Challenge: Czech-wank

Petike in the "Turn Czechs in to German Austrians" thread:

Yet another "screw the non-German nations of central Europe" idea. :rolleyes: Really, guys ? No offence, but this is already becoming somewhat of a cliché...

So therefore, in answer to Petike's issue, I decided to make a Czech-wank challenge. Its rather simple-make Czechia, and the Czech language, have as much power, prestige, and territory as you can. To force you to be creative, however, there's one stipulation: no POD's before the Battle of Mohacs in 1526, which resulted in Czechia coming under Hapsburg control. You have to free it from them first.

My attempt: The War of Austrian Succession goes much worse for the Hapsburgs, and their Empire is partitioned. The Crown of Bohemia (including Silesia) becomes an independent country again under, say, a Wettin (which house doesn't really matter). The Germans, of course, have a dominant position in this country, and most of the nobility are Germanophone, but Czech still has some official standing, which it keeps for the rest of the 18th century.

In the 19th century, the dynamics of the Czech national awakening are different-its less an indepedence movement and more a movement emphasizing the Czech part of Bohemia's national identity. At a grassroots level, it encourages people to speak Czech and tries to stem the spread of German, and at a national level it wants Czech and German to have equal status, with parents able to choose whether their children will be educated in Czech or German. Generally, it becomes identified with Bohemia's liberals, and its main opponents are the conservative Germanophone nobility.

When TTL's equivalent of 1848 roles around, the Bohemian kings agree to the Czech movement's linguistic demands as a way of forstalling having to actually liberalize. Later in the 19th century, Bohemia has several kings who promote a conservative, romanticized version of "Czech-ness" as a way of detaching it from liberalism.

All of this means that the Germanization of Bohemia effectively stops, and reverses to some degree. In Silesia, the Czech movement becomes popular among the slavic Silesians, and the majority of them begin to identify as Czechs and send their children to Czech schools. Meanwhile, Bohemia industrializes, and lots of rural Czechs migrate into the towns and especially into Silesia. A considerable number of Poles migrate to the industrial cities of Bohemia as well, and most of them become Czechs as well (even in Silesia they have Czech communities to assimilate into at this point).

In the 20th century, Bohemia is a major industrialized nation, and one of the biggest powers in Central Europe. A census at the beginning of the 21st shows that lingustically, about 55% of the people speak Czech, 35% speak German, and 10% speak Polish. (Germans mostly live in the Sudatenland and Silesia, Poles mostly in Silesia.)

Any other Czech-wanks?
 
Petike in the "Turn Czechs in to German Austrians" thread:



So therefore, in answer to Petike's issue, I decided to make a Czech-wank challenge. Its rather simple-make Czechia, and the Czech language, have as much power, prestige, and territory as you can. To force you to be creative, however, there's one stipulation: no POD's before the Battle of Mohacs in 1526, which resulted in Czechia coming under Hapsburg control. You have to free it from them first.

My attempt: The War of Austrian Succession goes much worse for the Hapsburgs, and their Empire is partitioned. The Crown of Bohemia (including Silesia) becomes an independent country again under, say, a Wettin (which house doesn't really matter). The Germans, of course, have a dominant position in this country, and most of the nobility are Germanophone, but Czech still has some official standing, which it keeps for the rest of the 18th century.

In the 19th century, the dynamics of the Czech national awakening are different-its less an indepedence movement and more a movement emphasizing the Czech part of Bohemia's national identity. At a grassroots level, it encourages people to speak Czech and tries to stem the spread of German, and at a national level it wants Czech and German to have equal status, with parents able to choose whether their children will be educated in Czech or German. Generally, it becomes identified with Bohemia's liberals, and its main opponents are the conservative Germanophone nobility.

When TTL's equivalent of 1848 roles around, the Bohemian kings agree to the Czech movement's linguistic demands as a way of forstalling having to actually liberalize. Later in the 19th century, Bohemia has several kings who promote a conservative, romanticized version of "Czech-ness" as a way of detaching it from liberalism.

All of this means that the Germanization of Bohemia effectively stops, and reverses to some degree. In Silesia, the Czech movement becomes popular among the slavic Silesians, and the majority of them begin to identify as Czechs and send their children to Czech schools. Meanwhile, Bohemia industrializes, and lots of rural Czechs migrate into the towns and especially into Silesia. A considerable number of Poles migrate to the industrial cities of Bohemia as well, and most of them become Czechs as well (even in Silesia they have Czech communities to assimilate into at this point).

In the 20th century, Bohemia is a major industrialized nation, and one of the biggest powers in Central Europe. A census at the beginning of the 21st shows that lingustically, about 55% of the people speak Czech, 35% speak German, and 10% speak Polish. (Germans mostly live in the Sudatenland and Silesia, Poles mostly in Silesia.)

Any other Czech-wanks?
My TL Black Eagle is sort of a Czech wank I had Upper Silesia and the Krakow area be in a union with Czechia...
 
As I understand it prior to the Magyar invasions Czechs where far more widespread, getting rid of the Magyar invasions or redirecting them somewhere else seems like the best solution for that.
 
The Habsburgs are more successful, not less, is the way to do this, I think.

First things first.

The Habsburgs do not become Kings of Spain. They remain Archdukes of Austria, Kings of Bohemia and Hungary and Emperors of the Holy Roman Empire and some northern Italian posessions.

They are not as affected by the whole protestant-catholic conflict, which is mostly fought in France and the Netherlands. By the urging of the Emperor, the edict of tolerance is issued earlier.

Bohemia does nof suffer the Imperial invasion and the replacement of their nobility by Austrian-loyal Germans.

The Czech lands, including Silesia and large parts of Slovakia are the core of Habsburg territory. They remain unaffected by Habsburg wars against the Ottomans, but provide resources and troops. For this loyal service, the Habsburgs give the Czechs some privilgies.

To better rule their lands, the Habsburgs start appointing Imperial brothers as regents to their various crowns and other holdings. An Archduke is appointed regent of Bohemia (and Slovakia and Silesia). He likes the place and more or less goes native. Builds himself a palace in Prague, learns the language, has his children learn the language and is generally very well liked. His brother dies unexpectedy without heirs, and he inherits the throne. However, he keeps spending half the year in Prague, making it an unofficial second capitol, with the investments and court spending that comes with it. Prague starts to rival Vienna as the cultural capitol of Europe.

Prussia does not manage to wrest control of Silesia from Austria, but gets Saxony instead in the 7 years war.

During the partitions of Poland, Krakow and western Galizia are annexed to the Kingdom of Bohemia.

When the Napoleonic wars roll around, Austria is severely defeated, but bounces back as OTL.

German nationalism in Austria becomes more and more severe during the 19th century. Most nationalists want a Grossdeutschland, and the Czechs are the most loyal supporters of the Habsburgs. Austria loses the war against Prussia - and Germany takes western Austria and Türol instead of Silesia, which is experiencing an industrial revolution and very much Habsburg loyal.

By now, it becomes more or less fashionable by Germans that are loyal to Habsburg to learn Czech to distinguish themselves from Germans loyal to Germany.

When the Habsburg Empire breaks apart after ww1, the Kingdom of Bohemia (including Silesia) and Archduchy of Austria (eastern OTL Austria) together with Slovakia, Ruthenia and western third of Galizia (including Krakow) and small parts of western Hungary retain the Emperor as King of Bohemia and form a central European powerhouse - one that is neutral and resist German advances (it will not be as western-aligned as OTL Czechoslovakia as it will not be in the French camp post-war).
 
Interesting ideas, von Adler.

Another thing that occured to me-is there any way to make the opening phases of the Thirty Years War go better for Bohemia? One idea I had was a Protestant Wallenstein-he was born in Bohemia as a Protestant, after all, and didn't convert till several years after he started working for the Austrians. What if, instead, he'd gone to work for a Protestant state that hired mercenaries (say, the Dutch or the Swedish), stayed Protestant, then been persuaded (or sufficiently paid) to come home and command the Winter King's armies?

Or perhaps, instead of Frederick of the Palatinate, the Bohemian rebels picked someone else to be king, with a better grasp of tactics and strategy. Any ideas?
 
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