III
THE CZECHO-SLOVAKS AND THE HABSBURGS
Omitting the short period of the reign of the two kings of the Polish Jagellon, we come to the fatal date 1526.
This was the date of the accession of the Habsburg dynasty in Bohemia, the most disastrous date in the whole history of the Czech nation. From this time onwards, their struggle for the liberty of conscience, for the right of religious freedom against the Germans was embittered by the enmity of the House of Habsburg and of the Magyars.
In accepting the doctrines of John Hus, the Czechs opened the door to religious reform; and when Luther adopted these same doctrines and created a new Protestant movement, it found a warm reception in Bohemia, where a large majority of the population became Protestant.
The vicissitudes of these religious wars in Europe, from the time of Luther to the end of the Thirty Years' War, are well known. Bohemia was always the battle-ground and suffered terribly in consequence.
