"Jsou to berani, ale můžeme je využít". Čeští evangelíci a komunistický režim 1948-1956

• Authors: Matejka O.

Title variants

EN

'THEY ARE LAMBS, BUT WE CAN USE THEM'. CZECH PROTESTANTS AND THE COMMUNIST REGIME IN THE 1950S

• Languages of publication: CS

Abstracts

EN

In this article the author examines the coexistence of the Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren and the Communist regime in the first several years after the Communist takeover, 1948-56. The first part of his analysis, inspired by French and German research on the social history of power by Sandrine Kott and Thomas Lindenberger, outlines the points of contact as well as ideological and political affinities between Protestants and Communists before the February 1948 takeover. These were particularly clear in the Protestant weekly 'Kostnicke jiskry' (Sparks from Constance) after the Second World War. Owing to this rapprochement and also to their reflexes developed for survival in the unfavourable circumstances the Protestant minority adapted with relative success to conditions in the Communist dictatorship. To consolidate themselves, they skilfully used instruments offered by the regime, such as 'voluntary' work groups (brigady), while the regime relied on Protestants (particularly ministers) in some of its important political strategies such as collectivization and elections. The author pays particular attention to the theologian and philosopher Josef Lukl Hromadka (1889-1969), who was, in his day, a central figure amongst Czechoslovak Protestants. His 'instrumentalization' also operated in two directions: in the West, as a representative of Christian peace activities, he helped to create the illusion of religious freedom in Communist Czechoslovakia, but he also served Protestants as a 'shield' and mediator enabling them to establish and maintain contacts with Western theologians. In the article the author also seeks to demonstrate that assiduous analysis of archive records of State, Party, and Church provenance reveals the inner contradictions in the Communist 'apparat' regarding relations with the churches and its own powers as well as links of alliance amongst some of its organs and the churches.

Keywords

EN

COMMUNISM; CZECHOSLOVAKIA; PROTESTANTS; RELIGION

Discipline

• HISTORY: HISTORY

• Publisher: Institute of Contemporary History, Czech Academy of Sciences
• Journal: Soudobé dějiny (Contemporary History)
• Year: 2007
• Volume: 14
• Issue: 2-3
• Pages: 305-340
• Document type: ARTICLE

Contributors

author

Matejka O.

• O. Matejka, Institut mezinarodnich studii Fakulty socialnich ved Univerzity Karlovy, U Krize 8, 158 00 Praha 5, Czech Republic

Identifiers

CEJSH db identifier

08CZAAAA03637364