungary before continuing on to Yugoslavia, and so just misses the Czech lands.) During the Migration of Peoples - roughly from the 3d to the 7th centuries AD - Slav colonization spread westward from the Steppes of the East (probably from Panonia) all the way to the territory of the present-day Czech Republic and up to Poland and down again to Yugoslavia. From probably the sixth century AD on, the Slavic peoples settled, in several waves of migration, into the regions which had been conveniently abandoned by the Germanic tribes.

This is the way that it all came to be - according to popular Czech legend: Once upon a time there were three brothers: Czech, Lech and Rus. One day, they decided to find a new place to live, and so they and their tribes set out on a journey. They got as far as the Dnieper River when Rus said, "This is the place for me and my tribe!" and there the Russians stayed. Czech (who is known as "Praotec Cech," or Ancestor Czech in these parts) and Lech continued. Soon, they came upon a rich land overflowing with milk and honey and Czech climbed to the top of Rip hill in Bohemia and decided that this was the place for him and for his tribe. Lech and his people continued their journey and settled in present-day Poland. Other versions of the legend have 7 brothers in all, with the addition of other Slav nations like the Croats (who have a similar legend about 7 wandering brothers) and some others whose names are not remembered anymore. One modern interpretation of the story has the Czechs spending some time in Greece before finally heading north and settling, and this would actually conveniently explain the similarities between certain Czech legends (like that of Bruncvik's odyssey or of Sarka and her band of women warriors) with Greek ones.

Czech legend goes on to say that Cech's people were happy in the Czech lands, and after a few generations and some time had passed, the Slavs of Bohemia had a new leader - a guy by the name of Krok, who lived at Vysehrad (which means "high castle" and is today the site of the Czech National Cemetery). Probably the most important thing about Krok were his three very beautiful daughters, who were named Kazi, Teta and Libuse. The last of these, Libuse, had special powers which allowed her to see the future (Kazi, the oldest, was a healer who knew the secrets of the plants and herbs, while Teta was high priestess).

Libuse's talent came in particularly handy when it came time for her to marry. According to legend, she inherited rule over the Czech tribes from her father, Krok. As ruler of the lands, she was also the highest 'court of appeal' for disputes among the people. It is said that a guy who did not like one of her decisions as judge started a stink about the fact that the Czechs were ruled by a woman. And so Libuse had a vision - and sent her white horse, accompanied by a group of her subjects - to go out and find a guy ploughing in his field. After a journey of some days, the horse and the humans did indeed come upon just such a man (and nobody seemed surprised at all at this - neither the humans nor the horse nor even the man himself) and Przemysl Ploughman (Premysl Orac in Czech) came to Vysehrad and married Libuse and took over the job of ruling the unruly Czechs and he and Libuse together started the Przemyslid Dynasty, which ruled over the Czech lands till the 14th century.

One day, not long after the wedding, Libuse had a vision in which she foretold of the glory of the Czech capital. Standing atop Vysehrad hill, she went into a trance and told her vision to the people even as the gods sent it to her. She said that on the seven hills of Prague a fair city would grow, the fame of which would rise to the very stars. And all that she saw and all of which she foretold really came true. Of course!

Now, while Cech and Libuse are the stuff of imaginative Czech legend, it is believed that Samo - who may or may not have ruled this part of the world in the first half of the seventh century AD - was probably a real person. It's hard to tell, though, since nobody is sure of minor details like where Samo was from, where Samo lived, or where Samo ruled - if, that is, he existed at all. If he did, he is thought to have been a Frankish merchant who placed himself on the side of the Slavs against the wicked Avar tribes of Hungary. He is mentioned in early chronicles, where his address is given as Wogastisburg Fortress. Nobody today knows where this Wogastisburg Fortress was - but it's believed by Czechs to have stood on Rubin hill in Bohemia.

Wherever Samo's home base really was, his rule seems to represent the first successful attempt at uniting the Slavic tribes - and since the Slavs are not exactly known for their brotherly love for one another (then again, who in Europe is?), this was quite a feat. The reason for this unification under Samo was, predictably, quite pragmatic. The Slavic tribes cooperated in order to withstand attacks by the Avars, a powerful Asian tribe whose home was on the plains of Hungary.

At some point, Charlemagne joined in the battle against the Avars in this part of the world, cooperating either with Samo or with the state structure that came after him - the Great Moravian Empire.

Again, reports on the Great Moravian Empire are fuzzy. According to period chronicles, the people living along the Morava River at the time were already known as "Moravians," and their short-lived empire existed "somewhere" between today's Slovakia and Germany, and Poland and Austria (that is, somewhere in today's Czech Republic) in the 8th and/or 9th century. Just like Wogastisburg Fortress, it's claimed to have stood in different places by all the people who live in those different places.

At some time during the ninth century, Greater Moravia was ruled by the Moravian prince Svatopluk and had grown to include today's South Moravia, the southernmost bits of present-day Poland and Silesia, the western part of Hungary and, for a short time, the whole of Bohemia. Perhaps the most important thing about the Great Moravians is that theirs was the first legal sort of state structure in the area to accept Christianity, and the cultural development of the Greater Moravian Empire is inseparably linked to the spread of the eastern Byzantine liturgy of Sts Cyril and Methodius, who came to these parts in 863. They were invited by the Moravians - who were interested in Christianity but couldn't understand the language in which it was preached at the time. Cyril and Methodius were chosen for the mission because they understood and were able to speak in the Slavic tongue (again lending weight to the theory that the Slavs of these parts had not long before been spending some time in Greece).

Some buildings from around about this time still stand - mostly Romanesque basilicas like the one on Rip Hill (the very hill that Great-Granddad Czech liked so much!), at Vysehrad, in Prague's Old Town, and at other places. It was Cyril and Methodius, too, who brought the written word to the region (the Cyrillic alphabet is named for Cyril even though his real name was not Cyril but Constantine). The beginning of a written Slavic language was to be of enormous importance to Slavic nations in the Middle Ages. On the downside, the introduction of Christianity to this territory was so overwhelmingly successful that we know very little today about the pre-Christian religion of the pagan Slavs.

The Greater Moravian Empire disintegrated thanks to the Hungarian invasion of 903 or 904 and political intrigue in the early days of the Holy Roman Empire. After that, the Slavic mission in Moravia - which had been established by the missionaries Cyril and Methodius - collapsed, and the population reverted to tribal conditions. The Christian heritage of the Greater Moravian Empire, however, was to be preserved with the ascent of the Przemyslid dynasty to the throne of Bohemia.

Around the 4th century B.C. the present-day Czech Republic was populated by Celts. They were the first ethnic group to arrive in the area, according to historical evidence. The Celtic Boii tribe gave the country its Latin name - Boiohaemum (Bohemia). They were pushed out by the German tribes (Marcomanni, Quidi) before the beginning of our era. At the end of 5th and the beginning of 6th century Slavs settled in the territory of Bohemia and Moravia during the period known as the Migration of Peoples. The first half of the 7th century marks the first successful attempt to unite Slavonic tribes. The so-called " Samo's kingdom" resisted the pressure of the powerful Avar empire centered in the Hungarian lowlands, and defended its territory against the forces of the Frank attackers from the west, with partial success. The Great Moravian Empire (the last two-thirds of the 9th century - destroyed by the Magyars in the years 903-907) The culture of the Great Moravian Empire greatly influenced the development of culture and religion among the Eastern and Southern Slavs in the Middle Ages. In 863, the Byzantine Christian missionaries Constantin and Methodius came to Moravia to introduce Slavic liturgy there. Very soon, however, the influence of the Roman Catholic Church expanded, proving to be decisive in the course of the history of Bohemia and Moravia. From around 500 BC the Celts, the Boii, were the first known inhabitants of this region known by name. The Boii named the region Bohemia and the river Vltava. In between 9 and 6 AD Germanic tribe Marcomanni migrated to Bohemia and other Germanic tribes followed during the 5th century AD, but in the 6th century their elites and majority of inhabitants moved to the Danubian area which enabled Slavic tribe invading West, settle in this area. Czech Slavic tribe came to Bohemia in the 6th century and Forefather Czech became the founder of the Czech nation. According to legend, Princess Libuse, the sovereign of the Czech tribe, married humble plowman Premysl and founded the dynasty with the same name. The legendary Princess made many prophecies from her castle Libusin located in central Bohemia. (The archeologist finds dating back to the seventh century support this theory). The conclusions of those who have investigated the pre-historic period in Bohemia, Moravia, and Silesia are marked by wide divergency. While the majority of them support the view that here, as in other districts of Central Europe, Celts, Germans, and Slavs followed one another, yet other inquirers assert that the Slavs are indigenous to these districts. Between these two views stand suppositions apparently more moderate, to the effect that the Hercynian Boii were not in any way related to the Celtic Boii, that the Marcomannian kingdom had its centre on Bavarian soil, or that both the Celtic and the Germanic people occupied but very limited portions of Bohemia and Moravia. In view of all this uncertainty it would appear difficult to suppose that in the heart of Europe a wide district remained untouched for centuries, like a lonely island in the midst of the heaving ocean, or that the mighty waves of Celtic and Germanic migration, which are attested by sure evidence, were beaten back by the mountain ranges of Bohemia and the neighbouring countries on the east. It is far more probable that one of the earliest waves of that Germanic migration which drove the Cimbri and Teutons southwards about the year 115 B. C. washed over the soil of Bohemia and Moravia. Poseidonios informs us that the Cimbri upon their march attacked the Boii in the Hercynian forest, were driven back, and turned aside to the Ister. We may interpret this information to mean that the Cimbri invaded Bohemia over the Erz Gebirge from the north, that after an unsuccessful struggle with the Boii they turned aside to the plains of the March, and thence reached the Danube, Pannonia, and eventually the Skordiski on the Save. About two generations after these events, about the year 60 B. c, the Boii evacuated the country to which they have permanently given their name,- Boiohsemum, Boiahaim, Boehmen, or Bohemia, - most of them removing to Pannonia or Noricum. In the time of C. Julius Caesar the inhabitants of the Hercynian mountain forest are said to have been a Celtic tribe of the Volcse Tectosages. They, however, were expelled or subjugated by the advancing Marcomanni, who had settled earlier on the Main; this movement was carried out under the leadership of Mar(o)bod about the year 12 B. c. About the same time the Quadi, who were related to the Marcomanni, found a settlement in Moravia. The name of this country in its oldest form, Mar-aha, Mar-awa, appears as a compound of two old German words, the one meaning " a spring" and the other " water;" as a matter of fact, the name of the district corresponds with the name of the main river, the March. Our evidence for the early Germanic occupation of Silesia rests upon a basis no more certain than the evidence for Bohemia and Moravia; the name of Silesia is derived from that of the German tribe of the Vandilian Silingi, of whom Ptolemaios also speaks as dwelling in this district. The history of the Marcomanni and the Quadi in Bohemia and Moravia, so far as it is known to us, is confined to military conflicts with the Romans, which grew more frequent under the emperor Marcus Aurelius (165-180 A. D.). The triumphal column which he erected in Rome in memory of his victory over these nations displays, even at the present day, a magnificent represantation of these struggles, with many valuable details of the life of the Quadi in ancient Moravia. Though the result of this war seemed to have portended the destruction of these nations, yet their name continues for another three centuries, until the westward expedition of Attila drove the main body of the Marcomanni and the Quadi, like so many other German tribes, out of their settlements. During the fifth and sixth centuries the deserted districts are said to have been occupied by many other German tribes, - the Heruli, Rugii, Langobardi; of these events we have no accurate knowledge. The historical centre of gravity lay at that time exclusively in the European west and south, where a number of Germanic races were attempting to found new empires upon the ruins of Rome. During these centuries, when the history of Central Europe is veiled in deep obscurity, proceeded the steady emigration of the Slavs into the wide districts between the Elbe and the Vistula, and southwards to the Danube districts, which had been deserted by the general migration of the Germans to Roman territory. It is indeed not entirely clear whether the stream came exclusively from the upper reaches of the Vistula, or whether strong bodies of emigrants may not have come to Moravia and Northern Hungary from the Slav kingdoms on the south. However, before the Slav races could attain any political organisation in their new homes, they succumbed about the middle of the sixth century to the Avars, who advanced from the south of the Danube in a westerly and northerly direction as far as Thuringia. The period of their subjugation seems to have lasted for about half a century, until the Slav population on the central Danube succeeded in shaking off the yoke of the Avars under the leadership of one Samo, whose Frankish origin cannot be disputed. The result of this success was the founding of an extensive Slav empire, the central point of which may have been situated in the Moravia and Bohemia of to-day. It had, however, no permanent existence, and after the death of Samo (685) the empire fell to pieces.