Czechoslovakia; The State That Failed

by Mary Heimann

• ISBN13: 9780300141474
• ISBN10: 0300141475
• Format: Trade Book
• Copyright: 2009-12-08
• Publisher: Yale University Press

Summary

This book, the most thoroughly researched and accurate history of Czechoslovakia to appear in English, tells the story of the country from its founding in 1918 to partition in 1992from fledgling democracy through Nazi occupation, Communist rule, and invasion by the Soviet Union to, at last, democracy again. The common Western view of Czechoslovakia has been that of a small nation that was sacrificed at Munich in 1938 and betrayed to the Soviets in 1948, and which rebelled heroically against the repression of the Soviet Union during the Prague Spring of 1968. Mary Heimann dispels these myths and shows how intolerant nationalism and an unhelpful sense of victimhood led Czech and Slovak authorities to discriminate against minorities, compete with the Nazis to persecute Jews and Gypsies, and pave the way for the Communist police state. She also reveals Alexander Dubcek, held to be a national hero and standard-bearer for democracy, to be an unprincipledapparatchik. Well written, revisionist, and accessible, this groundbreaking book should become the standard history of Czechoslovakia for years to come.

Author Biography

Mary Heimann is senior lecturer in the history department at the University of Strathclyde, Scotland.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations and Maps	p. viii
Acknowledgements	p. x
Spelling, Translation and Place Names	p. xiii
Guide to Pronunciation	p. xviii
Introduction	p. xx
Before Czechoslovakia	p. 1
The Invention of a State	p. 20
A Troubled Democracy	p. 48
The Fascist Appeal	p. 87
A Republic and a Protectorate	p. 111
From National Cleansing to Communist Dictatorship	p. 150
Building the Socialist State	p. 177
The Bratislava and Prague Springs	p. 211
Back to Normal	p. 243
From Resentment to Revolution	p. 278
The End of Czechoslovakia	p. 307
Notes	p. 325
Bibliography	p. 358
Index	p. 376
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.

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