Czech Uprising of 1775

the largest antifeudal peasant uprising in Bohemia and Moravia from the 16th to 18th centuries.

Although a “peasant governorship” had been established in the village of Rtyně on the Náchod estate to prepare for and direct the uprising and to work out a plan of action, the uprising began spontaneously in March, spreading outward from the Hradec and Budéjovice regions. Peasants refused to perform the corvée and sacked and burned estates. The operations of the peasant detachments were not coordinated, however. On March 25 part of the insurgent forces was defeated by imperial troops near the town of Chlumec; the detachments that managed to reach Prague were dispersed. Many rebels were thrown into prison, and several were executed. In June the uprising flared up again, encompassing most of Bohemia and Moravia. At the end of August, however, it was suppressed by the army. In spite of its defeat, the uprising, taking place during a crisis in the corvée system, obliged the government to promulgate the Corvée Patent of 1775, which reduced labor services.