Jan Havlasa was the first Ambassador of Czechoslovakia to Brazil, a distinguished writer and explorer. The purpose of this thesis is to present the explorer's life. Havlasa visited Slovakia after finishing secondary school, and soon after he travelled also to Italy; Saint Louis, Missouri; or the island of Tahiti. After the Paris Peace Conference in 1919, Havlasa served as the Ambassador of Czechoslovakia to Brazil (1920-1924); in 1943, Czechoslovak president Edvard Beneš called him back into diplomatic service, this time as the Ambassador to Chile. Among his most important formative experiences we can find his membership in the Opium Commission of the League of Nations. Despite the fact that Havlasa spent most of his life abroad, he never relinquished his homeland: he took interest in the situation of Czechoslovakia and fought for its independence on the Austro-Hungarian monarchy. His extensive lecturing activities, as well as his treatise Colonial Policy in Relation to the Great War earned him one year of gaol in Vienna. The thesis also takes into account Havlasa's extensive literary work and his lectures, which took place all over Czechoslovakia and during which he presented his books, photographs and travel experience to his readers and listeners.

Diploma thesis "Husák, Havel, Klaus: New Year's speeches of prezidents in time changes" deals with the traditional New Year's speeches of the last three Czech and Czechoslovak presidents Gusáv Husák, Václav Havel and Václav Klaus. It compares them in the terms of rhetoric and pragmatic linguistic, focusing on their structure, style and applied topics. It also monitors whether and how the presidents in their festive speeches responded and referred to each other. The aim of the thesis is to find out how the presidential New Year's speeches reflected personal experience of the speakers and the circumstances under which these festive speeches were formed. A view behind the scenes of the New Year's speeches is to be revealed by a short survey among the closest associates of presidents. The thesis follows the festive presidents speeches in written form, does not deal with their television or radio appearances. It also contains biographical data of all three heads of the state, with emphasis on their rhetorical skills and experience. Part of the work is also devoted to the history and systematic classification of New Year's presidential speeches in general.

cooperation in the 1970's. Soviet relations during two General Secretaries' reign - Chernenko and examines influence of theirs reform efforts on two countries' Disertační práce se zabývá hospodářsko politickými vztahy Sovětského svazu a Československa v 1992 a zahrnuje analýzu rozličných aspektů tomu je rozčleněna do čtyř kapitol. První 70. letech 20. století, včetně obchodní a vědeckotechnické spolupráce. Druhá kapitola je zaměřena na analýzu změn v českoslove sovětských vztazích v rámci reformních snah dvou generálních tajemníků J.V. Andropova a K.U. Černěnka. Třetí kapitola specifikuje vzájemný obchod v čase a struktuře v Gorbačovovy Perestrojky. Analyzuje se i fenomén perestrojky jak v Sovětském svazu, tak v Československu, objasňují se její podstata a vliv na vzájemné vztahy. této části se též řeší otázka která ze zemí více profitoval ze stávající struktury vzájemného obchodu, investiční činnosti, vědeckotechnické kooperace a aterální kooperace. Verifikuje se také tvrzení, že s ohledem na strukturu obchodu byl Sovětský svaz pro ČSSR významný především dovozem surovin, recipročně Československo reprezentovalo pro sovětské hospodářství důležitý zdroj technologických postupů a pro strojírenské produkci a spotřebních výrobcích. Závěrečná část obsahuje analýzu vývoje obchodní směny, nastiňují se...

This thesis analyses the life and activity of the Sisters from the Order of St. Ursula in the Czechoslovak Republic between 1918 and 1945. Using obtainable archival sources and secondary literature, it observes the working of monasteries and the life of the Sisters from St. Ursula in the first half of the 20th century and how it impacted the inhabitants of locations where monasteries were operating. Specifically, it covers the educational activity of the Order of St. Ursula, which was perceived as their main mission. KEY WORDS: Religious history - Modern history - Czechoslovakia in 1918-1939 - Order of St. Ursula - Ursulines

This thesis is dealing with the education of contemporary history on the second level of elementary schools and grammar schools, concretely with the period 1968-1989 in Czechoslovakia, so called "normalisation" and works with options of application in the educational proces. The study of contemporary czechoslovakian history is sbdued to analysis: historic, didactic and methodical with the explicit theoretical research the proposition of didaktic approach arises, which forms 10 teaching lessons for elementary schools and 12 for grammar schools with the difference of 2 levels of lessons - standarized and the so called seminars with emphasis on the activity of the pupils, working with resources, development of critical historical thinking and the perception of the causes and results of historical evolution. KEYWORDS Normalisation, Czechoslovakia 1868-1989, didactics of history, educational approach draft, modern history, contemporary history, elementary school, grammar school

La thèse démontre l’impact du théâtre de Krejča sur l’évolution de l’art dramatique belge francophone. Elle scinde l’activité théâtrale de Krejča en Belgique en deux parties, chacune placée sous le sceau d’une réalité politique différente. La première correspond à un moment de détente dans le paysage politique tchécoslovaque et débute avant la création du Divadlo za branou. Assimilée à la seconde avant-garde théâtrale tchèque, elle inaugure aussi la série de succès internationaux de Krejča dans des pays non socialistes. La seconde période survient après la liquidation du Divadlo za branou par les autorités communistes tchécoslovaques et après le départ de Krejča en semi exil. Théâtralement, la Belgique francophone est alors en pleine émulation, qui s’observe notamment dans les propositions artistiques du « Jeune théâtre » (1976-1986). L’arrivée de Krejča, dans les années 1960, sur la scène du Théâtre National de Belgique s’inscrit dans la dynamique des échanges théâtraux européens et dans une volonté diplomatique de rapprochement entre la Tchécoslovaquie et la Belgique. La thèse insiste sur ces rencontres entre les artistes belges francophones et les artistes internationaux car elles jouent un rôle fondamental, auquel prend part Krejča, dans l’histoire du théâtre belge de langue française. Fort de sa réappropriation de la tradition théâtrale tchèque et des concepts de Stanislavskij, Krejča est l’un des premiers à apporter en Belgique francophone un regard dépassant la dimension représentationnelle de la première lecture du texte et à proposer une alternative au manque laissé par le retard de l’avant-garde théâtrale belge francophone. Sa poétique, principalement influencée par le théâtre atelier d’E.F. Burian, le théâtre poétique de Frejka, le civilisme d’Hilar, les théories préfigurant la sémiologie théâtrale initiée par l’école de Prague et par les développements du « Mchat », rencontre un accueil mitigé parmi les journalistes polygraphes mais ne manque pas d’impressionner certains animateurs de la scène théâtrale belge à l’instar de Janine Patrick ou de Marc Liebens. Aussi trouve-t-elle notamment un prolongement dans le Théâtre du Parvis. La thèse situe l’apport le plus évident de la poétique krejčaïenne en Belgique francophone dans le traitement dramaturgique, polyphonique et préfigurant le théâtre postdramatique, que le metteur en scène propose. A Louvain-la-Neuve, c’est à nouveau la puissance de la tradition tchèque et la conviction philosophique de Krejča qui impressionnent ses collaborateurs et se déclinent à travers les excroissances théâtrales francophones belges dont la plus manifeste est une expérience théâtrale, toujours en cours aujourd’hui : le théâtre de l’Éveil. La dissertation délimite d’abord les spécificités de la poétique théâtrale de Krejča, puis, après une analyse des mises en scène de Krejča, elle retrace et détaille les diverses formes sous lesquelles son esthétique se manifeste : transmission d’un héritage théâtral (avant-garde historique tchèque, sémiologie théâtrale développée par l’Ecole de Prague) et littéraire (mise à l’honneur de Schnitzler et de Nestroy), prolongement de la recherche théâtrale jusqu’à l’approche postdramatique (révélation de la dramaticité des pièces de Tchékhov, importation du théâtre musical), regards dramaturgique et philosophique, écriture dramatique (influence sur l’écriture d'auteurs dramatiques, Krejča-personnage dans des pièces d’acteur)… / The thesis focuses on Czech theatre from first avant-garde to second avant-garde; mainly it is focusing on Otomar Krejča’s theatre and its relationship with Belgian theatre within the second Czech avant-garde theatre to the end of the Normalization. Krejča worked an intensive part of his artistic life in Belgium. His Belgian theatrical activity can be divided into two distinct periods. The first one was coinciding with the foundation of his “Theatre Beyond the Gate” (Divadlo za branou) in Prague in 1965 and took place in the Belgian National Theatre in Brussels. Those years were squaring with Czechoslovakian destalinization and were particularly productive in the artistic field. In Brussels Krejča directed four plays: in 1965, Hamlet, in 1966, The Seagull, in 1970, Three Sisters, in 1978, Romeo and Juliet. The first three plays occurred before the Normalization and his departure in specific exile. The last one marked the beginning of his second period in Belgium, closely bound to Louvain-la-Neuve city. The two following Krejča’s productions were first created for the Festival d’Avignon: in 1978, Waiting for Godot and Lorenzaccio in 1979, before being performed at Atelier théâtral Jean Vilar in Louvain-La-Neuve. The three following plays were the last of Krejča’s Belgian works: Three Sisters in 1980, A. Schnitzler’s The Green Cockatoo in 1981 and Dostoevsky’s The Possessed adapted by Krejča himself in 1982. In Belgium, the reception of his plays was mitigated. Duality between critics can be explained by Krejča’s new regard on plays, by Krejča’s use of dramaturgy. Krejča’s productions in Belgium were innovating because through dramaturgy they paved the way for something new : it was the end of a romantic Hamlet in the Shakespearian tradition and the end of Pitoëff’s aesthetic in Chechov’s productions. Krejča’s work of art, impregnated by Czech tradition theatre of avant-garde, influenced his Belgian collaborators. Krejča was influenced by leaders in Czech first avant-garde theatre such as Burian, Frejka, theatrical theory of Honzl and Hilar’s theatre conception. When Krejča started to work in Belgium, the country was undergoing a theatrical revolution. At the end of the 1960s, French-speaking Belgium lived at the rhythm of its first avant-garde in staging. According to me, this fact is the main explanation to Krejča’s significance in French-speaking Belgium. Thanks to Krejča’s Belgian productions, a part of the first Czech theatrical avant-garde and the second Czech theatrical avant-garde penetrated in Belgium. All of Krejča’s concepts (human beings, ethic of responsibility, importance of dramaturgy, personal appropriation of Stanislavski’s approach) slowly instilled French-speaking Belgian theatrical life. Sure an evident mark of continuity of his aesthetic cannot be seen in the long time, nevertheless Krejča’s influence was considerable and briefly materialized in many fields. It is obviously still vivid in the way some actors play, feel and teach theatre.

Often considered to be apolitical playwrights, Samuel Beckett and Tom Stoppard each dedicated dramatic works to dissident Czech playwright (and later President) Václav Havel in the late 1970s and early 1980s—during his imprisonment for his role in writing and distributing the dissident document Charter 77. These dramatic works, with a few others, collectively mark simultaneous, parallel shifts in Beckett’s and Stoppard’s careers toward uncharacteristically explicit political engagement. This report examines these works—Beckett’s Catastrophe and What Where, and Stoppard’s Every Good Boy Deserves Favor and Professional Foul—through the lens of Havel’s political philosophy, especially as expressed in his 1978 essay “The power of the powerless.” This report argues that Havel’s model of apolitical resistance to injustice, a model he calls “living in truth,” expresses humanist values that these playwrights had long affirmed in their art. Their shared moral vision, along with sympathy for Havel’s plight under a totalitarian regime that distorted language as a tool of oppression, was the catalyst for their new, direct involvement in political matters. The report establishes the historical context of the Soviet-dominated Communist regime in Czechoslovakia, along with relevant biographical and professional narratives for each figure. It then examines closely this selection of Beckett’s and Stoppard’s dramatic works and their shared thematic concerns, and demonstrates how they artistically embody and communicate Havel’s model of “living in truth.” / text

The Iron Curtain was seen as the divider between East and West in Cold War Europe. The term is closely connected to the Cold War and expressions such as ‘behind the Iron Curtain’ or ‘after the fall of the Iron Curtain’ are common within historical discussions in the second half of the twentieth century. Even if the term was used regularly as a metaphor there was also a material side with a series of highly militarised borders running throughout Europe. The metaphor and the material borders developed together and individually, sometimes intertwined and sometimes separate. In my research I have carried out two fieldwork studies at sites that can be considered part of the former Iron Curtain. The first study area is located between Italy and Slovenia (formerly Yugoslavia) in which the division between the two towns of Nova Gorica on the Slovenian side and Gorizia on the Italian side was investigated. The second study area is located on the border between Austria and Czech Republic (formerly Czechoslovakia) within two national parks. A smaller study was also carried out in Berlin as the Berlin Wall is considered of major importance in the context of the Iron Curtain. This research has resulted in large quantities of sources and information and a constant need to re-evaluate the methods used within an archaeology of a more recent past. This thesis falls within what is usually referred to as contemporary archaeology, a fairly young sub-discipline of archaeology. Few large research projects have so far been published, and methods have been described as still somewhat experimental. Through my fieldwork it has been possible to acknowledge and highlight the problems and opportunities within contemporary archaeology. It has become clear how the materials stretch both through time and place demonstrating the complex process of how the material that archaeologists investigate can be created. The material of the Iron Curtain, is also well worth studying in its own right.

Die vorliegende Arbeit beschäftigt sich mit dem Thema „Die Wiedervereinigung Deutschlands: Das Bild der Deutschen in der tschechischen Presse“. Der 3. Oktober 2010, der 20. Jahrestag der deutschen Einheit, zeigt die große Aktualität vieler Aspekte der deutschen Frage nicht nur im deutsch-tschechischen, sondern vor allem im europäischen Kontext, der in dieser Arbeit eine herausragende Rolle spielt. Die politische Wende im Jahre 1989 und die darauf rasch folgende Wiedervereinigung Deutschlands bietet den Tschechen eine einmalige Chance, die Beziehungen zu dem deutschen Nachbarn neu zu gestalten und einen gemeinsamen Weg „nach Europa“ zu suchen. Diese emotional und politisch sehr exponierte Zeit ist theoretisch auch eine Möglichkeit, die problematische deutsch-tschechische Geschichte zu überwinden. Die im 19. und 20. Jahrhundert gewonnene historische Erfahrung der Tschechen mit Deutschland korrespondiert sehr eng mit der Hoffnung auf ein gemeinsames, friedliches Europa, in dem das vereinigte Deutschland eine seinem Potenzial angemessene - dennoch nicht dominante - Rolle einnimmt, die selbstverständlich auch auf die deutsch-tschechischen Beziehungen projiziert wird. Als Ausgangsquelle der Analyse werden Presseartikel aus drei tschechischen Zeitungen Mladá fronta Dnes, Lidové noviny und Právo von Juli 1989 bis Dezember 1990 verwendet. In diesem Untersuchungszeitraum wird versucht zu beantworten, welche Bilder der Deutschen in der tschechischen Presse vorkommen. Zu erforschen ist, ob in der Presse schon existierende, meistens auf der historischen Erfahrung des 19. und des 20. Jahrhunderts basierende Bilder konstruiert bzw. rekonstruiert werden, die für die Tschechen und Europäer als bedrohlich eingestuft werden. Oder wird ein neues Bild dargestellt, das Deutschland als Vorbild und neue europäische Großmacht präsentiert, die die europäische Vereinigung aktiv mitgestaltet und vorbehaltlos stiftet. Diese beiden polarisierenden Fragestellungen spiegeln deutlich die zwiespältige Sicht auf Deutschland, sowohl im europäischen wie auch im nachbarschaftlichen Kontext.

The thesis submitted deals with the period of 1945 {--} 1948, the period of the end of the World War II and the beginning of the communist regime. It follows the events in the Czechoslovak Republic since its liberation by the American and Soviet Armies, the punishment of the collaborators and the withdrawal of the German inhabitants, the establishment of the National Front and People{\crq}s committees as new administrative and authority units, further the Constitutive National Assembly elections in May of 1946, gradual fall of the National Front, communist coup d{\crq}état of February 1948 and subsequent May election, with all the events focused on the region of the chosen South Bohemian town {--} Písek. The events start to be followed in May of 1945, in the long{--}awaited days of liberation from Nazism. It deals with the restoration of autonomous authorities in the form of the Local and the District people{\crq}s committee as well as the restoration of the activities of political parties which peaked during the election campaign of 1946 reflecting in the results of the election. It also pays attention to the disputes among the parties and their members that culminate in the February events of 1948 and oncoming new socio{--}political arrangements. Least but not last, it also deals with a severe post{--}war situation of the Czech inhabitants, supply cut-off difficulties as well as the restoration of the remained town ruins.