Redaktøren af "Journal of Central European Affairs" S. Harrison Thomson udgav 1943 denne "Tjekkoslovakiet i europæisk historie"--Bøhmen-Mähren: Hertugerne af Bøhmen, Premysliderne som hertuger, som konger fra 1198-1306 (højdepunkt under Ottokar 2.), Luxemborgerne 1310-1437 (højdepunkt under Kejser Karl 4. - Hussiterkrigene), forening med Ungarn som Slovakiet hidtil havde hørt under 1419-39 (med Østrig tillige 1437-39 under Kejser Albrecht 2.), 1440-1526 Habsborgerne/Luxemborgere/Jagiello - periodevis i union med Ungarn og Polen/Lithauen (højdepunkt som selvstændig under Georg Podiebrad 1458-71), 1526-1918 forening under Habsborgerne - begyndende nationalisme særlig fra 1867 - uafhængighed fra 1918 Masaryk, Benes.

First published in 1943, this volume aims to trace the development of several of the more acute problems of Czechoslovak life and history in a country which has been highly sensitive to the disturbances which have shaken the rest of Europe and which has never been far from the tumult and the clash of arms. Only through historical analysis and quiet explanation of the facts can we fairly judge, in the light of past event, the ultimate value of a free Czechoslovakia to a free Europe.

Few Europeans in the twentieth century have been subject to the repeated buffetings by foreign powers, ideologically driven transformations and internal upheaval of the Czechs and the Slovaks. The period of Communist rule was complex, and those who gleefully overthrew the regime in 1989 were the very grandchildren of those who had voted for Communism with hope in the free elections of 1946. This concise account includes both political and social history, analysing half a century of Communism from at all strata of society. Kevin McDermott is equally intrigued by those in power and ordinary citizens, asking what motivates a young Czech worker-believer to join the Communist Party in the early 1950s, enrol in the People's Militia and remain in the party during the dark years of 'normalisation', yet end up welcoming the tearing down of the Berlin Wall in 1989. Using Czech and Slovak archival sources and the most recent historiography, McDermott challenges the still dominant 'totalitarian' paradigm and argues that the forty year communist experience in Czechoslovakia cannot simply be dismissed as a Soviet-imposed aberration.

A revisionist history, this volume sets out to debunk many of the myths about Czechoslovakia.

Czechoslovakia has been at the center of some of the most difficult--and tragic--episodes of modern European history: its sacrifice to Nazi Germany at Munich; the Communist Coup of 1948; and the military crushing of the Prague Spring. It has also enacted momentous change almost magically, as in the peaceful overthrow of communism in 1989, and then the negotiated end to the country in 1992. Czechoslovak history has consequently produced enduring political metaphors for our times, such as the Velvet Revolution and Velvet Divorce. The second edition of the Historical Dictionary of the Czech State has been thoroughly updated and greatly expanded. Featuring a chronology, introductory essay, appendix, bibliography, and hundreds of cross-referenced dictionary entries, this detailed, authoritative reference provides understandings of the Czechs as a people; the territory they inhabit; their social, cultural, political, and economic developments throughout history; and interactions with their neighbors and the wider world.

Frances Starn is a writer living in Berkeley, California. --Book Jacket.

Provides a systematic history from prehistory to the establishment of the Czech Republic.