Es sei „nicht ohne Pikanterie“, als Deutsche über den polnischen Nationalismus zu schreiben, bemerkt Stephanie Zloch in ihrer Monografie „Polnischer Nationalismus. Politik und Gesellschaft zwischen den beiden Weltkriegen“ (Köln-Weimar-Wien 2010: 5). Die Schweizerin Isabelle Vonlanthen wiederum stellte in einem Radiointerview vom März 2013 fest, ihr würde es leichter fallen zu diesem Thema zu forschen, da sie aus ihrer Außenposition heraus weniger auf historische Empfindlichkeiten achten müsse. In ihrer Studie „Dichten für das Vaterland“ analysiert sie national engagierte Lyrik und Publizistik in Polen zwischen 1926 und 1939. Die als Dissertation an der Philosophischen Fakultät der Universität Freiburg bei Rolf Fieguth angefertigte Arbeit wurde durch ein dreijähriges Stipendium am Institut für Literaturforschung in Warschau gefördert.

The focus of this research paper is to analyze how Rebecca West’s book Black Lamb & Grey Falcon contributes to the construction of a theoretical concept created by M. Todorova, ”balkanism”. This is achieved through extensive analysis of her work, focusing on how West creates her own stereotype of Yugoslavia and how her portrayal of people and the Yugoslavian society relate to her discussions of the region’s history. With the help of two categories, ethnography and historiography, I will be able to look how West uses the history of Yugoslavia in the construction of” the other” and” otherness”. The main theory used in this paper is Maria Todorova who came up with the concept of” balkanism”. This combination makes the analysis in question unique. With the help of Todorova, it will be possible to understand why West wrote her book in the way that she did while at the same time trying to find out how West contributed to the construction of the theoretic concept of” balkanism.” In conclusion it can be said that West’s way of writing about Yugoslavia is often characterized by certain words and patterns that will be discussed further in the analysis.

The dissertation looks at the history of one physical education organisation which was of great significance to the development of physical culture in inter-war Czechoslovakia and Poland, despite this not being its only activity. The YMCA came into being in England but it particularly flourished in the United States of America. During the First World War, Czechoslovak and Polish soldiers were given a taste of their activity, being accompanied home by members of this in- ternational association after the war had ended. Following requests from military and political leaders of the time, the American YMCA sent its secretaries to the newly established Czechoslovakia and renewed Poland to help establish the first local associations. It was particularly due to them that new practically unknown sports, were introduced to the region. In addition, in both Czechoslovakia and Poland, the YMCA also took responsibility for having new physical education fa- cilities built, improving training methods and generally enhancing young people through sport. During the inter-war years, local YMCA groups and their mem- bers performed exceptionally well in a number of sporting disciplines and ranked among the top Czechoslovak and Polish athletes. Furthermore, the YMCA con- tributed to establishing the tradition of permanent...

This diploma thesis deals with the situation of the Jewish minority in the first Czechoslovak Republic concentrating on Prague as a unique case of the coexistence of the Czech, German and Jewish people. The aim of the research is to analyze the role of democratic German-language periodicals in the presentation of Zionism and Judaism based on the contributions of both Jewish and non-Jewish authors, the so-called intercultural mediators, and to answer questions about the extent to which the ideas of Zionism were presented in the democratic media, and how the question of Jewish identity was addressed in the German- language liberal press. The thesis is profiled as a political-historical and cultural-historical study. The research method chosen in its elaboration is the unique case study method. The aim of the thesis is to analyze the relations of these media to Judaism and Zionism, as well as the relations of Jews and Non-Jews to the issues of national identity, based on selected texts by both Jewish and non- Jewish writers and journalists. The analysis itself comprises a total of nine texts, and the identity of the author does not play a role in this case. The Jews in Prague mostly mastered German and Czech perfectly, and thus became translators and cultural mediators between the two nations. The...

The diploma thesis Josef Macek and the First Czechoslovakian Land Reform is focused on the theoretical work and political engagement of a prominent Czech economist and social democratic politician Josef Mack (1887 - 1972) in relation to the first Czechoslovak land reform with an accent on the first half of the 1920s in Czechoslovakia. The theoretical level is confronted with political practice in the bodies of (Revoluční) Národní shromáždění.

The dissertation deals with sport swimming in the Czech lands and in Czechoslovakia in the interwar period, specifically in the period of the so-called First Republic. However, the work dates back to the beginning of the 19th century, when the first, especially river, swimming pools began to be established in our territory, which were first used for swimming training of soldiers, and only at the end of the 19th century did the general public learn to swim and there are also the first swimming competitions. The greatest development of sport swimming in our territory occurred only after the First World War, when the Czechoslovak Amateur Swimming Association was founded and it sought maximum organizational, financial and material support for swimming. Our swimmers achieved the best swimming performances in the 1920s, when they were able to compete with the European swimming powers. However, they did not have the world's top swimming, which was also seen at the Olympic Games in 1920, 1924, 1928 and 1936. In the early 1930s, the performance of our swimmers began to stagnate, which could be attributed to the fact that in other countries swimming was supported in all respects, but this was not the case in the Czechoslovak Republic, from the very beginning of sport swimming in our territory. Keywords:...

Architect Richard Ferdinand Podzemný - work of the interwar period Abstract Present thesis offers a study into the early work of Richard Ferdinand Podzemný (1907-1987), an important protagonist of a younger generation of interwar architectural avant-garde. Structured around an approximate decade between R. F. Podzemný's studies and the close of the 1930s, the thesis' aim is a contextualized overview of the architect, his projects, both proposals and built work, so as to distinguish his working methods and applied processes in their historical specificity, and that of the development of functionalism in Czechoslovakia. The main areas of interest are the life and career of R. F. Podzemný, the importance of his tutelage at the Industrial school at Valašské Meziříčí and his subsequent studies of architecture with Pavel Janák at the Academy of Applied Art in Prague, the issue of minimal housing planning, private residential projects and competition entries for public development with stress on medical facilities. Finally, close attention is given to the outstanding project of the Residential building of the Landesbank, colloquially dubbed "the Glass Palace" or "Skleňák", and its reverberances throughout the end of the 1930s.

This study investigates the significant rates of French direct investment in the Czechoslovak Republic during the interwar years, specifically from the end of the First World War until the beginning of the Great Depression. It explores the intersection between external factors that occurred on the European continent and internal factors within the Czechoslovak Republic that drove French direct investment in the new republic​ ​during this period. This descriptive thesis uses two case studies of the French economic giant Schneider-Creusot's activities in the Czechoslovak Republic to better understand those motivations. The results from the case studies reveal that the Czechoslovak Republic offered a unique combination of economic stability, natural strategic location, and notable levels of historic productivity. These factors, coupled with the outcome of the Russian Revolution and the Treaty of Versailles, attracted high levels of French​ ​direct investment from 1918 to 1929. French foreign policy in the region was driven more heavily by economic fears and opportunities than by political ones. Key Words Czechoslovak Republic, France, Schneider-Creusot, foreign direct investment, interwar period Title Economic and Political Motivations for French Direct Investment in the Czechoslovak Republic During...

The dissertation looks at the history of one physical education organisation which was of great significance to the development of physical culture in inter-war Czechoslovakia and Poland, despite this not being its only activity. The YMCA came into being in England but it particularly flourished in the United States of America. During the First World War, Czechoslovak and Polish soldiers were given a taste of their activity, being accompanied home by members of this in- ternational association after the war had ended. Following requests from military and political leaders of the time, the American YMCA sent its secretaries to the newly established Czechoslovakia and renewed Poland to help establish the first local associations. It was particularly due to them that new practically unknown sports, were introduced to the region. In addition, in both Czechoslovakia and Poland, the YMCA also took responsibility for having new physical education fa- cilities built, improving training methods and generally enhancing young people through sport. During the inter-war years, local YMCA groups and their mem- bers performed exceptionally well in a number of sporting disciplines and ranked among the top Czechoslovak and Polish athletes. Furthermore, the YMCA con- tributed to establishing the tradition of permanent...

TITLE: Sudeten-German Nationalist Sports Associations and Czech State in the years 1918-1938 ABSTRACT: This dissertation deals with activities of Sudeten-German sports associations which had an negative approach towards the state. Their activities regularly provoked reactions from the state authorities and so it is possible to track down a whole genesis of mutual relations between the Czech state and individual associations in the archives. Among the most important sports associations was DTV Union. This union played an important part in the history of interwar Czechoslovakia, not only in the field of sport but also in the political sphere. Many top leaders of Sudeten-German political representation came from its ranks. Among the most famous Konrad Henlein, Karl Hermann Frank, Walter Brand and many others. Apart from DTV Union this dissertation also describes the most militant Sudeten-German sports association Volksport, which in that time became a synonym for the threat of rising Nacizm. The activities of Sudeten-German negative oriented sports associations had a significant influence on the course of events in Czechoslovak state in the second half of the 1930's and their anti-Czech attitudes culminated during the year 1938 and especially during the period of Munich Agreement. AIMS: The aim of the...