Czechoslovakia

The history of rock in Communist Europe has been viewed by a number of domestic and foreign authors as a series of events with a dominant political content, either in the form of a general youth revolt or directly in the spirit of anti-communist opposition. In this regard, the present study extends the current simplifying concept with an emphasis on the reception history, including relevant issues related to the typology of listeners and aesthetics.

Between the “Anschluss” of Austria to Nazi Germany in March 1938 and the first mass transports from Vienna in 1941, 135,000 Austrians, who were defined as Jewish by the Nuremburg laws, fled abroad. This article looks at the key moments in their expulsion, focusing on those who sought refuge in Czechoslovakia, especially in the border regions during 1938 and an examination of the processes of flight, trafficking, smuggling and illegal expulsions as the geo-political landscape of both countries changed dramatically.

The study applies the French term "sortie de guerre" (exiting the war) to the issues at the end of the Great War in the Habsburg monarchy, Central-Eastern Europe and in Slovakia, which was part of this area. It pays special attention to the issues of the minorities and the search for the possible ways in which they could be protected by international law and the treaties signed after the end of World War I. Exiting the war for Slovaks cannot be considered from a narrow local perspective.

The article is an introduction to the current issue of Forum Historiae that was supported by the Slovak Research and Development Agency project "Continuity and Discontinuity of Political and Social Elites in Slovakia in the 19th and 20th Centuries". The editors provide a brief overview of the theoretical concepts that underlie the articles published in the issue; they introduce the main research questions and hypotheses the authors of the issue worked with and outline the main conclusions.

The prevalence of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia in February 1948 brought great changes to the entire Czechoslovak society. The state's subordination of a major portion of the population – farmers – was affected with the violent implementation of the Soviet collectivization model in domestic economic conditions. With its implementation, the communist regime managed to reconstruct the whole of rural society within few years in a manner that was unprecedented in national history.

After its resurgence from the Moscow exile in 1945, the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (CPS) adopted the image of a party representing not only the labourers but the whole working class. The CPS worked towards gaining the support of Czechoslovak farmers with promises of new land reform, law guaranteed collectivization of land up to 50 hectares and more legislative measures to make their lives easier. However, the most significant was the promise of no kolkhozes – no equivalent of soviet agriculture.

The author deals with the image of Czechs and Slovaks in the works of Hungarian intelligentsia from Slovakia in the interwar period. He analyzes the studies and essays of seven significant representatives of Hungarian minority in Slovakia. They belonged to the members of the second generation of Hungarians in Slovakia who were born before the establishment of Czechoslovakia, however, they received their education in Czechoslovakia.

This article deals with stereotypes of Czech nation and its neighbours as they were utilised by interwar Czech utopists. As they tried to persuade theirs readers they have to follow the commonsensical beliefs and values of their potential readers. Czech nation was their primary concern as well as its relationship with other nations – the future of the nation was more important than the proposed social organisation. Presented ethnic stereotypes were remarkably consistent with the authors offering socialist, capitalist or alternative future development.

The period from the Austro-Hungarian Compromise to the outbreak of World War II can be considered as decisive for the modernization of cities in the territory of Slovakia. It is because processes, the impact of which is still today determining the appearance of the urban landscape, took place during these seven decades. Intensive modern urbanization took place in that period in the Kingdom of Hungary and Hungarian cities reached the standards of Western Europe. Particularly between 1867 and 1918, development took place in the same temporal, functional and structural context.

The central axis of the essay represents the tricky relationship between the politically promoted and ideologically driven concept of ‘socialist patriotism' and the Marxist historical studies of nation-building in East- Central Europe. It starts with a short overview of the ambiguous relationship of radical socialist movements and communist parties in the region to national or nationality question until the end of WWII that foreshadowed the even more complicated development during the communist parties‘ dictatorial rule.