Dissertation: The Making of "Democratic Socialism". Party Historiography of 50's and 60's Between Stalinism and Reform Communism The aim of this dissertation is to analyze the development of the Party historiography in the 50's and 60's. The story of Party historiography starts in the early 50's when it was created as a brand new revolutionary historiography deep rooted in the structure of the Communist party. This new historiographical project had to deal with the history of Communist Party of Czechoslovakia and labour movement. The Party historiography had reflected the changes in the actual policy of Czechoslovak communism. It is possible to distinguish the stalinist, the post-stalinist and the reform communist period of the Party historiography development. In the first half of the 50's Party historiography was a part of Party propaganda. After 1956 Party historians developed the scientific paradigm of Party historiography which contained also obligatory post-stalinist interpretation framework for writing about the Communist party past. In the 60's this historiographical paradigm broke down under the strong criticism, which was led from the reform communist positions. So called Reform historiography of the 60's developed a new historiographical narrative. It was based upon belief in the...

In the years 1969 - 1973 the Roma organization called The Union of Gypsies-Roma formed a part of the National Front and Roma could partly contribute through this organization to the execution of the policy targeted against themselves. This study surveys the activities of The Union of Gypsies-Roma in the West Bohemian Region and reconstructs the work of its regional board and the affiliated economic facility Névodrom seated in Pilsen. It describes the operations of this organization in the residential and social-medical sphere as well as schooling, education, culture and sport, informs about its cooperation with state authorities and organizations united in the National Front. Based on the analysis of the documents relating to the activities of the Union in the West Bohemian Region the study unveils also some internal mechanisms of the organization as a whole (methods of the formation of the organizational structure, recruitment of the members). The concluding part of the work contributes to the knowledge concerning the dissolution of the Union and its consequences, provides a reflection of the significance of The Union of Gypsies - Roma by some of its representatives and it also briefly investigates the analogies of the activities of the Union and activities of Roma activists in the political and...

In connection with the new direction of cultural policy in Czechoslovakia, the Ministry of Education, led by Zdeněk Nejedlý, began to support the promotion of so-called classics in all spheres of art production in the so-called period of the Third Republic. In the early 1950s, numerous personalities were defined in individual disciplines, whose work met the ideas of socialist realism, and thus it was desirable to promote them. Part of this targeted propaganda was the filming of biographical films, or eventually the conversion of their work into a film screen. Despite the liberalization of ideological pressures in the 1960s, the genre of the biography remained popular, but the art component was considerably strengthened at the expense of the educational one. The aim of this diploma thesis is to reveal a circle of personalities whose life or work has been the subject of film adaptations, and based on several selected examples (to be refined during the work) to reconstruct the film image of their life and its transformation in the period under review.

The Pilgrimage to Velehrad and its significance during the Modern Era of Czech History The purpose of my thesis is to introduce pilgrimage as a phenomenon that can expose various discourses; strengthening and framing collective identity and manifesting various interest groups in the foreground of changeable historical contexts. To explain this religious tradition, I am using a concept of so called, 'social drama': Pilgrimage has a cohesive function as well as being a platform for social and political expression. With the help of archival sources, I focus on the pilgrimage to Velehrad in the period between the second half of the 19th Century and the latter period of the 20th. In the era of the Habsburg monarchy, we can see in Velehrad especially, a realization of the official state and church discourse in competition with nationally motivated tendencies for manifestation. During the First Czechoslovak Republic these events are used to present a newly Catholically based national identity under the influence of state and church. In the Communist era interest groups expressed their orientation against the state, but tendencies to manifest the ideology of the regime persisted unerringly in the background.

Annotation Through the analysis of the alternation of the elites in the municipality of Studená and the after - February fates of two businessmen, I tried to describe the transformations of the small town in the course of the period of three republics and mainly during the high Stalinism. I substantiated, inter alia, the replacement of the small town elites by two examples of Jan Satrapa and Karel Bartušek whose fates appeared to be very applicable for this way approached case study. I also attempted to record the changes of the common cultural and ideological period trends within this municipality. Directed through the specific fates, I described the shape of the small town after February 25, 1948 and compared it with the specialised literature thereby I tried to place the case of Studená in the contemporary context. To acheive the needed results, I used the sources of personal data and the memory data (family and municipal chronicles), conversations with survivors, and likewise the books of Vlasta Javořická. They proved to be extremely valuable sources.

This thesis analyses and describes the role of Augustin Antonín Machalka, the abbot of monastery in Nová Říše in the political trial Machalka a spol.

The dissertation The theme of Nazi and Communistic prisoner in Czech literature in the 2nd half of the 20th century deals with political prison in prose of the given period. Its aim is to show the whole picture on both mentioned phases and regimes, on relations and attitudes of literary theory to the literature, which is related with political theme and firstly on psychological and social world of political prisoners of Nazi and Communist regime in the literature.

The diploma thesis analyses czechoslovakian society between 1948 and 1989 with help of ethical blindness concept. It focuses on former living conditions, ways of perceiving socialist system and how public adapted to it. Ethical blindness is a state of mind which makes us blind for the ethical dimension of our decision. It is unintentional and usually short-term, caused by individual characteristics and very strong context. The hypothesis lays in assumptions that ethical blindness was present during the communist era in Czechoslovakia and can be used to interpret passiveness of former public and its consequences. The thesis conerns also those who managed to release themselves from ethical blindness.

Práce se zabývá rozpadem Sovětského svazu. Rozebírá politické a hospodářské dějiny SSSR od konce padesátých let až do samotného rozpadu bloku v roce 1991. Dále zobrazuje mocenskopolitický boj mezi hlavními představiteli SSSR v této době. Cílem je nalezení příčin rozpadu a zobrazení hospodářských a politických procesů, které v této době probíhaly a které ke kolapsu vedly.

The thesis deals with Czechoslovak Spartakiads, which were held by the Communist Party every fifth year from 1955 till 1985 (with exception of 1970). Spartakiads were one of the symbols of the Communist regime, when thousands of gymnasts performed and created different figures by synchronized exercises of their bodies at the Strahov Stadium in Prague. Introduction of my paper is focused on description of history of mass gymnastic displays, which Spartakiads came from. I also indicate how and when Spartakiads originated, how they realized and who and how organized them. Spartakiads were very popular, that's why I describe in the paper, why and how the Communist regime succeeded to hold their popularity. Spartakiads became a tool of communist propaganda. So, I realize the difference in a public perception of Spartakiads and the official interpretation. I examine the transformation of a face of Spartakiad in time in my thesis. I compare its transformation with evolution of the Communist ideology. I evaluate the point and purport of Spatakiad in conclusion of the paper and I think about a chance of survival of Spartakiad in present time.