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Bohemia was a kingdom part of the HRE. Its capital is Prague.

The history of Bohemia started to diverge when the Mongols didn't harass the country 1241/42. Because of accumulated little changes, Vladislav, older brother of Otakar Przemysl, did not die in 1247, but would have a son in 1251 and became king in 1253. Otakar insisted however, that the Przemyslid lands were split and he'd become duke of Moravia. Vladislav also inherited Austria, where the last Babenberger duke had been defeated and killed by Bela IV of Hungary. And 1254, he'd gain upper Styria, when he divided the land with Hungary. One year later, he died however, and Otakar became regent for his nephew Wenzel / Vaclav II.

Otakar tried to improve the situation, waged war against Hungary, but was defeated; all of Styria fell to Hungary. In the next few years, he had to suppress Bohemian and Austrian nobles discontent with his rule. He became a bit more humble and pragmatic in the future, looked for new allies, made peace with the Bavarian dukes and married Sophie of Wittelsbach. After he was elected Roman king Ottokar I in 1273, he attacked Hungary again in 1275 and took Styria back. After his death in 1286, the Przemyslids lost influence again however.

Bohemia and Moravia participated in the war against Poland 1301-08, in which they acquired Silesia south of the Oder.

1336, an intrafamilial contract was made by the Przemyslids: King Otakar I of Bohemia got Moravia and all of Silesia, while Wenzel II of Carinthia acquired Austria and Styria. He now governed all the German-speaking lands. Note that despite of their Czech name, the family of the Przemyslids was already more German than Czech, due to cultural influence and marriages with Germans.

In 1379, Vaclav III, who was the last of the Bohemian Przemyslids, died. The duke of Austria and Carinthia Heinrich II inherited Bohemia, Moravia and (parts of) Silesia, which made him the mightiest prince of the Holy Roman Empire by far.

The Bohemian theocracy[]

But his power wasn't lasting: 1386, the Czechs rebelled against his rule. In fact, a lot of resentiment caused by hunger, poverty and some religious quarrels was mixed in. The deposed king tried to reconquer his lands from Austria and Silesia, but since the other princes of the HRE (including the Roman king) weren't interested in helping him, Hungary had to deal with the Rum-Seljuks and Poland with the Teutonic Order, noone helped him. In Bohemia, the property of the church was confiscated, preaching in Czech and the translation of the Bible legalized, and some other reforms implemented. In 1389, the victorious Czechs formed a quasi-republic, with a parliament that elected a king. The nobles, the church, the peasants and the cities sent representatives to it, one quarter each. Heinrich had to accept the Czech independence, only got the southernmost parts of Bohemia and Moravia (which were German-settled). The electorate of Bohemia officially went to Austria.

1394/95, Black Death hit the HRE, and Bohemia suffered too.

In 1408, duke Ottokar II of Austria (and titular king of Bohemia) asked the Roman king to conquer Bohemia back for him. When king Gerhard II declined, Ottokar had himself elected anti-king with Bavarian help and started a war against Bohemia. In 1413, after his armies had been defeated severely several times by the Czech leader Prokop, he put down the crown again and apologized.

1430, Vaclav IV was elected new king in Bohemia. His government better shouldn't be mentioned in more secular times: Living completely with his head in the clouds, he claimed to listen to God and the angels. Historians of later times claimed that he simply suffered under a heavy schizophrenia. Under his reign, Bohemia was transformed into what one can only call a theocracy, with horrible results for their arts, science, economy and diplomacy.

In the years 1472-76, the Polish-Bohemian War happened. After the death of king Vaclav 1471, the Poles hoped for an easy victory, but the new king Jan II lead the Czech armies surprisingly well and drove the Poles back.

1506, Jan III the Old (also called the Good) was elected new king in Bohemia. After the difficult times of the 15th century, he cut back the radical religious groups, built up the economy and science again, and started diplomatic relations with other European powers. In 1510, the theocracy of Bohemia had to pay tribute to the Rum-Seljuks.

In the years 1566-70, Brandenburg-Silesia, Bavaria and Thuringia-Meissen (OTL Thuringia and SW Saxony) allied and fought the Bohemian theocracy in the Anti-Bohemian War, annexed the Sudetenland.

Part of Hungary[]

During 1580-87, the Bohemian-Hungarian War took place. The theocracy of Bohemia was defeated, its king sent to exile in Atlantis, to be safe. Bohemia became part of the Bourbon domain under king Ferenc I.

While the relations between the religious groups were tense at the beginning, the more enlightened government of the "Twin Princes" François / Ferenc III and Charles / Károly IV improved the situation very much. Bohemian troops fought in several wars, including the anti-French War, during which in the fall of 1687 the Bohemian army of Hungary plundered the margravate of Meissen.

After several not that abled kings, Charles / Károly VI gave the country a long time of successful government again. He even was suggested to become king of France during the succession crisis. However, he couldn't prevent the country being dragged into the French Republican Wars. In the second French Republican War, after the Winter battle of Aussig 1784, French republican armies invaded Bohemia. In the Peace of Basel, Bohemia, Moravia and the Slovak lands became the Moravian Republic, a French satellite.

New independence[]

HRE Flag  Member States of the Holy Roman Empire (Chaos TL)  HRE Flag
List of Roman kings of the HRE
Nations

Baden | Bavaria | Brandenburg | Braunschweig | Franconia | Hesse | Jülich-Berg | Luxemburg | Mecklenburg | Nassau | Netherlands | Thuringia | Württemberg

Nations that joined the HRE later: Poland | Prussia
Nations that left the HRE: Bohemia | Florence | Switzerland
Nations that became defunct

Austria | Holstein | Meissen | Münster | Osterland | Pomerania | Salzburg | Würzburg

Organisations

Alpenbund | Baltic League | Hanseatic League | Süddeutscher Städtebund

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