Czech Side Research Articles

Factors determining changes in the network of marked hiking trails in the Sudetes

Hiking trails are a basic type of tourist infrastructure, which, on the one hand, make areas available for tourist traffic, and on the other hand, can contribute to the protection of the natural environment (if they are well designed and maintained). Owing to the variety of performed functions, their designation is determined by several factors: natural, technical, economic, social. Networks of trails change constantly. The aim of this article is to determine exactly what factors influence transformations within the hiking trail networks and what is their significance. To this end, three study areas in the Sudetes were analysed: one on the Polish side of the Sudetes–the Table (Stołowe) Mountains, and two on the Czech side–the rock town near the village of Sloup v Čechách and the central part of Zlatohorská vrchovina. An analysis of changes in the shape of the networks over time was carried out, as well as surveys of institutions that were responsible for or influenced these transformations. These areas are characterised by a significant level of changes in the trail network. Among the factors influencing these changes, the tourist attractiveness of the area, the resilience of the environment, the intensity of tourism traffic, the environmental transformations associated with it, the history of tourism development and land ownership changes should be considered the most important. At each stage of forming networks, the key factor should be tourists’ needs, including the desire to escape the urbanised environment. For this reason, trails should avoid roads with artificial (hard) surfaces and heavy automobile traffic.

Polish Sceptics and Czech Optimists: Perception of the Development within Euroregion Beskydy

The openness of space is one of the fundamental ideas behind the existence of the European Union. The benefits arising from this should outweigh the disadvantages associated with it. An advantage of openness is the possibility of integrating border regions of different countries into a consistent functional whole where cross-border cooperation takes place. Resulting mechanisms can lead to endogenously driven development of the territories that are typically on the periphery of their countries. However, reality is much more diverse. This is valid also in case of Central and Eastern European countries, where general socioeconomic processes take different forms in different regions and places. The same holds true also for territorial units, such as Euroregions that represent one of the most remarkable geographical embodiments of European integration. At the same time, they constitute one of the institutionalised forms of cross-border cooperation. Euroregions bear a twofold importance in postcommunist countries that for a long time suffered from pretty limited cross-border interactions and cooperation. Our article delves into the municipalities of Euroregion Beskydy at the Polish-Czech border. The main objective of the paper is to analyse and assess strengths and weaknesses of the development as perceived by Polish and Czech municipalities in the framework of Euroregion Beskydy. The article concentrates primarily on a qualitative dimension of the whole issue. This is partly supplemented by a quantitative perspective. The investigation mirrors the state of municipalities on Czech and Polish sides of Euroregion Beskydy from the perspective of municipal managements. From the methodical perspective, the questionnaire was utilised. This allowed respondents to identify the principal strengths and weaknesses of their municipalities based on their own knowledge and perceptions. The questions had a nominal character, and by aggregating similar responses, broader, consistent categories of strengths and weaknesses were established and analyzed. Respondents could name principal strengths and weaknesses of their municipalities on the basis of their own perception. The purpose was to identify substantial developmental domains or problem characteristics in individual municipalities of the researched Euroregion. At the same, it has been found out to what extent optimistic or pessimistic moods are prevailing in individual municipalities of the Euroregion. The research question posed in the framework of this paper is as follows: what are the most frequently mentioned strengths of municipal development at Polish and Czech side of Euroregion Beskydy? The results brought an interesting difference in the perception of the municipal development within Euroregion Beskydy. Respondents on the Polish side of the Euroregion can be characterised by higher rate of scepticism when compared with their Czech counterparts. On the Czech side of the Euroregion, slightly optimistic view on municipal lives is prevailing.

Deepening Czech-American Cooperation after 2022

The article examines the features of Czech-American cooperation after the start of the Special military operation in Ukraine. It is noted that, despite the high status of bilateral relations since the Velvet Revolution of 1989, the Russian-Ukrainian conflict contributed to the intensification of cooperation. It was revealed that the United States has focused on strengthening cooperation in the areas of energy security and military-technical cooperation. The rapprochement of positions, as the author of the work notes, occurred on the basis of the ideological heritage of the first President of the Czech Republic, Vaclav Havel. It was noted that a change of government will not lead to a change in foreign policy orientation due to the volume of existing obligations assumed by the Czech side in the period 2022-2023.

Plany życiowe mieszkańców pogranicza polsko-czeskiego na tle porównawczym

The article concerns a part of the research carried out among learners and university students from the Polish-Czech border area (Prudnik, Nysa and Opole counties on the Polish side and Moravian-Czech district on the Czech side) within the Pradziad Euroregion Project. The theoretical aim of the project was to get to know the lifestyle and quality of life of the inhabitants of the Czech-Polish border area, their life plans and identity, as regards the activities of the Pradziad Euroregion, as well as the knowledge of young borderland inhabitants about the life and problems of their neighbours from abroad. The practical aim of the project was to raise awareness of the role of quality of life for the functioning of the society by popularising the issue (conferences, publications) and the possibility of enriching the knowledge of these young inhabitants. This article presents only the part of the research that deals with respondents’ opinions on life plans in the context of the Polish-Czech borderland. The analysis was focused on one of the specific questions of the research: What are the life plans of pupils and university students from the Polish-Czech borderland? The research results refer to the declarations related to plans to stay in the homeland, perceptions of the respondents’ place of residence, or perceptions of the different qualities of their own towns and countries. In the data analysis, statistical methods related to testing the statistical significance of differences between variables with the Chi-square test (x2) were applied.

The Turów Brown Coal Mine in the shadow of an international conflict: Surveying the actions of the European Union Court of Justice and the populist policies of the Polish government

This article analyzes the main dividing lines in the conflict over the future of the Turów opencast mine in the Turoszów Basin. Due to the lack of public consultations and the extension of the mine's operation regardless of its environmental impact, the Czech government filed a complaint against the policy of the Polish government to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) demanding that the mine be closed and its expansion stopped. In May 2021, the CJEU applied an interim measure pending final consideration of the case and ordered the mine to be closed. The current operation of the Turów mine may be a living social laboratory where it is possible to analyze all the challenges and conflicts in the absence of a planned energy transition plan agreed with all social partners. In addition to the governments of Poland and the Czech Republic, the parties to the conflict are the region's residents, mining trade unions, environmental organisations and residents of border towns on the Czech side, who have problems with access to water due to the operation of the mine.

Transformation as transnational process: German-Czech economic relations after 1989

ABSTRACT The article deals with German-Czech economic relations after 1989, focusing on foreign direct investment and joint ventures, the role of the German-Czech Chamber of Industry and Commerce as well as on German consulting assistance in the Czech Republic. It demonstrates that both sides were strongly interested in cooperating with each other, but that there were also problems and ambiguities. Due to its rather “nationalist” privatization strategy, the Czech side was generally critical of foreign interference. Regarding German-Czech economic cooperation, it had to deal with painful memories of National Socialism as well as with restitution claims by (parts of) the expelled German population group. This fuelled the fear of German “colonization”, which could only partly be dispelled by the German side. In fact, German representatives often displayed a certain superiority, but at the same time knew rather little about the Czech Republic. The article concludes that 1989 was not a caesura in every respect, but that historical legacies played an important role during the 1990s. Furthermore, the example of German-Czech economic relations refutes narratives suggesting that the East adapted or assimilated to the West and makes it clear that the post-socialist transformation was a non-linear and conflictual transnational process.

The Relationship Between the Inhabitants of the City Divided by the Border with Polish and Czech Cultural Institutions in the Context of Cultural Education

Purpose: The aim of the article is to define the factors that affect the relationship between the inhabitants of the city divided by the border with Polish and Czech cultural institutions, in terms of cultural education. Design/Methodology/Approach: The survey was conducted using the CATI (Computer-Assisted Telephone Interview) technique in October and November 2019 on a randomly selected sample - 1035 inhabitants of Cieszyn (555 respondents from Poland) and Czech Cieszyn (480 people from the Czech side). The acquired data was subjected to factor analysis and SEM (Structural Equation Modelling) analysis. Findings: The results of the SEM analysis confirmed that the instruments identified by the authors had a positive (stimulating) effect on the tendency of the inhabitants of the city divided by the border to establish relations with Polish and Czech cultural institutions. The article proves that the activities of cultural institutions located both on the Polish and Czech sides of the city of Cieszyn - Czech Cieszyn, divided by the border, have a positive impact on establishing relationships between cultural entities and the inhabitants of the city divided by the border. Practical Implications: The analysed instruments can be used in the process of shaping long-term relationships with recipients of the cultural offer on both sides of the border. Originality/value: The article shows that the marketing instruments identified by the authors can also be used in the broadly understood process of cultural education.

Behind the Curtains of the Czech-Russian Diplomatic Conflict

As a result of the Czech-Russian political conflict that began on April 17-18, 2021, there appeared trends in the relations between Russia and Central European countries that are capable of rolling them back to the period of "velvet revolutions”. The conflict started with diplomatic withdrawals on the Czech side and then on the Russian, gradually had been enriched by the new and new accusations thus transforming it into a general political conflict, the unprecedented escalation of tension between Moscow and Central Europe since transformational revolutions here. At the same time, it revealed the intentions of the sides to seek recognition of their rightness at any cost. The history of this largest confrontation between Prague and Moscow since 19G8 is based on the unsettled nature of many issues of post-Soviet coexistence, such as the parity of diplomatic representation, as a result of which the Russian embassy in Prague turned into the second largest after London. In addition, there was a lack of political reform of in the Czech-Russian relations, taking into account the Czech Republic's membership in the new Euro-Atlantic structures against the background of clearly progressing economic cooperation. Meanwhile, as the author of the article states,the issues that have appeared on the surface of these relations require an immediate solution, which will be difficult – especially for Moscow in the light of the recently progressive confrontational nature of relations between Russia and both some individual states and Euro-Atlantic structures as a whole.

Военно-техническое сотрудничество СССР и ЧСР в 30-е гг. XX в. (по воспоминаниям главного конструктора артиллерийских вооружений завода имени Кирова И.А. Маханова). Часть 2

Introduction. Memoirs of I.A. Makhanov, who in the 1930s was the chief designer of artillery weapons at the Kirov plant, contain unique data on the development of the military-technical thought and the defense sector of the USSR industry in the pre-war period. The published fragment of memoirs, first introduced into scientific circulation, supplements and corrects the ideas formed in historiography about the militarytechnical cooperation of the USSR and Czechoslovakia on the eve of World War II. Methods and materials. The preparation of the source text for publication is carried out taking into consideration the modern requirements of archaeography. The published fragment is provided with archaeographic notes which allow to reconstruct the history of creation and modification of the text by the author. The scientific commentary provides information about personalities, place names and specific terms mentioned in the text. Analysis. The author pointed out that despite the supply of the latest weapons from Czechoslovakia to Yugoslavia, Italy, Turkey, Latin America, the share of purchases by the USSR was 50% and had broad prospects for increasing. The German occupation of 1938 suspended and then interrupted military-technical cooperation between the countries. Nevertheless, the Czech side fulfilled all obligations to the USSR. Result. As the published fragment of I.A. Makhanov proves, in the 1930s Czech specialists willingly acquainted the Soviet delegation with the latest developments in artillery systems. At the same time, after the occupation of Czechoslovakia by Germany, none of these weapons were brought to a prototype. Plants “Skoda” and “Zbroevka” were engaged only in the production and modernization of old weapons. Thus, the data of I.A. Makhanova confirm the hypothesis of sabotage of work for Nazi Germany by Czech designers led by V. Gromadko.

Impact of COVID-19 on Czech cross-border commuters: legal perspective

The paper focuses on the impact COVID-19 has on Czech cross-border commuters. Emphasis is placed on the legal and political science perspective and on the comparison of measures against traffic at the state border, against the free movement of persons and specifically against commuter workers (also known as cross-border commuters, or as pendlers in the Czech context), during both previously declared states of emergency in the Czech Republic. From a theoretical perspective, the paper summarizes information and data on cross-border commuters in Europe and the world. The research was performed by means of two qualitative case studies. In general, the legal measures at the Czech-German state border and the conditions of commuter workers during these states of emergency are compared. The research stage also included media searches (during both states of emergency) and content analysis of relevant policy outputs. The results suggest that border closures and related measures and the inability to travel abroad were unconstitutional, which also damaged commuters. And this also resulted in the fact that during the second state of emergency, the commuters were, in effect, not subject to any measures from the Czech side.

Военно-техническое сотрудничество СССР и ЧСР в 30-е гг. XX в. (по воспоминаниям главного конструктора артиллерийских вооружений завода имени Кирова И.А. Маханова)

Introduction. Memoirs of I.A. Makhanov, who in the 1930s was the chief designer of artillery weapons at the Kirov plant, contain unique data on the development of the military-technical thought and the defense sector of the USSR industry in the pre-war period. The published fragment of memoirs, first introduced into scientific circulation, supplements and corrects the ideas formed in historiography about the military-technical cooperation of the USSR and Czechoslovakia on the eve of World War II. Methods and materials. The preparation of the source text for publication is carried out taking into consideration modern requirements of archaeography. The published fragment is provided with archaeographic notes which allow reconstructing the history of creation and modification of the text by the author. The scientific commentary provides information about personalities, place names and specific terms mentioned in the text. Analysis. The author pointed out that despite the supply of the latest weapons from Czechoslovakia to Yugoslavia, Italy, Turkey, Latin America, the share of purchases by the USSR was 50% and had broad prospects for increasing. The German occupation of 1938 suspended and then interrupted military-technical cooperation between the countries. Nevertheless, the Czech side fulfilled all obligations to the USSR. Results. As the published fragment of I.A. Makhanov proves, in the 1930s Czech specialists willingly acquainted the Soviet delegation with the latest developments in artillery systems. At the same time, after the occupation of Czechoslovakia by Germany, none of these weapons were brought to a prototype. “Skoda” and “Zbroevka” plants were engaged only in the production and modernization of old weapons. Thus, the data of I.A. Makhanov confirm the hypothesis of sabotage of work for Nazi Germany by Czech designers led by V. Gromadko.

Geotourism Potential Assessment: a Case Study of the Czech-Austrian cross-border area

The aim of the study is to assess the potential of tourism in the Novohradské Mountains and the Gratzen Mountains on the borderland of the Czech Republic and Austria, with a focus on geotourism. A partial objective was to evaluate the accompanying infrastructure in the background of geomorphologically attractive localities, especially the accessibility of the area by means of hiking trails and accommodation facilities. Five geomorphosites in the Czech Republic and four geomorphosites in Austria were examined for characteristics and relationships. The overall density of recreational routes is much higher on the Austrian side than on the Czech territory. Similarly, the use of car traffic, cycling and hiking on the Czech side is worse than on the Austrian side. The total number of beds is currently larger on the Czech side of the territory. However, beds on the Czech side are located in smaller accommodation capacities, which experienced unprecedented development after 1989, especially with the possibility of visiting previously unavailable territory. On the Austrian side of the territory, the larger bed capacity is concentrated in hotel complexes focusing on wellness and balneology; this is mainly due to the undisturbed, long-term development of the territory and the greater purchasing power of Austrian citizens. At a distance of up to 5 km and within 10 km of the geomorphosites, there are significantly larger accommodation capacities on the Czech side of the territory. In a wider area within 15 km, the accommodation capacities in both territories are similar. This is due to the location of geomorphosites in Austria, which are located in more central and interesting parts of the mountainous area, far from settlements. The availability of accommodation facilities in the wider area combined with other attractions has great potential for multi-day stays in the region.

Anthroponyms of the Polish-Czechborder area (The Moravian Gate)

The author describes in the article project of researching the anthroponymy of the Polish-Czech borderland on the section of the Moravian Gate (Gorzyce – Krzyżanowice municipalities on the Polish side and Hať – Hilheřovice – Bohumín municipalities on the Czech side). The described borderland belongs to the so-called transitional borders, whose characteristic feature is the mixing of the population of two or more nations (or ethnic groups), and the effect of it is movement of the population in this area. As a result, the so-called third culture has developed, which had a major impact on the shape of names of the inhabitants, as well as on the choices of names for their children. Another factor in changing the form of surnames is the interference of an official who has often changed the spelling form of the surname in accordance with the language norm in force in his native language.

Спор о выселении судетских немцев в современных отношениях Чехии и Австрии

The consequences of the First World War reminded about themselves more than 80 years after its end, when the Czech Republic began negotiations on admission to the European Union. It had difficulties with neighbouring Austria, when the latter made claims to the Czechs regarding issues unresolved since the collapse of Austria-Hungary. After 1918, millions of Sudeten Germans ("old Austrians"), who helped A. Hitler destroy Czechoslovakia in 1938—1939, remained in the Czech Republic. They were evicted from the Czech Republic to Germany and Austria in 1945—1946 on the basis of a number of laws, known as the "Benes Decrees". This issue was partially settled by Czechoslovakia and Austria in the 1970s, but in 1998—1999, after the start of negotiations on the Czech Republic's accession to the European Union, it arose again. The Austrian side believed that the Czech Republic should abolish the "Benes Decrees". The Czech side believed that the Decrees should not be repealed, as they were an integral part of the outcome of the World War II. The peak of the dispute was reached in 2002, and in the end the European Union decided that the "Benes Decrees" could not prevent the Czech Republic to enter the EU. After the completion of European integration of the Czech Republic in the EU, Austria has continued to demand the abolition of the Decrees. As a result, the problem made itself felt when the EU's founding document, the Lisbon Treaty, was ratified. The Czech Republic has managed to ensure that it is not subject to documents, which Austria could use to demand the abolition of the "Benes Decrees". Currently, the topic has been relegated, but the problem has not been completely resolved.

Krajobraz językowy polsko-czeskiego pogranicza jako przestrzeń dyskursu wielojęzyczności — analiza tablic informacyjnych z sektora publicznego

Celem artykułu jest analiza krajobrazu językowego polsko-czeskiego pogranicza jako przestrzeni wielojęzycznych praktyk dyskursywnych. Materiał badawczy stanowią tabliczki informacyjne z sektora publicznego pochodzące z kilku miejscowości: po stronie czeskiej — z Adršpach, Náchodu i Hronova, po stronie polskiej — z Kudowy-Zdroju, Karłowa oraz Dusznik-Zdroju. Pogranicze jest rozumiane w sensie geograficzno-terytorialnym jako strefa zetknięcia się i przenikania różnych narodów i grup etnicznych, kultur i języków na terenach przygranicznych. Zmienne konfiguracje i hierarchia języków występujących na tabliczkach informacyjnych świadczą zarówno o historycznych zaszłościach, jak i aktualnej społecznej dynamice na terenie polsko-czeskiego pogranicza.

The Use of European Funds in Polish and Czech Municipalities. A Study of the Lower Silesia Voivodship and Hradec Kralove Region

The paper presents an analysis of the use of EU funds by municipalities in two neighbouring regions - the Lower Silesian Voivodship (Poland) and the Hradec Kralove region (Czechia). In total, 580 communes were analyzed (168 on Polish and 412 on the Czech side). The main aim of paper was spatial analysis and the demonstration of differences in the distribution of structural funds. The hypothesis of the scale effect - greater efficiency in gaining subsidies by larger units was especially tried. The results of the research allow for a few key conclusions. Polish municipalities have a greater influence on shaping local politics, which means that they obtain more funds than their counterparts on the Czech side. Our research has not proved the economies of scale, both on the Polish and Czech side, and no significant spatial dependencies have been demonstrated.

Multilevel cross-border governance in the Czech-Saxon borderland: working together or in parallel?

Despite a large amount of literature on multilevel governance, relatively little empirical attention has been paid to decision-making in Central and Eastern Europe. This paper contributes to closing this research gap by focussing on multilevel cross-border decision-making across the Czech-Saxon border region. Specific attention is paid to the involvement of non-state actors and to the main challenges of cross-border multilevel governance in the case study’s region. Although there is a tendency on both sides of the border to invite partners from the private and nonprofit sectors into the decision-making process, the situation in the case-study region is far from the normative conceptualization of EU multilevel governance. For whole region the most important obstacles to balanced regional development were shown to be a multilevel mismatch, different languages, and the lack of a common strategy, while insufficient capacities at the local and regional levels were found on the Czech side.

Demographic potential in functional areas of the selected medium-sized cities in Poland and the Czech Republic

Abstract The article presents the population problem of urban functional area around selected medium-sized cities in Poland and the Czech Republic. Research work refers to six cities (on the Polish side - Jelenia Góra, Legnica and Wałbrzych – located in Lower Silesia region; on the Czech side - Hradec Králové, Liberec and Ústí nad Labem). These core cities with suburban areas co-create the functional urban areas with varied demographic structure and development dynamics. In the analysed period, the population growth was observed only in Liberec. The largest total population among studied areas refers also to Liberec functional urban area. The population in suburban areas of the examined Polish and Czech cities is relatively younger than in the core cities. Functional approach for development of urban areas founding depart from perception of demographic problem and challenges only by prism of administrative borders becomes more important.

Complex Comparison of Bavarian and Bohemian Forest National Parks from Geographical Perspective: Is there More Similarity or Difference?

Abstract This article focuses on comparison of the landscape of two National Parks (Bavarian and Bohemian Forest), which together create the largest area of wilderness in Central Europe. The article shows how different they are in social-economic and physical-geographical perspective. Social and economic conditions were introduced from perspective of path dependency and recent situation and its perception. Furthermore, we integrated social-economic and environmental perspective in the ecosystem services concept. Despite the lesser number tourists arriving to the Bavarian part of the area, perception is better than among mayors of municipalities on the Czech side. Different history, management and top-down and bottom-up approaches usage can explain these differences. The typologies of environmental conditions help us to distinguish differences between both National Parks. In the Bavarian Forest we can find more equal share of forests (coniferous, broad-leaved, mixed) and surprisingly, thanks to large unmanaged part bigger relative share of regenerating forest landscapes than in the Bohemian Forest. Physical-geographical typology distinguishes five classes. Relative distribution of the classes is similar, but we can determine area of high plateau mainly on Czech side and on the other hand class of steeper terrain is located mainly in Bavarian Forest. Ecosystem services was presented by integrating landscape capacity analysis showing small differences between both National Parks in this case and no relation between land cover and attractiveness for tourism.

Development of Symbolic Shape of the Region and Rejection of the Name Nové Sudety

The planning of a new European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation (EGTC) on the Czech-Polish border generated a debate about the name of the newly emerging body. The Czech side refused to accept the nameSudety[Sudetenland] and later also the nameNové Sudety[New Sudetenland]. The article analyses the attitude of mayors from the border districts of the area in question on the Czech side of the border to the issue of using the nameNové Sudety. The analysis wants to assess the influence of the location of a municipality on the relict Czech-German language boundary from 1930 and of a mayor’s political affiliation on the acceptance of the nameNové Sudetyby a municipality mayor. The mayors’ attitudes were revealed by means of a targeted online poll. The rejection of the name was interpreted in a wider historical-geographical context, taking into account the etymology of the Sudeten geographical name and within the theory of institutionalisation of regions by geographer Anssi Paasi.