Authorized Access Points and Subject Headings for Moravia

Moravia, or Morava, is the name of the historical region forming the east-central part of the Czech Republic (see the dark-green-colored area on the map below).

Map of Moravia within the context of the Czech Republic
(Source: http://www.my-prague-sights.com/where-is-prague.html)

Moravia was originally a margravate that became one of the Lands of the Bohemian Crown (Země Koruny České). In the 19th century it became a distinct province of the Austro-Hungarian empire and, after 1918, one of the provinces of Czechoslovakia. After 1948, it ceased to have any jurisdictional identity, though it is still considered a distinct geographical and cultural region. The historical trajectory of Moravia is reflected in the access points relating to it, which are listed below in chronological order in Section 1; notes on the use of subject headings are given in Section 2.

1. Access points

Moravia (Margravate)
• Descriptive usage: refers to the Margravate of Moravia as a jurisdictional unit from its origins in 1182 until its end in 1849.
• Subject usage: cannot be used as a subject heading; works about this place are entered under the subject heading Moravia (Czech Republic).

Moravia (Austria)
• Descriptive usage: refers to Moravia as a province of the Austro-Hungarian Empire between 1849 and 1918.
• Subject usage: cannot be used as a subject heading; works about this place are entered under the subject heading Moravia (Czech Republic).

Moravia (Czechoslovakia)
• Descriptive usage: refers to Moravia as a province of the Czechoslovak Republic between 1918 and 1928.
• Subject usage: cannot be used as a subject heading; works about this place are entered under the subject heading Moravia (Czech Republic).

Moravia and Silesia (Czechoslovakia)
• Descriptive usage: refers to the merged province of Moravia and Silesia of the Czechoslovak Republic between 1928-1940 and 1945-1948.
• Subject usage: cannot be used as a subject heading: works about this place are entered under the subject heading Moravia (Czech Republic) and/or under the subject heading Silesia (Czech Republic).

Bohemia and Moravia (Protectorate, 1939-1945)
• Descriptive usage: refers to the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia from 1939 until 1945.
• Subject usage: can be used as a subject heading. The subdivision form is: --Czech Republic--Bohemia and Moravia (Protectorate, 1939-1945).

Moravia (Czech Republic)
• Descriptive usage: cannot be used as a descriptive access point.
• Subject usage: refers to Moravia as a jurisdictional and/or a cultural/ geographical region from its origins to the present. The subdivision form is: --Czech Republic--Moravia.

2. Subject headings

Note that the subject heading Moravia (Czech Republic) is used for works on Moravia as Margravate, Moravia as a province of the Austro-Hungarian empire from 1848 to 1918, Moravia as a province of Czechoslovakia from 1918 to 1928, and Moravia as a region within the Czech Republic. It is also used for works on the Czechoslovak province of Moravia and Silesia, existent from 1928 to 1940 and again from 1945-1948, most often in tandem with the subject heading for Czech Silesia.

There are several authorized specific history subdivisions for Moravia (Czech Republic) in the Library of Congress Subject Headings file:

Moravia (Czech Republic)--History
Moravia (Czech Republic)--History--1848-1918
Moravia (Czech Republic)--History--Mongol Invasion, 1242
Moravia (Czech Republic)--History--To 1526
Moravia (Czech Republic)--History--To 906

Note that the heading Moravia (Czech Republic)--History--To 906 is used to designate works on the Great Moravian Empire (Moravia Magna), part of which extended into the present-day territory of Moravia (see the introduction to the chapter on the Glagolitic Script), while Moravia (Czech Republic)--History--1848-1918 refers to Moravia as a province of the Austro-Hungarian empire.

Works on the history of Bohemia and Moravia together prior to 1918 should be entered under Bohemia (Czech Republic) for reasons outlined in Authorized Access Points and Subject Headings for Bohemia.

Revised: August 2015