Poznámky k českému polistopadovému antikomunismu

• Authors: Karel Hrubý

Title variants

EN

Remarks on Czech Anti-Communism after the Changes of November 1989

• Languages of publication: CS

Abstracts

EN

In this article the author searches for an answer to the question that Jiří Suk asked in his paper at the conference ‘1989–2009: Society, History, Politics’, held in Liblice in September 2009 – namely, what was the origin of the strong wave of anti-Communism in Czech society after the Changes that began in November 1989, since, in the last free general elections in the country, in 1946, the Communist Party won and in 1968 most citizens of Czechoslovakia wanted socialism? (Suk’s paper, ‘Komunistická minulost jako politický problém: Nástin vývoje 1989–2009’, is published online in an volume of conference papers at http:/www.boell.cz/ navigation/19-856.html.) The author of the present article adds that most of society in 1946 did not choose a future under Communist leadership and in 1968 the non-Communist majority may have supported the reform movement, but was expecting it to bring about the end of the Party’s monopoly of power or, indeed, to bring about the outright restoration of democracy. Anti-Communism, which erupted in Czech society in 1990, was therefore nothing new; it was only a long hidden and suppressed expression of most Czechoslovak’s dislike of Communist rule. To gain a real understanding of the anti-Communism that emerged after late 1989 one must analyze its sources, that is, chiefly the thinking of wide strata of the population, which inwardly did not identify with the past régime, ranging from passive disagreement to active resistance. Amongst them were mainly those who from 1948 to 1989 were somehow discriminated against or harassed, and also most of their family members. It is here that one can fruitfully search for the hotbed of anti-Communism after the Changes of late 1989. The author also points to the necessity of clearly defining what is meant by anti-Communism in each concrete case, since the term can easily have a number of different meanings.

Discipline

• HISTORY: HISTORY

• Publisher: Institute of Contemporary History, Czech Academy of Sciences
• Journal: Soudobé dějiny (Contemporary History)
• Year: 2010
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 468-476
• Document type: DISCUSSION

Contributors

author

Karel Hrubý

• Soudobé dějiny, redakce, Ústav pro soudobé dějiny AV ČR, v.v.i., Vlašská 9, 118 40 Praha 1, Czech Republic