Intellectuals and the Communist Idea The Search for a New Way in Czech Lands from 1890 to 1938

by Cabada, Ladislav; Benedikt, Zdenek

• ISBN13: 9780739143766
• ISBN10: 073914376X
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2010-09-14
• Publisher: Lexington Books

Summary

Intellectuals and the Communist Idea describes how the Communist ideology penetrated into Czech culture and politics from the dawn of the twentieth century into the late 1930s, just before the outbreak of WW II in Europe. Based mainly upon the research of contemporary primary sources, the analysis examines the complex issue of personal reasons and individual motivations, appealing slogans, and ideological and power peripheries connected with the formation of the relationship between the newly-founded Communist Party in Czechoslovakia and the left-wing artists and intellectuals declaring themselves Marxists. The work follows two main paths: the first is marked by the melting of the pre-war (meaning WWI) libertarian communism and radical left-wing stream in Czech politics into the Czechoslovak Communist Party, established in 1921 and becoming a strong and relevant political subject soon after its foundation. The second path follows the left-wing art front involvement in the Communist Party and its activities within. This concise insight into the world of Czech Communist intellectuals uncovers the ideological bigotry and intolerance of the Communist class-defined ideology, together with pointing out the unprincipled pragmatics of the ideological flops committed by the members of the interwar Communist movement under Lenin's and later Stalin's ward. The book illustrates clearly how the initial enthusiasm of the Czech Communist intellectuals eventually changed either into disillusionment resulting in their disaffiliation with Communism, or into permanent fear and obedient loyalty, which later became the base for establishing the Communist system in post-WW II Czechoslovakia.

Author Biography

Ladislav Cabada is associate professor in the Department of Politics and International Relations at the University of West Bohemia in Pilsen. Zdenek Benedikt is a translator for EUFRAT Translating and Interpreting Centre, Pilsen, Czech Republic.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. ix
Introduction	p. 1
The Czech Left in the Early Twentieth Century	p. 7
Czech Political Scene during WWI	p. 17
The Czech and Slovak Left in the Period between the Establishment of the Sovereign Czechoslovak Republic and the First Parliamentary Elections	p. 29
En Route to the Communist Party	p. 43
Czechoslovak Communist Party Established	p. 57
Proletarian Culture	p. 67
The Left in the First Half of the 1920s	p. 85
Leftist Culture in the Mid-1920s	p. 101
KSC and the Leftist Culture in the Years 1926-1928	p. 111
Fifth Congress of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia	p. 121
Generation Debate and the Origin of the Left Front	p. 135
KSC and the Left Front in the First Half of the 1930s	p. 153
KSC and Left-Wing Culture in the Mid-l930s	p. 163
Political Trials in the USSR, Trotskyism, and the Definitive Dissension in the Cultural Left	p. 173
Conclusion	p. 185
Bibliography	p. 197
Index	p. 203
About the Author	p. 209
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