The study is focused on the phenomenon of collective violence
that took place in the territory of the Czech lands during the spring and summer 1945. Albeit the war operations had been concluded since the 8th May 1945, general living conditions resembled rather a continuation of the war in the time - at least until the end of the July 1945. Despite the traditional interpretation of the May 1945 as a crucial reversal, the study focuses on the collective violence as a phenomenon overlapping traditional turning points. Remaining high amount of violent interactions is an element connecting the
final war operations with the first weeks and months after. Applying concepts of political sociology (Charles Tilly), social psychology (Philip Zimbardo) and sociology (Randall Collins) the study strives to capture interdependent nature of collective violence between its structural preconditions and situational dynamics. Based on the quantitative evaluation of the acts of collective violence, the first part outlines a macro social topography of collective violence with the main focus on the period between April and August 1945. The main point is an identification of key actors of the politics of collective
violence and their correlation to basic configurations of particular political regimes (i.e. occupational regime of the so called Protectorate and limited democratic regime of Czechoslovakia after May 1945). The second part evaluates social and cultural mechanisms facilitating escalation of violent situations into mass atrocities.The study identifies impulsive acts of collective violence as limited to temporary transitive violent rituals and turns attention
to the important role of the state organised specialists in concrete violent situations. and Článek zahrnuje poznámkový aparát pod čarou
Autor si klade za cíl přiblížit okolnosti a popsat průběh vynuceného přesídlení obyvatel z těsné blízkosti západní hranice Československa v důsledku zesílení její „ochrany“ v době vrcholícího stalinismu a studené války. Hraniční pásmo bylo zřízeno v dubnu 1950 ve vzdálenosti dvou až šesti kilometrů od hraniční čáry, zakázané pásmo o rok později v dvoukilometrové vzdálenosti a bylo do něj zahrnuto sto dvacet šest obcí a osad. Z hraničního pásma se museli vystěhovat takzvaně státně nespolehliví občané a na ostatní se vztahovala různá bezpečnostní omezení, zakázané pásmo byli nuceni opustit všichni jeho obyvatelé. Celá akce se odehrávala v kompetenci bezpečnostních orgánů od listopadu 1951 do dubna 1952 a postihla celkem přes pět tisíc osob. Autor uvádí, že obyvatelům ani místní správě se často o věci nedostávalo informací, vyskytovaly se fámy a lidé reptali, projevy odporu však byly ojedinělé a akce z pohledu úřadů proběhla vcelku bez komplikací. V menším rozsahu nucené migrace z pohraničí pokračovaly i posléze v důsledku úprav hraničního a zakázaného pásma. V letech 1952 až 1960 zaniklo v zakázaném pásmu více než sto vesnic a ve vylidněných lokalitách pohraničí bylo provedeno přes pětačtyřicet tisíc demolic., The article aims to describe the forced resettlement of the inhabitants from the areas at the western frontier of Czechoslovakia in consequence of the aim of the State to increase the security of these areas at the height of Stalinism and the Cold War. The border zone was set up in April 1950, and ran in a width of between two and six kilometres from the demarcation line. A year later a ‘forbidden zone’ was drawn over it, which ran a consistent two kilometres in width from the frontier and included 126 villages. Whereas people branded ‘politically unreliable’ were forced to move out of the border zone, while others were subject to various security measures, everyone was forced to move out of the forbidden zone. More than 5,000 Anotace people were affected by the operation, which took place from November 1951 to April 1952, overseen by the state security forces. The author notes that often neither the public nor even the local authorities were sufficiently informed though rumours spread and people grumbled, few spoke out openly against it, and, from the point of view of the authorities, the operation took place largely without complications. On a smaller scale forced migration continued in consequence of the adjustments to the border zone and the forbidden zone. From 1952 to 1960 more than 100 villages were obliterated in the forbidden zone, and more than 45,000 buildings were demolished in the depopulated villages of the borderlands., and Materiály
Autoři analyzují vzájemně související, avšak – alespoň z pohledu české společnosti – ne vždy přímo na sobě závislé stránky kremačního hnutí ve 20. století: vzestup a důsledky prokremační propagandy, budování nových krematorií, rozšiřování popularity kremace jakožto způsobu pohřbívání ve společnosti a změny v obřadech, které jsou s kremací spojeny. Dlouhodobá nadvláda ideologie nad společenskými zájmy je v případě kremace jasně viditelná například na skutečnosti, že v první polovině 20. století kremační hnutí získalo výrazně více příznivců, než bylo lidí, kteří se pro tento způsob pohřbu skutečně rozhodli. Jednalo se přitom o způsob pohřbu, který byl později propagován a nakonec akceptován širokými vrstvami české společnosti v důsledku tlaku vyvíjeného komunistickým režimem. Po mnoho let navíc výstavba a výzdoba krematorií stejně jako obřady spojené s kremací odrážely ideologická východiska spíše než praktické potřeby společnosti, což autoři vysvětlují specifickým přístupem české společnosti k náboženství, ovlivněným řadou faktorů (mimo jiné, avšak nikoli výlučně, působením komunistického režimu). Následné odideologizování různých výše zmíněných jevů bylo poměrně pomalé a projevilo se pouze v omezené míře ke konci 20. století. Soudobá česká společnost vykazuje nejvyšší (či jedno z nejvyšších) procento pohřbů žehem v Evropě. Tato skutečnost souvisí se silně zakořeněným českým antiklerikalismem a zaběhnutým sledem pohřebních obřadů, jež s postupem času v komunistickém režimu pevně zakotvily jako součást společenského řádu. and In this article the authors analyse mutually related but, at least as regards Czech society, not always directly interdependent aspects of the cremation movement in the twentieth century: the growth in pro-cremation propaganda and its impact, the establishment of new crematoria, the spread of the popularity of cremation as a method of disposing of the dead throughout society and changes in the rituals associated with it. The long domination of ideology over social interests with regard to cremation is evident, for example, in the fact that in the first half of the twentieth century the cremation movement attracted substantially more followers than those who eventually chose this method of disposal for themselves, a method that was later encouraged and eventually accepted throughout Czech society as a result of pressure from the Communist régime. Furthermore, for many years, the construction and decoration of crematoria, as well as ceremonies connected with cremation, reflected ideological perspectives rather than practical social needs. The authors explain this in terms of Czech attitudes towards religion, which were influenced by a number of factors, not just the Communist regime. The subsequent de-ideologization of these various aspects was quite slow, not taking place till the late twentieth century, and then only to a limited extent. Contemporary Czech society has one of the highest cremation rates in Europe, a fact connected both with deep-rooted Czech anticlericalism and with the path dependence of funeral rituals that became firmly entrenched during the Communist era.
The Black Death plague constituted a major disruption of the ordinary pace of life of the society in early modern period. As such it attracted interest and drew attention. The Black Death menace caused panic and fear, and therefore various measures and actions which were supposed to prevent the outbreak of the plague or at least considerably limit its consequences were defined and carried out. Such practices were shaped by contemporary ideologies and mentalities and reflected everyday experience. The study of various means of dealing with the Black Death menace may be like looking in a mirror in which the curves of the quotidian lifestyle of the period are reflected. The present paper which analyses the last Black Death plague of 1713-1714 in the environment of a southBohemian town offers one such view. The mechanisms which the inhabitants of the regional capital Písek formulated and applied in the attempt to confront the iimpending Black Death menace, are specifically examined. The bearing of these mechanisms on contemporary devoutness is also problematized at the level of socalled semifolk discourse., Zdeněk Duda., and Obsahuje bibliografické odkazy
In this interview with documentary filmmaker Apolena Rychlíková, Anna Šabatová, one of the most remarkable figures of modern Czechoslovak history, considers not only the intellectual foundations of Charter 77 and the dissident movement, but also what shaped Šabatová’s personal background. The interview introduces an often-overlooked continuity between dissent and critical approaches to the post-communist era. This continuity is present in the humanistic, left-wing thought of Anna Šabatová, stemming from the tradition of the Czechoslovak democratic left, which permeates her whole life, not only philosophically and intellectually, but above all practically. Anna Šabatová’s lifelong efforts for a more just society have never stopped, connecting the period before 1989 with the period that followed.