Moravia
2 of the 6 encyclopedias on this shelf carry an entry for Moravia. Both are reproduced below, so you can see where they agree and where they differ.
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
a western province of Austria-Hungary. It lies in the basin of the Danube. It is rich in minerals and possesses a fertile soil. The province is of especial interest to Americans on account of the part played by Moravians in the early settlement of this country. Moravia and Bohemia were among the earliest centers of the Protestant Reformation. The leaders were Huss and Jerome. The Protestants were subjected to severe persecution. Though at one time numbering 200,000 members and having over 400 churches, they were abandoned by the Protestant nations of Europe to the Austrian authorities at the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. They were compelled to return to the Catholic church or leave the country. Many migrated to Saxony, North Germany, Holland, and elsewhere. About 1740 they began to settle in Pennsylvania. They were aided by a Count Zinzendorf. They planted a large number of villages. Bethlehem was, and still is, their center. Up to the middle of the nineteenth century they were exclusive in their manners, guarding their language and customs with religious fidelity. During the last fifty years, however, they have Americanized rapidly. The church, known as the United Brethren, has extended into other states and territories. There are about 25,000 members. During the Revolutionary War they were loyal to the American cause. Read Hymn of the Moravian Nuns by Longfellow.
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
a N. W. province or crownland of the Austrian Empire until the World War (1914-1918); area, 8,583 square miles. It is inclosed by the Carpathians and other mountains, and belongs almost entirely to the basin of the March or Morava, a tributary of the Danube. The minerals are of considerable importance, . and include i Nearly 97 per cent. of the soil is produc iron, coal, graphite, and slate tive. Fruit is very abundant, and large quantities of wine are annually produced. Sheep in great numbers, and cattle, are reared. Moravia is the most imavia portant manufacturing province of the ons. Degree empire, after Austria proper and Bohemia. Its woolen industries are of worldwide fame. The chief towns are Brünn, Olmütz, Znaim, and Iglau. About 70 per cent. of the inhabitants are Slavonians (Czechs) and nearly 30 per cent. Germans. In 1029 Moravia was united to the kingdom of Bohemia, with which it passed to Austria in 1526. After the World War (1914-1918), by the terms of the peace treaty, a part of the state of Czecho-Slovakia. Pop. about 2,700,000.
What Has Changed in the Last Century
Collier's caught the transition in 1921, noting that Moravia had just passed from Austria to Czecho-Slovakia; what it could not know is that the crownland itself would be abolished, merged with Silesia in 1928 and today split among Czech administrative regions with no governmental existence of its own, though Moravian identity remains strong. The nearly 30 per cent German-speaking population Collier's counted was almost entirely expelled in 1945-46 under the postwar transfers, leaving the region overwhelmingly Czech; the German town names have gone with them, so Brünn is Brno, Olmütz is Olomouc, Znaim is Znojmo and Iglau is Jihlava. Czechoslovakia itself dissolved peacefully on 1 January 1993, putting Moravia in the Czech Republic. Aiton's figure of about 25,000 Moravian Brethren in America is long out of date: the worldwide Unitas Fratrum now numbers close to a million, with its largest membership in Tanzania rather than Pennsylvania, though Bethlehem remains a historic centre.
Written for this edition, 2026.