132 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY. 



the term Checliians (Czechs) is applied to the Slavs of Bohemia, whilst their 

 kinsmen in Moravia and within the border of Hvmgary are known as Moravians 

 and Slovaks. Tribal names no longer survive amongst the Chechians, but they 

 do with the Moravians. The Horaks inhabit the highlands bordering upon 

 Bohemia, and hardly differ from the Chechians. The Hanaks dwell to the east 

 of these heights, and in the valleys sloping down towards the Morava. They 

 number about 400,000 souls. The " Wallachs" live on the frontiers of Hungary. 

 They are pure Slavs, and have nothing in common with the Rumanians except 

 the name. Schafarik looks upon them as Boii who adopted the Slav language, and 

 became known to their German neighbours as Wallachs, or ** Welsh." 



The Chechiaus have had to struggle severely to maintain their numerical 

 superiority. Almost surrounded by Germans, only a narrow strip of country 

 connects them with their kinsmen in the east. The Germanisation of the country 

 made rapid progress after the twelfth century. Lands and privileges were granted 

 to the German colonists whom nobles and ecclesiastical orders called into the 

 country. It was the Germans who founded most of the towns, and towards the 

 close of the fourteenth century Bohemia was looked upon as a German land. But a 

 violent reaction then took place. The Hussite war degenerated into a war of races, 

 and the multitudes whom Zizka exterminated were Germans. Ever since that time 

 the Chechians have held their own, notwithstanding their political dependence upon 

 Germany, and the havoc wrought during the Thirty Years' "War, when the popula- 

 tion was reduced to 780,000 souls, and men were allowed to take two wives, to 

 repeople the country. 



At the present time the linguistic boundary between Slavs and Germans 

 changes but slowly. The Germans occupy the mountains, the Chechians the hills 

 and the plains. Both slopes of the Bohemian Forest, the Erzgebirge, and the 

 Sudetes are inhabited by Germans. 



The westernmost district of Europe occupied by Slavs lies close to the Pass 

 of Domazllce (Taus) and Bavaria. Its inhabitants are Poles, and not Chechians. 

 According to some they were called into the country by King Bretislav I., and 

 charged with guarding the frontier towards Germany, on which account they 

 are known as Chodes, or " Watchmen." They speak Polish no longer, but can 

 still be recognised by their vivacity and their national costume. The liberties 

 originally granted to these colonists were finally abrogated in 1628, when they 

 were reduced to a state of serfdom. Another body of Chodes, settled towards the 

 south-west, in the upper valley of the Brdlavka, or Angel, were more fortunate, 

 for they and their German neighbours retained their ancient privileges up to the 

 middle of the present century, when serfdom ceased to be an institution through- 

 out Bohemia. 



To the south of the Erzgebirge the whole of the country as far as the Eger 

 is held by the Germans, the villages whose names terminate in griin or rente 

 ("clearing") marking approximately the linguistic boundary. To the west of the 

 Elbe the Slavs extend to the foot of the mountains, and at one spot even into 

 Prussian Silesia. Farther south the territory of the Slavs is restricted to a strip 



