This thesis deals with the phenomenon of attendance of Marienbad and its region in the 19th and at the beginning of the 20th century, when travelling for health and progress of tourism in spas became an inseparable part of social, economic and political life. The thesis shows everyday spa life in this period from the point of view of spa visitors, at the same time emphasizes social and economic aspect of given problems of history, as well as progress of tourism and travelling in this area. The thesis is regionally focused, but it has also more general overlap to the question of balneology and health resorts in European benchmark. The thesis shows Marienbad as a cosmopolitan place - meeting point of cultural, political, economic and territorial elite.

In my doctoral thesis, which I have elaborated on the basis of my diploma thesis Doubled Identity of Crew Members on Cruise Ships as the Instrument of Cultural Adaptation, supervised by Mgr. Helena Tužinská, PhD., I have analysed the way of life of crew members sharing the multiethnical territory of cruise ships. Crew members working there come from over 50 different countries. In spite of their different origins and cultures which have been forming their behaviour and way of thinking, they share small space without any conflicts. My goal is to sum up the basic conditions which should be met in any multiethnical society to ensure that there would not be any conflicts between its habitants. According to my hypothesis there is a need of other than ethnical identity which could unify them on other than ethnical basis. In the territory of cruise ships it is the socio-professional identity of 'crew member '. I found out that there are two main factors responsible for successful co-existence of people from different cultures here - communication and the system of values. That is why from all factors in which we can observe socio-professional identity of crew members I preferably analyse rules and norms established by crew members and lingua franca used on cruise ships called 'ship language'. The specific...

Le passage d’un système politique socialiste à un système capitaliste a engendré de grands bouleversements structuraux dans les espaces urbains polonais après 1989. Les élites, grandes gagnantes dans ce processus, redéfinissent les distances sociale et spatiale entre elles et les autres catégories sociales. Pour cerner les nouvelles dynamiques spatiales des élites polonaises, cette thèse s’appuie à la fois sur une analyse quantitative des changements dans la répartition spatiale des classes supérieures dans les trois plus grandes villes polonaises (Varsovie, Cracovie et Łódź), ainsi que sur des entretiens réalisés avec des représentants de cette catégorie plus particulièrement à Varsovie. Elle présente en premier lieu les résultats sociaux et urbains de la transition politique et économique démontrant que les élites ont réussi à se redéfinir dans ce nouveau contexte. Ensuite, une comparaison à macro-échelle de l’évolution des concentrations des classes supérieures dans ces trois villes de la moitié du XIXe siècle à 2002 a permis de prouver la persistance des mécanismes sociaux de distinction dans l’espace aux différentes époques. Les beaux quartiers d’avant-guerre n’ont ainsi jamais réellement disparu durant le socialisme, malgré une homogénéisation relative à l’échelle intra-urbaine. L’espace social en 2002 présente néanmoins une baisse des concentrations des classes supérieures s’expliquant en partie par la diffusion de ce groupe dans l’espace urbain après 1989. Enfin, l’analyse des comportements et des préférences résidentielles, ainsi que des représentations et des pratiques sociales des élites varsoviennes, a permis de mettre en relief différents comportements spatiaux suivant les élites, une constance des représentations mentales, mais aussi une évolution des pratiques sociales dans la ville. / After 1989, the transition from a socialist to a capitalist economic system created major structural changes in Polish urban areas. Élites, great winners in this process, are redefining social and spatial distances between themselves and other social groups. This thesis combines quantitative approaches in the analysis of the three largest cities of Poland (Warsaw, Cracow and Lodz) with qualitative analysis (interviews with representatives of Warsaw’s élites) in order to identify the new spatial dynamics of Polish élites. Firstly, this study presents the social and urban changes due to the political and economic transition of Poland, and explains how the élites are able to redefine themselves in this new environment. A comparison of the concentrations of the upper classes in the three cities (from the mid-nineteenth century to 2002) helps to prove the persistence of social mechanisms of distinction in space at different times. Despite the homogenization of social space during socialism, pre-war good neighbourhoods never really disappeared. Against all expectations, social space in 2002 presents lower concentrations of the upper classes than before 1989, due to social dispersion. Finally, the analysis of élites’ residential preferences and behaviours, together with the analysis of élites’ representations and social practices in Warsaw, helps to highlight different spatial practices according to the type of élite. Changes in social practices within the city occurred against a background of stable mental representations. / Przejście od systemu socjalistycznego do systemu kapitalistycznego przyczyniło się do poważnych zmian strukturalnych w polskich miastach po 1989 roku. Elity, jako wielcy wygrani tego procesu, na nowo ustanawiają dystansy społeczne i przestrzenne między sobą a innymi grupami społecznymi. Poniższa rozprawa doktorska opiera się zarówno na analizie ilościowej, przeprowadzonej w trzech największych miastach w Polsce (Warszawa, Kraków i Łódź) jak i jakościowej, w postaci wywiadów z przedstawicielami tej kategorii w Warszawie. Zastosowanie metod ilościowych i jakościowych umożliwiło identyfikację nowej dynamiki przestrzennej polskich elit. W rozprawie doktorskiej przedstawiono zmiany tkanki miejskiej oraz przemiany społeczne, będące wynikiem procesu transformacji systemowej oraz wyjaśniono w jaki sposób elity definiują się ponownie w nowym środowisku. Porównanie koncentracji wyższych kategorii społecznych w skali makro w trzech miastach od połowy XIX wieku do 2002 r. potwierdziło trwałość społecznych mechanizmów wyróżnianiania się tej grupy w przestrzeni w różnych okresach. Przedwojenne prestiżowe dzielnice nie znikły w okresie socjalizmu, pomimo homogenizacji społecznej w skali miasta. Niemniej jednak, koncentracja klasy wyższej w 2002 r. była niższa niż w 1988 r., z powodu rozpraszania się tej kategorii w przestrzeni miasta. Przeprowadzona analiza zachowań i preferencji mieszkaniowych, jak również analiza percepcji i praktyk społecznych warszawskich elit, uwypukliły odmienność zachowań społecznych elit. Poza tym, zmianie uległy również praktyki społeczne elit w mieście, podczas gdy percepcja społeczna i przestrzenna pozostały niezmienione.

Czechoslovak society underwent a fundamental change in 1989, in which a certain portion of society, previously restricted from official intervention in politics, took crucial part. Even though this part of society (the dissent) was before 1989 restricted from participation in politics, it had been doing so. However, in illegal ways at that time, for which had been the involved often persecuted. This group of dissidents later contributed to the revolutionary changes, which is the source of certain mythology that began to appear in connection with them. During 1990s their influence decreased, and the dissent's political elite was gradually replaced by a new right- wing elite, promising economic reform and rapid transformation. The idealistic conception of politics was replaced by the pragmatic one and completely different and ambitious personalities came to the foreground. The new characters did not come from the background of fight against totalitarianism, yet they quickly gained political skills. This transformation of elites in Czech society can be expressed via comparison of Václav Havel and Václav Klaus, as both of them were among the main initiators of domestic politics. Therefore, this diploma thesis is focused on them and their media portrayal. The media reflect everyday reality and pose as...

Veronika Knotková, Prague Municipal Clerks 1900-1950 Abstract This work, based mainly on primary resources, deals with the issues of bureaucracy, i.e. with the elite group of officials/clerks of the legal category of the Prague Municipal Office in the first half of the 20th century. During this relatively long period, Prague reached a position of modern capital of a new state, Czechoslovakia, and one of Central European metropolises. The core of the thesis lays in explaining principles of functioning of the municipal bureaucracy, the development of its position, the course of its career and the factors that influenced them. Attention is paid to the mutual relations within this group and both to their individual and group strategies, with regard to other municipal officials of other than juristic previous university education within the Prague municipal office as well as to the relations of officials and representatives of municipal administration. It shows how the disciplinary rules were applied. Adequate attention is paid to the relationship/interventions of state administration into the self-government sphere.

This work seeks to answer questions concerning the role France played in shaping the Czechoslovak elite in the first half of the 20th century. The study rests on three basic pillars. The first is a study of the framework in which Franco-Czechoslovak relations developed in the area of culture, cultural and educational policy. The second pillar is the question of France's direct involvement in Czechoslovakia - by means of solid structures created in connection with the establishment of the new state, and with the development of active French cultural policy after 1918. On the one hand, the French Institute in Prague, which, in the period under study, wanted to be more than a mere cultural centre, its ambitions primarily concerning scientific cooperation (language, philosophy, history, law, medicine, economics, chemistry, technical disciplines). On the other hand, the French Real Grammar School in Prague, the example of which gives a very good study of the competitive limits of cooperation between the two countries in the field of secondary education. Despite the growing number of students, this private institution (nationalised in 1937), never stopped addressing a key question: is it a Czechoslovak school teaching in French or a French educational institution operating in Czechoslovakia? The third pillar is...

The subject of this dissertation thesis is investigating the issue of the German ethnic group status in inter-war Czechoslovakia shown in the example of the Nejdek political district with the emphasis on the major and crucial aspects of social life - politics, economic and social issues while the assistance and support elements include: demographics, border issues, the presence of the Czech ethnic group, a preview of own (German) history and the development of churches and religion. The Nejdek political district is set within a framework of regional history with regard to the historical context of the development of Czechoslovakia, or even of the world in some cases. The regional history presented here in the form of a probe from the perspective of great historical events and partly through micro-history aim to build on the broad source base and capture the impacts and effects of national policies on shaping of the Nejdek region and its inhabitants. In some ways, when possible of course, research methods are applied. Overall, the work is to fill the so-called white gaps in the regional historiography, since the books or studies published so far have been focusing only on partial, closely regionally defined topics and only comprehensive work, which the author of this paper attempts, could therefore...