Search results - CEJSH

1

Aktivizace jugoslávských informbyrovců v Československu v důsledku krize roku 1968

100%

Vojtechovsky O.

Slovanské historické studie (Slavonic Historical Studies)

|

2007

|

vol. 32

149-165

EN

The Soviet intervention in Czechoslovakia in August 1968 brought out again the hopes of Yugoslav pro-Soviet emigrants in countries of the eastern bloc concerning the opening of the Yugoslav issue. Main proponents of the Prague Informbyro group were very critical to the development during the Prague Spring; hence they mostly welcomed the entering of the armies of the Warsaw Pact. The sudden worsening of Soviet-Yugoslav relations, the weakened international position of Yugoslavia and the internal crisis in that country did not rule out a similar solution as in Czechoslovakia. As a result, the core of activists of the Prague group together with the proponents of Informbyro in other countries of the socialist bloc directed their activities at the beginning of the 1970s towards the restoration of their political activities. The study attempts to map these activities and the opinions held by leading Yugoslav emigrants with the use of sources mainly from the archives of intelligence services.

2

ACADEMIC INTERPRETATIONS OF ISLAM IN COMMUNIST CZECHOSLOVAKIA: RUDOLF MACÚCH, KAREL PETRÁCEK AND IVAN HRBEK

100%

Piricky G.

Rocznik Orientalistyczny

|

2008

|

vol. 61

|

issue 2

93-102

EN

The research of religions in former Eastern Bloc countries is often presented in terms of a loss of contact with the Western academic tradition and ideological bias. This paper attempts to show however that the study of Islam in individual countries was not homogenous. Islamic Studies in communist Czechoslovakia (1948-1989), although to a significant degreee limited by the ruling atheist ideology as reflected in Marxist- Leninist dogmatism, did not develop in isolation from Western scholarly debates. In fact, major works published in Slovak and Czech language by three respected Islamicists Rudolf M a c ú c h, Karel P e t r á c e k and Ivan H r b e k show clearly that Czechoslovak scholarship on Islam was to a wide extent connected with Western concepts, including the issues of methodology and the Orientalist discourse.

3

Československý betatron

80%

Janovsky I.

DVT - Dějiny věd a techniky (History of Sciences and Technology)

|

2007

|

vol. 40

|

issue 2

103-118

EN

The first betatron accelerating electrons through magnetic induction was built by Donald Kerst at the University of Illinois in 1940. Czechoslovakia, as one of a few (about six) countries of the world, managed production of betatron, as early as the 1950s. The research and development activities started in the Accelerator Department of the Research Institute for Vacuum Electrotechnique, which was transformed into the Institute of Vacuum Electronics of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences in 1959 and renamed to the Institute of Plasma Physics in 1963. The first two experimental betatrons with the energies of 1.8 and 2.5 MeV were built in 1954 and 1955, respectively, and were followed by an industrial (defectoscopic) 15-MeV betatron in 1956. The latter was awarded a gold medal at the World Exhibition EXPO 58 in Brussels. Production of the first series of the betatron started in Laboratotni pristroje nat. corp. (Chotutice) in 1959. In the following years, the electron energy was increased to 17 MeV and later to 22 MeV. Since 1974, the industrial betatrons had been produced in the ZMA Ostrov in two variants: mobile and hanging. They were installed at the Skoda Works (Pilsen) and at other plants, and several instruments were exported. Development of the therapeutic betatron started in cooperation with the Chirana nat. corp. in 1960 and the first instrument was installed in a hospital in 1962. Since 1968, the therapeutic instruments had been produced in ZMA Ostrov. They operated at about 8 hospitals through the country and enabled radiation therapy to be carried out at energies of up to 19 MeV, both with the electron beam and X-rays.

4

V krajině za zrcadlem. Političtí emigranti v poúnorovém Československu a případ Aymonin

80%

Olsakova D.

Soudobé dějiny (Contemporary History)

|

2007

|

vol. 14

|

issue 4

719-743

EN

This article considers the unusual phenomenon of exile in Czechoslovakia after the Communist takeover in 1948. It first briefly considers asylum in interwar Czechoslovakia, when, despite many Russian, Ukrainian, and German emigres in the country, the right to political asylum was not legislatively defined, being determined largely by international convention; this was so even after the war. Emigres in Czechoslovakia were granted asylum on the basis of a proposal by the Central Committee of the CPCz, modelled on an article of the Soviet Constitution and codified in the new Czechoslovak Socialist Constitution in 1960. Most Western emigres in Czechoslovakia were Greeks and Macedonians seeking asylum in the Soviet bloc after the Communist defeat in the Greek Civil War. About 12,000 came to Czechoslovakia in 1948–51. The next largest group was Italian, mostly ex-partisans, 214 of whom were in Czechoslovakia in late 1950. Then came the Yugoslavs, 152 in late 1950, opponents to the Tito regime after the split with Stalin. Among the 58 Spaniards, mostly workers and intellectuals opposed to Franco, two, Uribe and Modesto, were leading functionaries of the Spanish Communist Party. Also, 14 Americans emigrated to Czechoslovakia in the mid-1950s, as did people from other countries, including four Frenchmen, in particular the cultural attache Marcel Aymonin, another focus of the article. The author considers Aymonin in the context of Czechoslovak-French relations. Aymonin worked in Czechoslovakia as a teacher in Prague from 1933, then as cultural attache at the French Embassy, and, after the war, as head of the 'Institut Francais', Prague. In late 1949 he was transferred to Sofia. Returning to Prague in 1951 he sought asylum. The authoress seeks to explain what was behind this unexpected act, which was seized upon by Communist propaganda. She too thinks it was the result of Aymonin's opportunism, political intrigues, and, perhaps, love for Czechoslovakia. Aymonin was then employed in Czechoslovakia editing works of the French Stalinist Andre Stil and translating, before returning to France probably after 1968. By then he was already translating works by Kundera and Havel.

5

1956. A WRITERS' CONGRESS WITH A DIFFERENCE

80%

Priban M.

Soudobé dějiny (Contemporary History)

|

2007

|

vol. 14

|

issue 4

707-718

EN

This article is a discussion of a lesser-known episode in the history of Czechoslovak emigres. In 1956, the year of the historically important Second Congress of the Czechoslovak Writers' Union, some of whose participants spoke out against the repressive aspects of Communist policy on the arts for the first time, a meeting of Czechoslovak emigre writers was held in Paris. It was organized by the Arts Council of Czechs Abroad, which was founded and run by the poet, literary critic, and publisher Robert Vlach (1917-1966). Called the 'Arts Council Congress', it was attended, for example, by Jan Cep (1902-1974), Frantisek Listopad (born Jiri Synek, 1921), Jaroslav Strnad (1918-2000), and Jan M. Kolar (1923-1978). The principal topics of the congress speeches and discussions were the starting point, possibilities, and position of the artist in exile (given by Pavel Zelivan, b. 1925, and Listopad), reflections on the most recent social, cultural, and political developments in Czechoslovakia (Jaroslav Jira, 1929-2005), and the possibilities and limits of communication with readers at home after the hypothetical return of emigres to their native country (a speech given by Cep). The congress sessions, the author argues, can reasonably be considered the height of work in the arts amongst the Czech emigres in the first half of the 1950s.

6

REVOLUTION IN THE TOWN HALLS: THE FORMATION OF CZECHOSLOVAKIA, THE BATTLE FOR THE TOWN HALLS AND POWER TRANSITION IN THE MUNICIPAL AUTHORITIES OF MORAVIAN TOWNS AFTER 1918

80%

Popelka P.

Mesto a dejiny

|

2021

|

vol. 10

|

issue 2

55 - 85

EN

The study deals with the process of a power transition in Moravian nationally mixed towns after the First World War. The formation of Czechoslovakia was accompanied not only by the takeover of central political authorities, but necessarily also by a power transition at the regional level. The study takes particular note of the complicated process of the taking control of municipal councils in key Moravian towns, which were, until the formation of Czechoslovakia, in most cases under the decisive influence of the German bourgeoisie. Unlike in the Austro-Hungarian era, when the question of the composition of self-governments had been entirely in the hands of the local voters, the interest of the central institutions of the new state as well as of the political parties was now reflected in municipal affairs. In the process of the power transfer, the merging of municipalities played a very important role, being carried out in the post-war reality to serve as a means of solving the complex national-political situation in nationally mixed areas.

7

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

80%

Matejka O.

Soudobé dějiny (Contemporary History)

|

2007

|

vol. 14

|

issue 2-3

305-340

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.

8

SVĚDECTVÍ O KOMUNISMU: PĚT „MENTALIT“ PAMĚTNÍKŮ

80%

Kunštát D.

Sociológia (Sociology)

|

2023

|

vol. 55

|

issue 3

293 – 319

EN

The aim of the article is to outline how the memorial section of the current society constructs the image of the communist era. It focuses on the attributes of collective memory, which indicate not only shared ideas about the past of the communist regime, but also an adequate value orientation in terms of contemporary political identity. The empirical basis of the text is represented by the findings of an extensive quantitative investigation of the "historical consciousness" of the memory generation. Within this framework, five specific types of memory related to the period before the Velvet Revolution are defined.

9

„Batismus, urychlená modernita a průkopníci práce“. Personální politika Baťova koncernu a řízené přesuny zaměstnanců v letech 1938–1941

80%

Marek M., Strobach V.

Moderní dějiny: sborník k dějinám 19. a 20. století (Modern History: Studies into 19th and 20th century history)

|

2010

|

vol. 18

|

issue 1

103-153

EN

The author deals with Bata Group's policy of dispatching large groups of staff abroad in the years 1938-1941, while considering some disciplinary practices of the discourse (batism) and the creation of standard employee identity. First, the structure of competence fields is explained and their main representatives are shown who co-decided on the selection of candidates and on the schedule of their transfer. Then, the most important criteria of candidate selection are discussed. The selection was also influenced by a number of other factors that determined the eventual form, program and destination of the transfer. The internal factors analyzed in the study include, in particular, the criterion of nationality or, more generally, of language (discourse of nationalism), while the most important external factors referred to immigration regulations and the capacity of means of transport. Last but not least, the motivation of staff members and their chance to have a say are explained.

10

PRÁVNÍ SYSTÉM ČSSR, MENŠINY A EXPERIMENTY S PRÁVEM V ŠEDESÁTÝCH LETECH

80%

Kuklík J., Petráš R.

Človek a spoločnosť. Internetový časopis pre pôvodné teoretické a výskumné štúdie z oblasti spoločenských vied

|

2013

|

vol. 16

|

issue 4

-

EN

The study deals with the problem of legal framework of the socialist Czechoslovakia in the 1960 ́s and experiments in law regarding the position of national minorities. After 1960 all main branches of Czechoslovak law were re-codified and Czechoslovak law especially in Civil and Economic law breached all civil law traditions and introduced what was regarded as a socialist law. The experiments influenced also the position of national minorities.

11

Vavro Šrobár a jeho podíl na vzniku agrární strany na Slovensku (1918–1922)

80%

Harna J.

Moderní dějiny: sborník k dějinám 19. a 20. století (Modern History: Studies into 19th and 20th century history)

|

2009

|

vol. 17

|

issue 2

1-22

EN

Vavro Srobar entered politics as early as the turn of the 19th century hoping to contribute to an overall advancement of the Slovak nation oppressed in the Hungarian part of Austro-Hungary. He saw a solution to that situation in close contacts between Czechs and Slovaks; therefore, he supported the concept of one common 'Czechoslovak' nation. His political career culminated in the early period of existence of the Czechoslovak Republic. He was then a member of several governments of the new country. As a minister endowed with full administration powers over Slovakia he largely helped incorporate its territory into the Czechoslovak Republic. From the very beginning, however, his concepts were in conflict with those of Milan Hodza, another founder and leader of the Slovak agrarian movement. By 1921, both of them had succeeded in creating two organizations advocating the interests of Slovak peasants. In 1922, the two parties merged with the Agrarian Party, initially Czech, thus creating the nationwide Republican Party of Agrarians and Small Peasants, which was one of the main supports of the parliamentary democratic system in Czechoslovakia until the end of the First Republic.

12

Problematika mnichovské dohody a jejích politických reflexí v zrcadle komunistického tisku na příkladu Rudého práva 1948-1989

80%

Šebek J.

Český časopis historický (The Czech Historical Review)

|

2012

|

vol. 110

|

issue 3-4

654-670

EN

The Munich Agreement represents one of the most fundamental events in modern Czech history. Because of the topic´s resonance amongst the public, it also became an important part of propaganda during the ensuing Communist regime. The political instrumentalization of the Munich events was utilised to provide ideological support and justification of both the internal and external political initiatives of Communist power. This study aims to analyse the ways and means of reflection of these historical events in Rudé právo as the principal press propaganda organ of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. The manner in which the consequences of the Munich Agreement were reported in this daily paper represented one of the ideological constants on which the regime based its legitimacy. Its editorials stereotypically assessed the consequences and causes of the Munich Agreement as evidence of the inability of the non-Communist parties to defend the independence and sovereignty of the state and to justify the alliance with the Soviet Union. Yet, understandably, external circumstances changed throughout the forty year existence of Communist supremacy during which constant reminders of 1938 Munich were invoked. The culmination of these propaganda efforts is particularly evident in the 1950s and in the first half of the 1960s. However, the year 1968 is another important milestone, when, after the August invasion, Rudé právo attempted to restore the positive image of the Soviet Union through the pro-regime interpretations of the Munich trauma. Following the conclusion of the December 1973 Agreement between the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic and the Federal Republic of Germany, which also addressed the disputed issues concerning the interpretation of the Munich Agreement, propaganda aspects did somewhat retreat into the background and Rudé právo and other Communist mass media devoted themselves primarily to the historical contexts of this event, although intentional reflections on the Munich of 1938 continued to be used for propaganda purposes, also.

13

Nástup hraběte Jánose Esterházyho do čela maďarské Zemské křesťansko-socialistické strany v Československu na sklonku roku 1932

80%

Toth A.

Moderní dějiny: sborník k dějinám 19. a 20. století (Modern History: Studies into 19th and 20th century history)

|

2010

|

vol. 18

|

issue 1

77-101

EN

The political life of Hungarian minority parties at the turn of the 1920s was marked by a generation conflict and a general crisis concerning their future political orientation. The first to accomplish a regeneration of its structures was the Provincial Christian-Socialist Party. The new political line of the Party was called for both by the politically engaged representatives of the younger generation of the Hungarian minority in Czechoslovakia and by the new government team in Budapest. Within the regeneration process in the top Party structures Count Janos Esterhazy, a new face in the political arena of the Hungarian minority who was just 31 years old, was elected to the top position in the Party.

14

ZROD A PRVNÍ BOJE. ČESKOSLOVENSKÉ VOJENSKÉ LETECTVO 1918 – 1919

80%

Plavec M.

Vojenská história

|

2018

|

vol. 22

|

issue 3

142 - 161

EN

In his material study, the author deals with the history of origin of the CS military air force and the first fight of the CS aviators in the defence of borders of the newly formed state of the Czechs and Slovaks in 1918 – 1919. The author sums up the as yet unpublished information about the early days of the military air force, which were previously published in the scientific and popular works of domestic and foreign authors, also bringing new information obtained from studying the relevant archival in the Military Central Archive - Military Historical Archive Prague.

15

PRVNÍ ZE TŘÍ KONŠELŮ. ZPRAVODAJSKÝ DŮSTOJNÍK ŠTÁBNÍ KAPITÁN FRANTIŠEK FÁREK (1894–1973)

80%

Vyhlídal M.

Vojenská história

|

2019

|

vol. 23

|

issue 1

123 - 145

EN

The work is a biography of the Czechoslovak intelligence officer, František Fárek. Since all the break through moments of the CS Republic were reflected in his life, along with description of the broader historical context, he becomes our notional guide through the CS military history of the 1st half of the 20th century. In addition to the archival materials of CS origin, documents about his activity are also fund in the German Freiburg. Also Fárek’s inheritance, held by his descendants until this day, was used as significant material. Following a close-up on his activity during the 1st CS republic, the published material focuses mainly on the period of World War 2. Immediately following the Nazi occupation, Fárek took part in the resistance (the so called Three Aldermen Group), providing intelligence information to the emerging foreign military resistance (the intelligence exhibition around the Colonel of the General Staff, František Moravec in Great Britain), together with his colleagues from the intelligence department, captain Antonín Longa and Alois Čáslavka. For his intelligence activities, he was arrested by Gestapo in the fall of 1939 along with Antonín Longa and after being convicted for 10 years of prison, he spent the rest of the war as the political prisoner of the Nazi Germany. In April 1945, he lived to see the liberation by the American Army. Following the Communist revolution, as the former intelligence officer, he remained under control of the Communist secret service.

16

Diktatura krále Alexandra a československá diplomacie (1929–1931)

80%

Chrobak T.

Slovanský přehled: historická revue pro dějiny střední, východní a jihovýchodní Evropy (Slavonic Review: Review for Central, Eastern and Southeastern European history)

|

2008

|

vol. 94

|

issue 1

81-91

EN

Based on Czech diplomatic materials, the study explains the attitude of Czechoslovak governmental circles towards King Alexander's dictatorship. It was formed in the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes from January 6, 1929 until the autumn of 1931, when the regime was incorporated into a formal constitutional framework octroyed by the sovereign. The essay explains dilemmas, to which the Czechoslovak foreign policy was subjected. On the one hand, it was an effort to sustain a key ally for Czechoslovakia; on the other hand, it was an effort not to bog into domestic political conflicts in the South Slav state. The initial optimism regarding the potentialities of the authoritarian regime in consolidating the country (impersonated by the envoy Jan Seba and his superior Edvard Benes) was replaced by an increasing disillusion over intellectual sterility and lack of political imagination of the royal regime at resolving existential problems of the Yugoslavian state. The warning prognoses about Yugoslavia's future came to light. Behind the persisting façade of the Czechoslovak-Yugoslavian alliance, this time produced the first symptoms of mutual estrangement and incipient disintegration of the alliance.

17

Medzi dvoma ohňami. K protižidovským pogromom na západnom Slovensku v závere roku 1918

80%

Vrabel F.

Slovanský přehled: historická revue pro dějiny střední, východní a jihovýchodní Evropy (Slavonic Review: Review for Central, Eastern and Southeastern European history)

|

2009

|

vol. 95

|

issue 4

491-499

EN

Based on documents of the Club of Slovak MPs within the Revolutionary National Assembly in Prague, the article gives information on events in western Slovakia (Holic, Senica, Nove Mesto nad Vahom, Chynorany and other locations) in November - December 1918. At that time, Jewish homes and shops were pillaged and the Jews were assaulted as a result of disintegration of the Hungarian state administration, subsequent chaos and lack of authorities and peace forces on this territory. Not only demoralised soldiers returning from war fronts, but also the local population took part in the pogroms. This turmoil, which often resulted in crime, was caused by efforts to get rich and procure food, and by anti-Semitist sentiments spurred by suspicion that the Jews favoured the Hungarians and the old regime.

18

Český realismus v exilu : o časopise Skutečnost (1948-1953)

80%

Hruby P.

Soudobé dějiny (Contemporary History)

|

2007

|

vol. 14

|

issue 4

744-756

EN

In this article the author discusses 'Skutecnost' (Reality), a remarkable Czechoslovak emigre periodical published after the Communist takeover. The author was one of its founders and editors. 'Skutecnost' was started up in Geneva in late 1948 essentially as a students' monthly. The first number was published in March 1949. Owing to its high quality, openness, non-partisanship, forthrightness, critical approach, and non-conformism, however, 'Skutecnost' soon gained an extraordinary standing amongst emigre periodicals. Its programme and name reflect its affiliation with the realism of Tomas Garrigue Masaryk (1850-1937), in the sense of its perspicacity and critical assessment of reality, advocated an active, uncompromising defence of democracy against totalitarianism, supported the integration of European values, castigated emigre politicking, boldly held up an unflattering mirror to its countrymen, and detested platitudes. Its critical jibes were a thorn in the side of many an emigre; the special issue criticizing the post-war expulsion of the Czechoslovak Germans, for example, caused an uproar. Its editor-in-chief was the Slovak journalist Karol Belak, and its regular contributors included a number of distinctive emigre figures from around the world, for example the literary historians Peter Demetz (b. 1922) and Jiri Pistorius (b. 1922), the journalists Ferdinand Peroutka (1895-1978) and Pavel Tigrid (1917-2003), the writers Jan M. Kolar (1923-1978) and Jiri Karnet (b. 1920), the historians Jiri Kovtun (b. 1927) and Zdenek Dittrich (b. 1923), and the politician Jaroslav Stransky (1884-1973). It increasingly published translations of articles by non-Czechoslovak authors, including emigres from other central and east European countries. Its range of action expanded considerably, when the selection of articles from 'Skutecnost' began to be published in Czech, English, and German versions in 'Democratia militans'. In his discussion the author mentions the conflict that arose after Meda Mladkova (b. 1919), an art historian and collaborator of 'Skutecnost', took over its administrative work and moved the editorial office to London in 1951. He concludes by stating that this initiative of the young generation of emigres contributed to overcoming the sense of disappointment, apparent deadlock, and genuine lack of programme amongst the Czechoslovak emigres.

19

APOŠTOLSKÁ NUNCIATURA V PRAZE V MEZIVÁLEČNÉM OBDOBÍ

80%

Šmíd M.

Studia Historica Nitriensia

|

2013

|

vol. 17

|

issue 2

80 – 92

EN

The study focuses on the changes in Apostolic Nunciature in Prague in the interwar Czechoslovakia. It is not only an approximation to the personalities of Holy See envoys, who held the position of apostolic nuncio in that time - Clemente Micara (1879 – 1965), Francesco Marmaggi (1870 – 1949), Pietro Ciriaci (1885 –1966) and Saverio Ritter (1884 – 1951) - while at the same time their agenda and activities in the Czechoslovak affairs. It strives to be a comprehensive survey, which deals with the current administration office, personnel, buildings or financial issues that were part of their everyday life in the background of the Church history in the First Republic (1918 – 1938). Taking into consideration that the Czech archives do not offer a sufficient basis for this probe, the study is primarily based on the research of the Vatican Secret Archives in Rome.

20

The Attitude of Czech Politicians Towards the Soviet Union and Polish-Soviet Relations (1926-1935)

80%

Gruchala J.

Studia z Dziejów Rosji i Europy Środkowo-Wschodniej

|

2004

|

vol. 39

101-120

EN

To the beginning of June 1934 Czechoslovakia did not de iure recognise the Soviet Union despite the fact that a Soviet diplomatic mission had existed in Prague since 1922, and a Czechoslovak one - in Moscow. The attitude represented by the government in Prague was influenced by fears of a deterioration of relations with the Small Entente allies and Yugoslavia, and the anti-Soviet campaign conducted by the National Democrats as well as by a negative attitude among other parties towards the recognition of the Soviet authorities. On the other hand, the interests demonstrated by Czech industrialists in the establishment of trade contacts with the Soviet Union became the reason why both the government in Prague and a major part of the Czech parties supported diplomatic relations with the authorities in Moscow. At the same time, slightly more attention was devoted to Polish-Soviet relations under the impact of the interest shown by the Soviet government in a non-aggression pact with Poland, which was perceived as a reinforcement of the international position of the Polish state. An eventual improvement of relations between Warsaw and Moscow could have become for the Czech authorities and some of the local political groups an additional argument in favour of inaugurating trade relations and a de iure recognition of the Soviet Union. At the end of the 1920s the National Democrats were skeptical about the possibility of improving the relations between Poland and her eastern neighbour and did not attach greater attention to the Polish-Soviet nonaggression pact signed in 1932. A change in Soviet foreign policy, which took place in 1933, increased the interests of the Czech authorities and certain politicians not only in a de iure recognition of the Soviet Union and the commencement of cooperation. This was also the period of an onset of pro-Soviet sympathies, cultivated not only by the communists but also by the Social Democrats and peasant parties. The accompanying negative opinion about the Polish policy towards the Soviet Union was expressed predominantly by journalists associated with the 'Hrad' group. The Czechoslovak-Soviet mutual assistance pact signed on 16 May 1935 increased pro-Soviet sympathies among the majority of the Czech political circles. The hopes connected with the alliance proved to be unfounded: the authorities in Moscow did not intend to become embroiled in a war conducted far from Soviet borders.

Refine search results