West Slavs
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The West Slavs are Slavic peoples speaking West Slavic languages. Czechs, Kashubians, Poles, Slovaks, and Sorbs are the ethnic groups that originated from the original Western Slavic tribes. Of these, the Kashubians were assimilated by the Poles, while the Sorbs were integrated within German society; the others retained their cultural identity to this very day. The societies of the West Slavs developed along the lines of other western European nations by coming into political affiliation with the Holy Roman Empire.[1]
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[edit] History
The first known Slavic states regrouping most of the West Slavs were the Empire of Samo (7th century) and Great Moravia (ceased in 907). The Sorbs and some of the other West Slavs came under direct Holy Roman Empire domination and had been strongly assimilated by Germans at the end of 19th century. The (eastern) Poles created their own state in the 10th century, which in the 20th century assimilated the Kashubians. For many centuries Poland has close ties with its western neighbours, with the Polish ruler Bolesław I the Brave declared by Holy Roman Emperor Otto III as "Frater et Cooperator Imperii"("Brother and Partner in the Empire")[2]. The Czechs created their own state, Bohemia, in the 10th century and became part of the Holy Roman Empire as well, but Bohemia enjoyed a special status within that empire. The Slovaks gradually came under Hungarian domination in the 10th - 11th century. Both the Czechs and the Slovaks were part of the Habsburg monarchy or Austria-Hungary from 1526 to 1918.
[edit] West Slavic ethnic groups
[edit] Gallery
 Slovaks in Serbia wearing traditional dress |
 Girl in Upper Silesian dress from Mysłowice, 2006 |
 National costume of Lusatian Sorbs as traditionally worn in the northern part of Lusatia |
 National Kashubian costume |
 Road sign in German and Sorbian in Cottbus |
