Moravia (redirected from Mährisch)

Moravia (mərā`vēə, mō–), Czech Morava, Ger. Mähren, region in the E Czech Republic. The region is bordered on the W by Bohemia, on the E by the Little and White Carpathian Mts., which divide it from Slovakia, and on the N by the Sudetes Mts., which separate it from Silesia and which include the Moravian Gate, a historically strategic north-south route. Central Moravia is a valley, opening in the S on Austria and drained by the Morava River and its tributaries. A fertile agricultural area that encompasses the Haná region (noted both for farming and horse breeding), Moravia has important iron and steel industries as well as diverse light industries. Diverse mineral resources, such as lignite, coal, oil, iron, copper, silver, and lead, spurred industrialization in the 20th cent. Major cities include Brno, the former Moravian capital and a leading textile center; Zlín, famous for its shoe industry; Ostrava, a coal-mining center with a large iron and steel industry; and Olomouc.

History

With Bohemia and Czech Silesia, Moravia makes up the Czech Lands, which have been the homeland of the Czechs, a branch of the Western Slavs, since they displaced the Germanic tribes that occupied the region from the 1st to the 5th cent. A.D. Before then, Moravia had been inhabited by the Celtic Boii and Cotini. Subjugated by the Avars, the Czechs freed themselves under the leadership of Samo (627–c.660), who established the first state of the Western Slavs. The state disintegrated after his death, but by the 9th cent. the Moravians, again united, formed a great empire, including Bohemia, Silesia, Slovakia, S Poland, and N Hungary. In 863 the missionaries Cyril and Methodius were sent to Moravia on the appeal of Duke Rotislav, and the Moravians accepted Christianity, placing themselves under the Roman Catholic Church. The Moravian empire reached its height under Svatopluk (d. 894), but after his death it broke apart and (early 10th cent.) fell to the Magyars.

When Emperor Otto I defeated (955) the Magyars, Moravia became a march of the Holy Roman Empire. From the early 11th cent. it was in effect a crownland of the kingdom of Bohemia, with which it passed (1526) under Austrian rule. However, Moravia retained its separate diet and was at times separated from the Bohemian crown (e.g., at periods during the Hussite Wars of the 15th cent. and from 1608 to 1611, when Bohemia was ruled by Emperor Rudolf II and Moravia by his brother Matthias). Moravia, generally more tolerant of Hapsburg authority than Bohemia, suffered less in the religious and civil strife of the 16th cent. and even experienced a flowering of Protestantism during a period of religious toleration. In 1618, however, the Czechs of Bohemia revolted and were crushed at the battle of the White Mountain by the Hapsburgs, who thereafter took reprisals against the Moravian Czechs as well. Moravia's diet was reduced to total ineffectiveness. The Moravian towns underwent thorough Germanization from the 13th cent. Under Hapsburg rule nearly the entire upper and middle classes were German; cities such as Brno, predominantly German-speaking, were surrounded by a countryside of Czech-speaking people. In 1849, following an abortive revolution during which the Czechs of Bohemia and Moravia demanded unification of their historic lands and creation of a common diet, Moravia was made an Austrian crownland.

Hapsburg rule was finally overthrown in 1918, and Moravia was incorporated into Czechoslovakia. In 1927, Moravia, with Czechoslovak Silesia, was constituted into the province of Moravia and Silesia. The German element, however, continued to play an important part in Moravian life. The Munich Pact of 1938 resulted in the annexation by Germany of Czechoslovak Silesia, of NW and S Moravia, and of N and W Bohemia (the Sudetenland). In 1939 Moravia and Bohemia became a German "protectorate."

After World War II the pre-1938 boundaries were restored, and the larger part of the German-speaking population was expelled. In 1949 the province of Moravia and Silesia was replaced by four administrative regions, and in 1960, in a new administrative reorganization, Moravia was divided into the South Moravian region (5,795 sq mi/15,009 sq km) and the North Moravian region (4,271 sq mi/11,062 sq km). On Jan. 1, 1969, the Moravian region, along with Bohemia and Czech Silesia, was incorporated into the Czech Socialist Republic, renamed the Czech Republic in 1990. The Czech Republic became an independent state when Czechoslvakia was dissolved on Jan. 1, 1993.

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Moravia

Region, central Europe. Bounded by Bohemia, Silesia, Slovakia, and northeastern Austria and crossed by the Morava River, it was inhabited from the 4th century BC. It was dominated by the Avars in the 6th and 7th centuries AD and later settled by Slavic tribes, and in the 9th century it became the state of Great Moravia and included Bohemia as well as parts of modern Poland and Hungary. It was destroyed by the Magyars in 906. In 1526 it came under Habsburg rule. After the Revolution of 1848 Moravia became an Austrian crown land with its capital at Brno. In 1918 it was incorporated into the new state of Czechoslovakia. Germany annexed parts of it in 1938; after World War II they were restored to Czechoslovakia. It was included in the Czech Socialist Republic created in 1968 and in the Czech Republic in 1993.

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Moravia¹

Alberto , pen name of Alberto Pincherle. 1907--90, Italian novelist and short-story writer: his works include The Time of Indifference (1929), The Woman of Rome (1949), The Lie (1966), and Erotic Tales (1985)

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Moravia²

a region of the Czech Republic around the Morava River, bounded by the Bohemian-Moravian Highlands, the Sudeten Mountains, and the W Carpathians: became a separate Austrian crownland in 1848; part of Czechoslovakia 1918--92; valuable mineral resources

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Moravia 

(Morava), a historical region in Czechoslovakia.

The first settlements on the territory of Moravia date to the early Paleolithic era. In about 400 B. C., Moravia was settled by Celts, who were forced out by the German Marcomanni and Quadi tribes early in the Common Era. In the mid-first millennium, the territory was settled by Slavs (including the Moravians), who became the predominant inhabitants in the sixth and seventh centuries. From 623 to 658, Moravia was part of the Slavic principality of Samo, and in the ninth and early tenth centuries it was part of the Great Moravian State (its main centers were in southern Moravia). In 1029 it became part of the holdings of the Bohemian Pfemyslids; during the period of feudal fragmentation it was divided into appanage principalities. In 1063 the Olomouc bishopric was established.

Moravia became an imperial margravate (part of the Holy Roman Empire) in 1182 and was placed under the jurisdiction of the Bohemian prince (king) in 1197. Intensive German colonization took place. The development of trade and cities and the formation of the Moravian diet and other state institutions, which took on their final form in the 14th to 16th centuries, date to the 13th century. Moravian peasants and townspeople took part in the Hussite revolutionary movement (first half of the 15th century). In the early 16th century, Reformation doctrines (Lutheranism and Anabaptism) were disseminated in Moravia. In 1526, together with Bohemia, it was placed under Hapsburg rule.

After the defeat of the anti-Hapsburg Bohemian Uprising of 1618–20, national oppression from German and germanized feudal lords increased, and a severe Catholic reaction began. In 1628 the rights of the state institutions in Moravia were curtailed, and the diet lost its significance; Moravia was virtually transformed into a province of the Hapsburg monarchy. In 1782 it was united with Austrian Silesia into one administrative unit, with its center in Brno; in 1849 it was made into a special crown land. By the early 20th century, Moravia was one of the most economically developed regions of Austria-Hungary. The cities of Brno, Ostrava, and Zlin (now Gottwaldov) were the largest centers of the workers’ movement. After the creation of the Czechoslovak republic (1918), Moravia became part of the republic. In 1938 much of Moravia was seized by fascist Germany. In March 1939, the rest of Moravia was occupied, and it became part of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia. In April and May 1945, Moravia was liberated from the fascist German aggressors by the Soviet Army. In 1949 it was divided into administrative provinces (mainly the North Moravian and South Moravian provinces). According to a constitutional law that went into effect Jan. 1, 1969, the territory of Moravia was made part of the Czech Socialist Republic of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic.