<P> The Czech Republic includes the historical territories of Bohemia, Moravia, and Czech Silesia . The Czech state was formed in the late 9th century as the Duchy of Bohemia under the Great Moravian Empire . After the fall of the Empire in 907, the centre of power transferred from Moravia to Bohemia under the Přemyslid dynasty . In 1002, the duchy was formally recognized as part of the Holy Roman Empire, becoming the Kingdom of Bohemia in 1198 and reaching its greatest territorial extent in the 14th century . Besides Bohemia itself, the king of Bohemia ruled the lands of the Bohemian Crown, he had a vote in the election of the Holy Roman Emperor, and Prague was the imperial seat in periods between the 14th and 17th century . In the Hussite Wars of the 15th century driven by the Protestant Bohemian Reformation, the kingdom faced economic embargoes and defeated five consecutive crusades proclaimed by the leaders of the Catholic Church . </P> <P> Following the Battle of Mohács in 1526, the whole Crown of Bohemia was gradually integrated into the Habsburg Monarchy alongside the Archduchy of Austria and the Kingdom of Hungary . The Protestant Bohemian Revolt (1618--20) against the Catholic Habsburgs led to the Thirty Years' War . After the Battle of the White Mountain, the Habsburgs consolidated their rule, eradicated Protestantism and reimposed Catholicism, and also adopted a policy of gradual Germanization . This contributed to the anti-Habsburg sentiment . A long history of resentment of the Catholic Church followed and still continues . With the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, the Bohemian Kingdom became part of the Austrian Empire and the Czech language experienced a revival as a consequence of widespread romantic nationalism . In the 19th century, the Czech lands became the industrial powerhouse of the monarchy and were subsequently the core of the Republic of Czechoslovakia, which was formed in 1918 following the collapse of the Austro - Hungarian Empire after World War I . </P> <P> Czechoslovakia remained the only democracy in this part of Europe in the interwar period . However, the Czech part of Czechoslovakia was occupied by Germany in World War II, while the Slovak region became the Slovak Republic; Czechoslovakia was liberated in 1945 by the armies of the Soviet Union and the United States . The Czech country lost the majority of its German - speaking inhabitants after they were expelled following the war . The Communist Party of Czechoslovakia won the 1946 elections and after the 1948 coup d'état, Czechoslovakia became a one - party communist state under Soviet influence . In 1968, increasing dissatisfaction with the regime culminated in a reform movement known as the Prague Spring, which ended in a Soviet - led invasion . Czechoslovakia remained occupied until the 1989 Velvet Revolution, when the communist regime collapsed and market economy was reintroduced . On 1 January 1993, Czechoslovakia peacefully dissolved, with its constituent states becoming the independent states of the Czech Republic and Slovakia . The Czech Republic joined NATO in 1999 and the EU in 2004 . </P> <Ul> <Li> Samo's Empire 631--658 </Li> <Li> Great Moravia 830s--907 </Li> <Li> Duchy of Bohemia 880s--1198 </Li> <Li> Kingdom of Bohemia 1198--1918 </Li> <Li> Margraviate of Moravia 1182--1918 </Li> <Li> Duchies of Silesia 1335--1742, and as Austrian Silesia 1742 - 1918 </Li> <Li> Lands of the Bohemian Crown 1348--1918 </Li> </Ul>

When did the czech republic became a country