Regional identities of Czech historical lands

Abstract

Bohemia and Moravia are historical lands, which constitute Czechia (together with a small part of Silesia) since the 10 th century. Two entirely diff erent sett lement systems can be identifi ed in Czechia: the centralistic Bohemian sett lement system surrounded by a ring of mountains, and the transitional and polycentric Moravian sett lement system. The two lands were physically divided by a border forest. Although they have belonged always to the same state, their autonomy was relatively high until the formation of the Czechoslovak Republic in 1918. In 1948, a new administrative division was introduced, which did not respect the border between the two lands. Bohemia and Moravia kept their importance as diff erent cultural units only. The main research question addressed in this paper is how the Bohemian and Moravian identities are perceived by the people today and whether it makes any sense to consider the historical lands seriously when rethinking the idea of the Europe of regions.

Transformation of the identity of a region: Theory and the empirical case of the perceptual regions of Bohemia and Moravia, Czech Republic

“…Brownell, 1960;Didelon-Loiseau et al, 2018;Good, 1981;Hale, 1984;Holmén, 2017;Homanyuk, 2019;Jordan, 1978;Lamme and Oldakowski, 2007;Lowry, 2013;Lowry et al, 2008;Shortridge, 1980Shortridge, , 1985Shortridge, , 1987Siwek and Bogdová, 2007;Siwek andKaňok 2000a, 2000b;Raitz, 1981, 1982;Zdorkowski and Carney, 1985. The purpose of such studies, however, is mostly to delimit regions existing in people's minds -thus, the theory of regions is of little relevance to them. Others do care about the theory, but their contribution to the discussion of a region's transformation is rather limited (Heath, 1993;Semian, 2012aSemian, , 2012bŠimáček, 2012, 2013;Vaishar andZapletalová, 2016, Vukosav, 2011).…”

“…People perceive historical land boundaries very differently -a transformation of their territorial shape has occurred. Some authors (Marek, 2015;Siwek andKaňok, 2000a, 2000b;Vaishar and Zapletalová, 2016) attribute these effects to the administrative reforms after 1948. But is the extent of the transformation the same along the length of the historical land boundaries?…”

Regional identity and the renewal of spatial administrative structures: The case of Podolia, Ukraine

“…(2004), which concluded that traditional historical regions persist for a long time in the minds of people, and that their centres are clear but the borderline is fuzzy and often equated with administrative boundaries. The factual boundaries play an important role in shaping regional identity because they help people define and perceive "their" region (Vaishar and Zapletalová, 2016).…”

Economic and Social Impacts of Promoting Cultural Heritage Protection by the Czech Rural Development Programme 2007–2013

“…This process lasted for the whole decade in the 1990s and influenced the agricultural sector and also rural settlements in the Czech Republic (Pělucha, 2012; Bičík, Jančák, 2005; Chromý, Jančák, Marada, Havlíček, 2011; Věžník, Bartošová, 2004). Currently, it can be observed that there are efforts being made by regional and local authorities in looking for ways to restore a local identity, that is very differentiated in the Czech Republic (Šifta, Chromý, 2014;Chromý, Janů, 2003, Vaishar, Zapletalová, 2016. This is reflected in the functional approach to rural areas.…”