The Czech Republic is a
landlocked country in Central Europe and a member state of the European Union.
The country is composed of the historic regions of Bohemia and Moravia, as well
as parts of Silesia.
The Czech lands were part of the
Austrian Empire and Austria-Hungary. The independent republic of Czechoslovakia
was created in 1918, following the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian empire
after World War I. Hitler occupied the Czech lands in March 1939 and designated
it the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, which were ruled directly by the
German state in the WWII. After World War II, pre-war