Four Milestones in the Social and Economic Development of Czech Agriculture

Abstract

The development of agriculture in Czechoslovakia has a rich history. Some authors talk about two discontinuities (collectivisation and decollectivisation). However, in the almost hundred-year long evolution, at least four major turnarounds can be registered: the agrarian crisis at the turn of the century; the 1919 land reform; collectivisation after 1949; and transformation after 1989. The events of this century that acted as the most important impulses of social change are evidently WWI and WWII. Outside these events, the political-administrative form changed seven times during one hundred years (the Austro-Hungarian Empire to 1918, the First Republic 1918-1938, the Second Republic 1938-1939, the Protectorate Bohmen and Mahren under German occupational direction 1939-1945, the Czechoslovak Republic 19451960, the Czechoslovak Socialistic Republic 1960-1968, the Czechoslovak Federative Republic 1968-1993, the Czech Republic from 1993. In this enumeration is included the connection with Slovakia in 1918 and the separation of Slovakia on two occasions, in 1939 and 1993. Agriculture went through a rise as well as a deep fall in prestige in this history. Agricultural workers as a social group have gone through major ups and downs, and the present situation is not prosperous for them. The key problem of Czech agriculture is a parallelism of high indebtedness and a low rate of enterprise profit. The problem in rural areas is related to the high rate of unemployment and growing migration. The development of agriculture within the framework of the Common Agricultural Policy in Europe remains an open question. Czech Sociological Review, 2000, Vol. 8 (No. 2: 157-176) The economic importance of farming in the Czech Republic is on the decline. In spite of this, farming remains tied to the Czech countryside. It is a part of its past, present and European future. In the almost hundred-year long development of agriculture in the Czech lands and Slovakia some authors refer to two discontinuities – collectivisation and decollectivisation [Petraňova 1996: 69, Slavkovský 1995, Lescak 1995, Danglova 1995]. Reflecting deeper on farming’s historical development in the Czech lands, and later in Czechoslovakia, at least four major turnarounds can be registered, which have shaped its position within the national economy, and influenced farmers’ living conditions and subsequently the rural population’s social structure: the agrarian crisis at the turn of the century; the 1919 land reform; collectivisation after 1949; and transformation after 1989. The events of this century that acted as the most important impulses of social changes are evidently World War I and World War II. Outside these events, the politicaladministrative form was changed seven times over a hundred-year period: the AustroHungarian Empire to 1918, the First Republic 1918-1938, the Second Republic 19381939, the Protectorate Bohmen und Mahren under German occupational direction 19391945, the Czechoslovak Republic 1945-1960, the Czechoslovak Socialistic Republic *) Direct of all correspondence to Věra Majerova, Ceska zemědělska univerzita Praha, Kamýcka 129, 165 21 Praha 6, Czech Republic, tel. +420-2-2438 2900, e-mail majerova@pef.czu.cz Czech Sociological Review, VIII, (2/2000) 158 1960-1968, the Czechoslovak Federative Republic 1968-1993, and the Czech Republic from 1993. This enumeration includes the connection with Slovakia in 1918, and the separation of Slovakia both in 1939 and 1993.