Prague 2.

Prague 2.

At the end of the 16th century Prague regained its cosmopolitan character again when it became the seat of Rudolf II. On November 8, 1620 the Czech estates rose up against the Habsburg and were defeated in the Battle of the White Mountain. A few months later, in 1621, 27 representatives of the uprising were executed in the Old Town Square. The Thirty Years War, recatholicization and germanization followed.

At the end of the 18th century Prague became centre of Czech cultural life when Czech scholars and writers began process of the national revival. In 1918 Prague was capital of the independent Czechoslovakia. In 1939 it was occupied by German troops and in 1942 severely persecuted after the assassination of the Nazi deputy protector Reinhard Heydrich. After the Prague Uprising against the fascists the town was liberated by the Russian army on 9th May, 1945.

The August occupation of Prague in 1968 stopped the democratic reforms in the country and began the process of normalization. On 17th November, 1989 the Velvet Revolution began democratic changes in our society. The whole process continued with the splitting of Czechoslovakia into two independent states. Prague became the capital of the Czech Republic.