Prague Defenestrations Defenestration comes from the German word for window i.e. Fenster. the act of throwing someone or something out of a window. expulsion, riddance, ejection, exclusion – the act of forcing out someone or something; Oxford English Dictionary The First and Second Prague Defenestrations As far as throwing people out of windows goes then … Read More
Prague Coat of Arms There’s always history in a coat of arms and it’s often changed through the years but normally it’s a family coat of arms. In this case I’ll walk you through the origins of the Prague Coat of Arms, how things have changed over the years and why we’ve settled on the … Read More
Operation Anthropoid In October 1941 after three years of occupation the exiled Czechoslovak government in England decided that a show of strength was required. Operation Anthropoid was a World War 2 military operation with a specific assignment for two young allied paratroopers namely the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich. By the end of June 1942, Heydrich … Read More
The Story of Jan Palach – Always Remembered Every January 16th thoughts will turn to an event which happened on this day in 1969. The story must begin in the January of 1968 with the election of Alexander Dubcek (pronounced “doobcheck”) as Communist Party leader. He was a reformer who set about introducing reforms and … Read More
Velvet Revolution The Path Less Travelled You’ll have read that the Velvet Revolution started on International Students Day i.e. November 17th 1989 but, it started well before that. Actually you have to go back 50 years to understand that the students were protesting on an anniversary and go back another 20 years to explain why … Read More
Vaclav Havel A Life in Brief When I came to Prague in June 1996, the Czech Republic had only been in existence for three and a half years and Vaclav Havel was still in his first term as Czech President. I was not really up on politics and central European History at that time but … Read More
Klement Gottwald, First Communist Czech President Unlike the first three Presidents Tomas Masaryk, Edvard Benes and Emil Hacha who trained as philosophers and lawyers, Klement Gottwald was considered a man of the people as his first trade was being a cabinet maker. In the first world war he had originally fought on the Austro-Hungarian side … Read More
The Czechoslovakia Velvet Divorce It’s one of those historical quirks that the Velvet Revolution was associated with a smooth transition from Communism to Democracy but not so many people heard about the Velvet Divorce. January 1st 2018 marked the 25th Anniversary of the separation of Czechoslovakia into the sovereign nation states of Slovakia and the … Read More
Tomas Masaryk – First Czech President What an amazing life this guy had and it can be divided into three very distinct parts. Firstly, his fight to raise himself from the poor land he was born into. Secondly, the development of that intellect into a political tool. Lastly, as founder of a new country. In … Read More
Edvard Benes – 2nd Czech President Edvard Benes (pronunced Benesh and by the way “Edvard” is how we say Edward in Czech) worked alongside Tomas Masaryk in the creation and ultimately the governing of the new sovereign state of Czechoslovakia. Edvard Benes became the longest serving Foreign Minister, served as Prime Minister, represented Czechoslovakia at … Read More