A presentation of the work of the first President of Czechoslovakia who changed the course of history and influenced developments in Central Europe. The selections of his work follow his dramatic career and show him as a philosopher and a politician who inspired practical work and thinking.

The often turbulent history of the Czechs and Slovaks in the 20th Century, leading from the Czechoslovak Republic to four decades of communist rule, ended with the Velvet Revolution in 1989. The independent Czech and Slovak democracies achieved EU membership in 2004. While their political histories under Austrian and Hungarian rule in 19th Century has been widely researched, their intellectual history is still largely unknown, mainly due to a lack of English translations. Preparing Liberty in Central Europe provides a collection of newly translated texts by Czech and Slovak intellectuals and political thinkers, covering the period of time from the Spring of Nations in 1848 to the Spring of Prague in 1968. The collection includes Ján Kollár’s On literary reciprocity, T.G. Masaryk’s The difficulties of Democracy and the debate about the Czech Fate between Václav Havel and Milan Kundera in 1968/9. The volume addresses students of history, philosophy, political science and Slavic Studies, interested in issues such as Slavonic national revival, Panslavism, Austroslavism, liberalism and Human Rights. Additional comments on text and author guide the reader through one hundred and thirty years of Czech and Slovak political thought. A large selected bibliography and index complement the volume.

In the late 19th century, T. G. Masaryk presented his national programme. This vision of modern Czech society rested on the ideals of humanity, thus infusing the national ethos with a universal dimension. The significance of T. G. Masaryk's thought is investigated by current Czech thinkers in this volume.

First Published in 1999. Includes six maps.

This volume will serve to enrich the reader’s understanding of the impact of World War I on Eastern Europe, by bringing together authors from all over Europe specialising in the history of this area. It presents a retrospective approach and a re-evaluation of this event, the lasting effects of which still make themselves felt in some regions today. Case studies, memoirs, journals, and the printed press of the time are all examined in order to paint a vivid picture of the Great War in Eastern Europe, and particularly in Romania. The chapters offer fresh perspectives on topics connected to the war, including the contribution of women and the emancipation opportunities for them, the social changes that occurred, and the propaganda in Romanian territory. They also review the League of Nations and the protection of international minorities, particularly in those regions where new boundaries were created, and where the application of national self-determination still left substantial communities outside the frontiers of the respective states.