Communist Regime In Czechoslovakia Research Articles

“They Would Imprison Us Both!” – The Matura Exam at Secondary Technical Schools During the Normalisation Period in Socialist Czechoslovakia (1969–1989)

ABSTRACT The study focuses on matura exams conducted at secondary technical schools in Czechoslovakia during the so-called normalisation period (1969–1989). It describes their form, organisation and course. At the same time, however, it also presents the practice (including the reasons for this practice) that the communist regime in Czechoslovakia used to influence the exams. The text is based on the recollections of eyewitnesses – secondary technical school teachers, obtained through the oral history method within the historiographical approach of the history of everyday life, as well as on the study of historical archival sources, period legislation and periodicals. In addition to the actual form, organisation and course of the matura exam at secondary technical schools, the study shows how teachers and students coped with the challenges posed by the communist regime in relation to the exams.

Negotiating the representations of the village in socialist Czechoslovakia

Abstract This study deals with shared ideas about the countryside and its inhabitants during the Communist regime in Czechoslovakia. It identifies the most significant sources of contemporary representations of the rural. These include, besides historical ideas pre-dating the regime, the party-state itself, expert structures, the arts, and pop culture. In many cases, representations encompassed efforts to transform the countryside, or society, or to maintain the status quo, and, following de Certeau, we can consider such activities to be strategies. On the other hand, villagers approached these representations and strategies using their own tactics. This study demonstrates that rural policymaking was not just in the hands of power structures; the effects it had depended a great deal on the dominated rural inhabitants.

Censorship without censorship. Media management in late communist Czechoslovakia

The study describes media censorship and propaganda at the end of the communist regime in Czechoslovakia. It explores the clash between repression and consensus in state-controlled media within the context of historical and media research. The research is based on archival documents from the Czechoslovakian censorship office, specifically the Federal Office for Press and Information. The historical analysis gradually outlines six critical principles of media supervision: Detailed monitoring, editor-in-chief discipline, minimum preliminary censorship, maximum self-censorship, subsequent moderate censorship, and constant propaganda updates. Together, this created a specific system of ‘censorship without censorship’, in which an authoritarian state effectively controlled the media with a minimum of direct pressure.

In the Shadow of the KGB: Legacy of Czechoslovak Intelligence (1948–1989)

Although Czechoslovak foreign intelligence operated in dozens of countries throughout the world between 1948 and 1989, interfering significantly in their political development in some cases, it is still a neglected actor in the history of the secret services. The aim of this study is to clarify the nature of Czechoslovak foreign intelligence and to assess its activities and the types of intelligence work on which it focused. In addition to the organizational structure and its changing face during the various phases of the Cold War, this study also focuses on the most important intelligence operations run by Czechoslovak intelligence abroad, its links to the Soviet State Committee for Security, and its collaboration with other Eastern bloc intelligence services. The second part of this study focuses on the processes leading to the declassification of intelligence documents after the collapse of the communist regime in Czechoslovakia and outlines how to critically interpret and evaluate these surviving archive materials in Cold War history research.

„Radila jsem se již několikrát s archiváři...“ – několik poznámek k problematice fyzického stavu a konzervace rukopisu Julia Fučíka Reportáž, psaná na oprátce

Julius Fučík’s most important literary work, Notes from the Gallows, is one of the most translated Czech texts, as well as one of the most controversial. Whether it was caused by the extraordinary life story and extravagant personality of its author, communist journalist and resistance fighter Julius Fučík (1903–1943), or the long-lasting dispute concerning both its contents and circumstances of its origin. Yet, the authenticity of the text was finally subsustimated by the expert forensic report in the early 1990s. At the same time, however, the suspicion of the censorship of Fučík’s original text was confirmed. Even though the book was repeatedly published, its manuscript remained inaccessible to the public as the property of Fučík’s widow Gusta Fučíková (1903–1987). It was only after her death in 1987 when the original Fučík’s autograph became a part of the collection of the Klement Gottwald Museum, a party museum controlled by the monopolistic Communist party government. With the collapse of the Communist regime in Czechoslovakia, the newly established Museum of the Workers’ Movement required the manuscript. Finally, in 2014, they donated it, together with their other collections, to the National Museum. This change enabled an extensive conservation and restoration collaborative research carried out by the National Museum and the University of Chemistry and Technology (VŠCHT). The manuscript of Notes has been stored in so-called glass sandwiches since the early 1950s. They consisted of 167 slips of paper – on which the individual passages of Notes used to be smuggled out of Pankrác prison – inserted in plastic films and put (usually three and three on every side) between two durable glass plates. Unfortunately, this seemingly safe and precise storage method did not prevent gradual degradation of selected snippets. Therefore, it was decided to launch a physical condition investigation during which experts revealed significant differences from the declared conservation method, including the absence of alleged protection against ultraviolet radiation by supposedly ultraviolet-resistant glass. Further research and verification of the causes of paper degradation will determine the final nature of the restoration procedure and the subsequent method of storage of Fučík’s manuscript.

Czeskie rozliczenia z komunizmem po 1989 roku. Rozwiązania prawne i instytucjonalne

The collapse of the communist regime in Czechoslovakia in 1989 required settlement with the past on many levels. This applies especially to settlements with communism. In the first years after change of the regime, many legal solutions were adopted to align accounts with the past, but in parallel the communist party was allowed to function. Only very few communist functionaries responsible for crimes were sentenced, however, many symbolic changes were carried out. It took more time to create the institutional framework - institutions dealing with the period 1948-1989 in Czech history. In recent years, the importance of this topic in Czech public life has increased again. The purpose of this article is to analyze legal, formal and institutional solutions and their functioning in the practice of the Czech Republic. The legal acts, institutions as well as the effects of their functioning and actions in the last 30 years have been examined.

State-run celebration of Liberation Day in Czechoslovakia (based on audiovisual sources)

The article deals with the history of celebrating the Liberation Day in Czechoslovakia organised by the state. Various aspects of the history of the holiday have been considered with the extensive use of audiovisual documents (materials from Czechoslovak newsreels and TV archives), which allowed for a detailed analysis of the propaganda representation of the holiday. As a result, it has been possible to identify the main stages of the historical evolution of the celebrations of Liberation Day, to discover the close interdependence between these stages and the country’s political development. The establishment of the holiday itself — its concept and the military parade as the main ritual — took place in the first post-war years, simultaneously with the consolidation of the Communist regime in Czechoslovakia. Later, until the end of the 1960s, the celebrations gradually evolved along the political regime, acquiring new ritual forms (ceremonial meetings, and “guards of memory”). In 1968, at the same time as there was an attempt to rethink the entire socialist regime and the historical experience connected with it, an attempt was made to reconstruct Liberation Day. However, political “normalisation” led to the normalisation of the celebration itself, which played an important role in legitimising the Soviet presence in the country. At this stage, the role of ceremonial meetings and “guards of memory” increased, while inventions released in time for 9 May appeared and “May TV” was specially produced. The fall of the Communist regime in 1989 led to the fall of the concept of Liberation Day on 9 May, resulting in changes of the title, date and paradigm of the holiday, which became Victory Day and has been since celebrated on 8 May.

In communist Geneva: Portuguese political opposition and Czechoslovakia, 1950s–1970s

Abstract This article deals with the activities of the opposition in Czechoslovakia to the Portuguese New State government during the 1950s to 1970s. It focuses on the most important personalities living in the country and explores their encounters with the communist regime in Czechoslovakia. The article also analyses the approach of the Czechoslovak government towards the Portuguese activists and the assistance is offered to Portuguese emigrants in the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic (ČSSR – Československá Socialistická Republika). Special attention is paid to the meeting of representatives of the Portuguese opposition in Prague in January 1964, and to the perception these Portuguese residents had of the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia. It follows the activities of the remaining emigrants in Czechoslovakia up until the Carnation Revolution of 25 April 1974. Finally, the author describes the relations between both countries on cultural exchanges and Portuguese students in Czechoslovakia after 1974.

Czeskie lokalne struktury opozycyjne w 1989 r. w perspektywie oral history

Studies Czech Opposition Structures at the Local Level in 1989 through the Eyes of Oral History is devoted to the description and analysis of anti-regime activities of czech society at the level of towns and regions. The main source of knowledge are mainly interviews with the participants, led by the method of oral history. The aim of the study is primarily to show the variety of activities that took place at the local level, despite the repressive power of the communist regime in Czechoslovakia.

Czechoslovakia on Hold: The Period of 'Normalization'

Two years after the Soviet invasion of Hungary, Janos Kadar, the leader installed by the Soviets was already proclaiming that 'anyone who is not against us is for us.' Two years after the invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968, only the highest levels of party and government had been effectively 'normalized.' The real purges were yet to come, and they continued for many years. In the 1980s, when the East European communist states were compared with regard to degree of reform, Hungary usually headed the list, while Czechoslovakia was usually ranked near the bottom, along with Rumania. Because of the massive rollback of reforms and extensive purges of reformists it is easy to see this as evidence that the Soviets simply wanted to crush the Prague Spring, and that they eventually achieved what they had wanted from the start. Largely overlooked is how difficult it was for the Soviet leadership to make up its collective mind as to whether the Czechoslovak reform movement represented salvation for the communist regime in Czechoslovakia, or whether it represented a mortal danger to that regime. Evidence of both attitudes abounds throughout the pre-intervention period, and this profound ambivalence in Soviet attitudes toward the reform movement goes a long way toward accounting for the oscillations in Soviet policy toward Czechoslovakia during the Prague Spring.

Dealing with the communist past: Its role in the disintegration of the Czech Civic Forum and in the emergence of the Civic Democratic Party

The end of the communist regime in Czechoslovakia in 1989 has opened the thorny question of how to deal with the communist legacy. This paper focuses on important aspects of decommunization at the beginning of the 1990s and analyzes the role they played in the disintegration of the Civic Forum and in the emergence of the Civic Democratic Party. The paper shows that the decommunization agenda gradually became a significant divisive factor within the Civic Forum and served as one of the key issues through which the Civic Democratic Party defined itself. It also provided an opportunity for politicians skilled enough to grasp this issue to do so and to incorporate it into their wider political agendas.

Between small everyday practices and glorious symbolic acts: sport-based resistance against the communist regime in Czechoslovakia

This essay presents a socio-historical interpretation of sport-based resistance against the communist regime in Czechoslovakia. It argues that the sphere of sport was never absolutely subordinated to the prevailing political order and it maintains that sport provided a space for expressions of resistance. Such resistance is not just evident in cases of large demonstrations during which Czech and Slovak sport celebrities reinforced public protests with grand symbolic and mass-mediated gestures. The same level of importance to opposition against the dominant power can be attributed to small everyday practices. Hence, while considering glorious acts of resistance and protest with a large-scale impact, the study simultaneously explores subtle and everyday subversive strategies that have appeared in public participation in sport. The study is based on a secondary analysis of documents and on semi-structured interviews with a number of representatives from the Czech sport movement.

The representation of the Cold War: the Peace and the War camps in Czechoslovakia, 1948–1960

The purpose of the paper is to analyse the socialist representation of East and West Camps in Czechoslovakia, during the founding period of the 1950s. After investigating the origins of the Peace Movement, I analyse how the Peace and the War Camps were represented, and how the representation of ‘the other’ (in this case, the West) also revealed the (both idealised and actual) self-images and intents of the Communist regime in Czechoslovakia.

A handbook of Czech prose writing: 1940-2005

The turbulent events of World War II and the subsequent communist regime in Czechoslovakia strongly restricted Czech writers freedom of expression. Many sought and found literary freedom in exile. As Czech literature was developing in two very different locations and conditions, writers on both sides created diverse, yet extraordinarily interesting and commendable works; all were united in their wish to see their homeland liberated from the totalitarian regime. The suffering and generally adverse conditions of those who stayed at home are reflected in the works written both at home and in exile, especially after the two parties found secret ways of communicating between themselves. Many works abound in wit and humour, despite the difficult circumstances. After the fall of communism had brought the desired freedom of expression for all writers, the recent past still occasionally echoes in Czech literary works, but is written and read from new perspectives. As the dark age now seems to be gradually falling into oblivion, it is important to be reminded that even in the darkest times talented writers were alert to Czech national and literary undertones, and produced works which English-speaking readers would find new, fresh and captivating. While the availability of books in English may be still in a minority, synoptic interpretations of prose writings not yet translated to English provided in this Handbook add integral features that help to complete the picture of life at a time when cultural links between two parts of Europe were painfully severed.

The 6th Prague International Conference on Child Development and Personality Formative Processes

When the 6th Prague International Conference was announced in September 1989, the organisers can have had little idea that within two months the communist regime in Czechoslovakia would collapse and the Berlin wall be breached. The conference was postponed until August 1991. That week the failed Soviet coup led to the disbandment of the USSR as such. It was an exciting time to visit Prague. It was a disconcerting time too, I was still not sure whether my contribution was meant to be a poster or a paper. Writing received no response, fax machines were unavailable, phoning at first resulted in repeated Sprechen Sie Deutsch? but eventually in an assurance that my accommodation had been booked So I arrived as Rusyne airport with a paper and a poster, having ascertained during the journey that delegates to two other unrelated conferences in Prague had had similar experiences!

Neuroscience in Czechoslovakia

The collapse of the communist regime in Czechoslovakia revealed not only the disastrous state of the Czechoslovak economy but also the serious problems that Czechoslovak science faces. Understanding the present situation and determining the best way to improve it requires careful analysis of the development of science during the past 40 years.

Variations of Temptation —: Václav Havel's Politics of Language

Variations of Temptation Vaclav Havel's Politics of Language MARKETA GOETZ-STANKIEWICZ .. , truth is not merely what we are thinking. but also why, to whom and under what circumstances we say it. (Temptation, Scene 6) When approaching a play by V~clav Havel, a critic or commentator is bound to have certain preconceptions. He knows that Havel is one of the most famous "dissidents" of the Communist regime in Czechoslovakia, that none of his plays has been performed in official theatres there, that he has been harassed and imprisoned several times during the last dozen years. (In 1979-1983 he was incarcerated for four years; in early 1989 he was imprisoned again, after being charged with "incitement".) Despite all tbis (or is it because of it?), his eloquent politico-philosophical essays as well as his plays have been translated into and performed in many languages. Here, critics are bound to argue, we obviously have a literary figure whose life and writings are so closely interwoven with the political situation in his country that we have a ready-made package-deal guide to the interpretation of his works. Journalists, reviewers, and academic commentators have seemed to follow this obvious approach and discussed Havel's writings largely as the direct outcome of what he has been observing in his own society. The "dissident playwright"label has stuck hard and fast to Havel's image. But does it do him justice? In this essay I propose to peel off the label and let the reader decide whether he wishes to stick it back on again after - and if - he or she has read my remarks. In true Havelesque spirit we must first clarify some assumptions: What is "political theatre"? Is not drama, dealing mostly with human conflicts and tensions, "political" by its very nature? However, as we wisely put aside this vast question, other related questions begin to sprout like mushrooms after a warm rain. Let us take some examples. Is Hamlet a political play? Brecht certainly thought so. Is Medea's monomania a political statement made by Euripides, as 94 MARKETA GOETZ-STANKlEWICZ Jan Kott felt it was? Is Hochhuth's The Deputy a political play? "Of course," answers the fictional drama critic to whom we now give the floor; "after all, it deals with Pope Pius XII's collaboration with Hitler." Camus's Le Malentendu? "Yes, because it portrays characters whose hope for a better existence drives them to murder." Tom Stoppard's Professiollal Foul? "Yes, ofcourse; the play features a smuggled manuscript, a philosophical text that was considered subversive by a totalitarian government." Peter Handke's Kaspar? "Yes indeed, because it shows the process by which an innocent mind is moulded to perceive the world in a way approved of by an ailing society." Peter Shaffer's Amadeus? "Why certainly; after all, it shows how a genius is ignored by a stupid and bigoted regime while a mediocre musical hack is allowed to flourish... It is clear that these admittedly random references will not lead us anywhere. But neither, let it be said, do many of the numerous volumes that have been written on "political theatre." In his impressive Geschichte des politischen Theaters, which is perhaps most useful in our context, Siegfried Melchinger argues that plays from the past deserve to be called "political theatre" only if they are still playahle, in other words meaningful, today. This, Melchinger stresses, does not mean that "political theatre" treats politics in the light of "eternal values"; I it must concretely show whatever we mean by "politics" (power, ruling systems, war, violence) and must make the audience go through the process of recognizing an experience by seeing it acted out. In Havel's case, the audience that would "recognize" its own experience in his plays has not been able to see a play by Havel for the last twenty years. But this does not mean that we, his contemporaries under another political system, do not undergo some process of recognizing our own experience. To explore this, let us first go back to Havel and to a more pragmatic beginning. In the afterword to a selection of his plays written in 1976 Havel ironically defines...

Variations of Temptation — Vaclav Havel's Politics of Language

When approaching a play by Vaclav Havel, a critic or commentator is bound to have certain preconceptions. He knows that Havel is one of the most famous "dissidents" of the Communist regime in Czechoslovakia, that none of his plays has been performed in official theatres there, that he has been harassed and imprisoned several times during the last dozen years. (In 1979—1983 he was incarcerated for four years; in early 1989 he was imprisoned again, after being charged with "incitement".) Despite all tbis (or is it because of it?), his eloquent politico—philosophical essays as well as his plays have been translated into and performed in many languages. Here, critics are bound to argue, we obviously have a literary figure whose life and writings are so closely interwoven with the political situation in his country that we have a ready—made package—deal guide to the interpretation of his works. Journalists, reviewers, and academic commentators have seemed to follow this obvious approach and discussed Havel's writings largely as the direct outcome of what he has been observing in his own society. The "dissident playwright"label has stuck hard and fast to Havel's image. But does it do him justice? In this essay I propose to peel off the label and let the reader decide whether he wishes to stick it back on again after — and if — he or she has read my remarks.