Peasants at Chlumec (end up like peasants at Chlumec)

The simile “to end up like peasants at Chlumec” is used in a situation when a person fails at something or something ends so badly and unfortunately that it could not be worse. It refers to a conflict between rebellious peasants and the imperial army on 26 March 1775.

The peasant revolt was caused by a combination of several factors. Apart from excessive corvée, which the nobility required from the peasants above the level defined by law, in the 1760s and 1770s the Czech lands were stricken by crop failure, which resulted in high prices of cereals and famine. Motivated by a rumour that the authorities were keeping a secret the existence of the “gold patent” which gives serfs freedom, in January 1775 the first signs of revolt appeared around Bruntál and Náchod. The so-called peasant guberno was founded in February, attempting to settle corvée obligations. In March, however, the peasants began attacking aristocratic seats, demolished their fittings, ate the food from the cellars and tried to make the authorities stop imposing corvée on them. Campaigns were organised and a sense of solidarity required peasants to join. In March, the government sent an army, which suppressed the revolt in most places without bloodshed.

The exception was Chlumec nad Cidlinou, where on 25 March a band of 600-1000 peasants tried to enter the town by force and a day later stood up against the arriving army near Chlumec chateau. Virtually unarmed peasants were routed after only a few volleys, during which 24 of them were either killed in battle or drowned in a fishpond while fleeing. In court trials, along with the rest of the rebels, seven people who had committed crimes against Church property and sacrilege were executed. The rest of the rebels were given lighter sentences. Although it was not a large battle, the sheer failure of such an unusually widespread and well-organised resistance against the authorities reverberated among the peasants. It also gave rise to the simile, which became a symbol of a tragic, unfortunate and utter failure. A memorial was erected on the battle’s location in 1938.