Manufactures and Commerce.—From an industrial point of view, Bohemia takes the first rank amongst the Austrian provinces, and at the same time is one of the greatest manufacturing centres of Europe. Rich as the country is in coal and iron, and in water supplies which can be transformed into motive power, the inhabitants were not slow to utilize these advantages, so that the industry of Bohemia made enormous strides during the last half of the 19th century. The glass industry was introduced from Venice in the 13th century and soon attained a vast importance; the factories are in the neighbourhood of the mountains, where minerals, and especially silica and fuel, are plentiful. The finest product, the crystal-glass, is made round Haida and Steinschönau. The very extensive porcelain industry is concentrated in and around Carlsbad. The textile industry stands in the front rank and is mostly concentrated in the north-east corner of Bohemia, round Reichenberg, and in the valley of the Lower Elbe. The cloth manufacture is located at Reichenberg; Rumburg and Trautenau are the centre of the linen industry; woollen yarns are made at Aussig and Asch. Lace, which is pursued as a home-industry in the Erzgebirge region, has its principal centre at Weipert, while Strakonitz has the speciality of the manufacture of red fezes (Turkish caps). The metallurgic industries, favoured by the abundance of coal and iron, are concentrated round the mines. Industrial and agricultural machinery are manufactured at Reichenberg, Pilsen and Prague, and at the last-named place is also to be found a great establishment for the production of railway rolling-stock. Sugar refining is another industry, which, although of recent date, has had a very great development, and the breweries produce a beer which is appreciated all over the world. Other important branches of industry are:—the manufacture of chemicals at Prague and Aussig; pencils at Budweis; musical instruments at Graslitz and Schönbach; paper, leather, dyeing and calico-printing. Hand-in-hand with the industrial activity of the country goes its commercial development, which is stimulated by an extensive railway system, good roads and navigable rivers. The centre of the railway system, which had in 1898 a length of some 3500 m., or 30% of the total length of the Austrian railways, is Prague; and through the Elbe Bohemia has easy access to the sea for its export trade.
Population and Administration.—Bohemia had in 1900 a population of 6,318,280, which corresponds to 315 inhabitants per square mile. As regards numbers, it occupies the second place amongst the Austrian provinces, coming after Galicia, and as regards density of population it stands third, Silesia and Lower Austria, which contains Vienna, standing higher. In 1800 the population was a little over 3,000,000. According to nationality, about 35% are Germans and 65% Czechs. The Czechs occupy the middle of the country, as well as its south and south-east region, while the Germans are concentrated near its borders, especially in the north and west, and are also found all over the country in the large towns. Besides, there are numerous German-speaking enclaves situated in purely Czech districts; on the other hand, the Czechs have shown a tendency to invade the purely German mining and manufacturing districts. Notwithstanding its rich natural resources and its great industrial development, Bohemia sends out a steady flow of emigrants, who either settle in the other provinces of the monarchy, in Germany and in Russia, or cross the Atlantic to America. To the Roman Catholic Church belong 96% of the total population; Bohemia is divided into the archbishopric of Prague, and the three bishoprics of Budweis, Königgrätz and Leitmeritz.
Education is well advanced, and Bohemia has the lowest proportion of illiterates amongst the Austrian provinces. At the head of the educational establishments stand the two universities at Prague, one German and the other Czech.
Bohemia sends 130 deputies to the Reichsrat at Vienna; the local diet, to which belong ex officio the archbishop, the three bishops, and the two rectors of the universities, consists of 242 members. For administrative purposes Bohemia is divided into ninety-four districts and two autonomous municipalities, Prague (pop. 204,478), the capital, and Reichenberg (34,204). Other important towns are Pilsen (68,292), Budweis (39,360), Aussig (37,255), Schönau (24,110), Eger (23,665), Warnsdorf (21,150), Brüx (21,525), Gablonz (21,086), Asch (18,675), Kladno (18,600), Pardubitz (17,029), Saaz (16,168), Komotau (15,925), Kolin (15,025), Kuttenberg (14,799), Trautenau (14,777), Carlsbad (14,640), Přibram (13,576), Jungbunzlau (13,479), Leitmeritz (13,075), Chrudim (13,017), Dux (11,921), Bodenbach (10,782), Tabor (10,692), Bohmisch-Leipa (10,674), Rumburg (10,382), Weipert (10,037).
See F. Umlauft, Die Länder Österreich-Ungarns in Wort und Bild, (15 vols., Vienna, 1881-1889), vol. vii.; Mikowec, Altertümer und Denkwürdigkeiten Bohmen’s (2 vols., Prague, 1859-1865); F. Rivnáĉ, Reisehandbuch fur das Konigreich Bohmen (Prague, 1882), very useful for its numerous and detailed historical notes.
(O. Br.)
History
The country derives its name from the Boii, a Celtic tribe which in the earliest historical period inhabited part of the land. According to very ancient traditions accepted by the modern historians of Bohemia, the Boii, whose capital was called Boiohemum, were weakened by continual warfare with neighbouring tribes, and finally subdued by the Teutonic tribe of the Marcomanni (about 12 B.C.). The Marcomanni were afterwards expelled by other Teutonic tribes, and eventually Bohemia was conquered by Slavic tribes, of whom the Čechs (see [Czech]) were the most important. The date of the arrival of the Čechs in Bohemia is very uncertain, and the scanty references to the country in classical and Byzantine writers are rather Slav Conquest. misleading than otherwise. Recent archaeological research has proved the existence of Slavic inhabitants in Bohemia as far back as the beginning of the Christian era. The Čechs appear to have become the masters of the country in the 5th century. The first of their rulers mentioned in history is Samo, who is stated to have defeated the Avars, a Turanian tribe which had for a time obtained the overlordship over Bohemia. Samo also defeated the Franks in a great battle that took place at Wogatisburg (630), probably near the site of the present town of Eger. After the death of Samo the history of Bohemia again becomes absolutely obscure for about 130 years. The next events that are recorded by the oldest chroniclers, such as Cosmas, refer to the foundation of a Bohemian principality by Krok (or Crocus) and his daughter Libussa. The latter is said to have married Přemysl, a peasant who was found ploughing his field—a legend that is common in most Slavic countries. Beginning with this semi-mythic ruler, the ancient chroniclers have constructed a continuous list of Přemyslide princes. Neither the deeds attributed to these princes nor the dates of their reigns can be considered as historical.
From the time of the introduction of Christianity into Bohemia the history of the country becomes less obscure. The first attempts to introduce Christianity undoubtedly came from Germany. They met with little success, as Christianity. innate distrust of the Germans naturally rendered the Bohemians unfavourable to a creed which reached them from the realm of their western neighbours. Matters were different when Christianity approached them from Moravia, where its doctrine had been taught by Cyrillus and Methodius—Greek monks from Thessalonica. About the year 873 the Bohemian prince Bořivoj was baptized by Methodius, and the Bohemians Wenceslas now rapidly adopted the Christian faith. Of the rulers of Bohemia the most famous at this period was Wenceslas, surnamed the Holy, who in 935 was murdered by his brother Boleslav, and who was afterwards canonized by the Church of Rome. As Wenceslas had been an ally of Germany, his murder resulted in a war with that country, in which, as far as we can judge by the scanty records of the time. Boleslav, the brother and successor of Wenceslas, was on the whole successful. During the reigns of Boleslav and his son, Boleslav. Boleslav II., Bohemia extended its frontiers in several directions. Boleslav II. indeed established his rule not only over Bohemia and Moravia, but also over a large part of Silesia, and over that part of Poland which is now the Austrian province of Galicia. Like most Slavic states at this and even a later period, the great Bohemian empire of Boleslav II. did not endure long. Boleslav III., son of Boleslav II., lost all his foreign possessions to Boleslav the Great, king of Poland. During his reign Bohemia was involved in constant civil war, caused by the dissensions between Boleslav III. and his brothers Jaromir and Ulrick. Though the prince succeeded in expelling his brothers from the country, his cruelty induced the Bohemians to dethrone him and to choose as their ruler the Polish prince Vladivoj. Vladivoj, brother of Boleslav the Great, and son of the Bohemian princess Ďubravka (Dobrawa). Vladivoj attempted to strengthen his hold over Bohemia by securing the aid of Germany. He consented not only to continue to pay the tribute which the Germans had already obtained from several previous rulers of Bohemia, but also to become a vassal of the German empire and to receive the German title of duke. This state continued when after the death of Vladivoj the Přemyslide dynasty was restored. The Přemyslide prince Břetislav Břetislav I. I. (1037-1055) restored the former power of Bohemia, and again added Moravia, Silesia and a considerable part of Poland to the Bohemian dominions. To obviate the incessant struggles which had endangered the land at every vacancy of the throne, Břetislav, with the consent of the nobles, decreed that the oldest member of the house of Přemysl should be the ruler of Bohemia. Břetislav was therefore succeeded first by his eldest son Spitihněv, and then by his second son Vratislav.
In 1088 Vratislav obtained the title of king from the emperor Henry IV., whom he had assisted in the struggle with the papal see which is known as the contest about investitures. Though the title of king was only conferred on Vratislav Vratislav becomes “king”. personally, the German king, Conrad III., conferred on the Bohemian prince Sobeslav (1125-1140) the title of hereditary cupbearer of the Empire, thus granting a certain influence on the election of the emperors to Bohemia, which hitherto had only obligations towards the Empire but no part in its government. In 1156 the emperor Frederick I. Barbarossa ceded Upper Lusatia to the Bohemian prince Vladislav II., and conferred on him the title of king on condition of his taking part in Frederick’s Italian campaigns. It was intended that that title should henceforth be hereditary, but it again fell into abeyance during the struggles between the Přemyslide princes which followed the abdication of Vladislav in 1173.