Research Catalog

Title

Communist Czechoslovakia, 1945-89 : a political and social history / Kevin McDermott.

Author

McDermott, Kevin, 1957-

Publication

• London ; New York, NY : Palgrave, 2015.
• ©2015

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Description

xix, 252 pages; 23 cm

Summary

"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, enroll 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"--

Series Statement

European history in perspective

Uniform Title

European history in perspective (Palgrave (Firm))

Subjects

• Communism
• Czechoslovakia
• Political culture
• Social classes
• Communism > Social aspects
• Czechoslovakia > Social conditions > 1945-1992
• History
• Komunistická strana Československa
• Political culture > Czechoslovakia > History
• Politics and government
• Social classes > Czechoslovakia > History
• Komunistická strana Československa History
• Social conditions
• Czechoslovakia > Politics and government > 1945-1992
• Communism > Czechoslovakia > History
• Communism > Social aspects > Czechoslovakia > History
• 1945 - 1992

Genre/Form

History.

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references and index.

Contents

Abbreviations and Glossary of Terms -- Glossary of Leading Figures -- Presidents of the Czechoslovak Republic, 1945-89 -- Timeline : 1945-89 -- A Note on Czech Pronunciation -- Introduction: Communist Czechoslovakia in Historical Perspective -- 1. Communism on the Road to Power, 1945-48 -- 2. Stalinism Reigns, 1948-53 -- 3. Social Crisis and the Limits of Reform, 1953-67 -- 4. Czechoslovak Spring, 1968-69 -- 5. Everyday Normalisation, 1969-88 -- 6. 1989 : The Demise of Communism -- Conclusion: Into the Dustbin of History?

Call Number

JFD 15-4719

ISBN

• 9780230217140
• 0230217141
• 9780230217157
• 023021715X

LCCN

2015023394

OCLC

907183981

Author

McDermott, Kevin, 1957- author.

Title

Communist Czechoslovakia, 1945-89 : a political and social history / Kevin McDermott.

Publisher

London ; New York, NY : Palgrave, 2015.

Copyright Date

©2015

Type of Content

text

Type of Medium

unmediated

Type of Carrier

volume

Series

European history in perspective

European history in perspective (Palgrave (Firm))

Bibliography

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Chronological Term

1945 - 1992

Research Call Number

JFD 15-4719