History of the Moravian Region

This site is dedicated to stories and history of Moravia, our ancestors, their lives, and their emigration to the New World.

Czech out the map below to get a better idea of where the old Country is located, its neighbors, and a few historical facts.

The historic region of Moravia, East Czech Republic, is bordered by BOHEMIA (W), Slovakia (E), Czech SILESIA (N), and Austria (S). BRNO is the chief city and the former Moravian capital. Moravia consists of a fertile agricultural central valley with mountains in the east, north, and west. It is also highly industrialized, with such manufactures as steel, textiles, and shoes, and has lignite, coal, and other resources. In the 9th cent. Moravia became a great empire, ruling Bohemia, Silesia, Slovakia, and S Poland. From the early 11th cent. it was in effect a crown land of BOHEMIA, with which it passed (1526) to the HAPSBURGS of Austria. Moravia, however, retained its own diet and suffered less than Bohemia in the civil and religious strife of the 16th cent. It became an Austrian crown land in 1849. After WORLD WAR I Moravia was incorporated into the new nation of CZECHOSLOVAKIA. The MUNICH PACT (1938) transferred NW and S Moravia to Germany, which occupied (1939-45) all of Moravia during WORLD WAR II. Since 1960 the region has comprised two administrative regions, North and South Moravia. With the dissolution of Czechoslovakia (1993), Moravia became part of the Czech Republic.