The Struggle for the Soul of the Nation: Czech Culture and the Rise of Communism (Harvard Cold War Studies Book)
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Manufacturer: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
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Average Customer Rating:   
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 301
EAN: 9780742530249
ISBN: 0742530248
Label: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Manufacturer: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 372
Publication Date: 2005-11-28
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Studio: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
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Editorial Reviews:
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This original study revisits the critical historical and cultural debates in Czech society immediately following World War II. Bradley F. Abrams discovers that communist public figures were largely successful in controlling the discourse over the nation's recent past the interwar First Republic and the experiences of Munich and World War II and over its location on the East-West continuum. This success was later mirrored in the struggles over socialism, the burning political issue of the time. The communists engaged their political foes in the democratic socialist and Roman Catholic camps, and, surprisingly, found significant support from a major Protestant church. The author's careful reading of major publications of the day vividly recreates a postwar mood sympathetic to radical social change, thus casting doubt on the standard view of the communists' rise to power. A rich contribution to our understanding of Czech history, this book also raises provocative questions about the relationship between war and radical social change, the communist takeover of the region, and the role of intellectuals in public life.
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: A reappraisal of the appeal of communism in the Czech lands after WWII
Comment: This volume is part of the Harvard Cold War Studies series and is a valuable reappraisal of communist electoral strength in the Czech lands following World War II. The text is scholarly, heavily researched, well documented, and erudite. At times, a desire for completeness and detail conflict with readability but overall the text reads well.
While there will be those who will argue with Abrams premise, and while some will argue about the narrow focus on Czech (as opposed to Slovak) interests, this book provided a sensitive insight into the social and political complexities that followed the upheavals of World War II. The books three main sections (Czech intellectual context; reinterpretation of Czech history and the reorientation of the Czech nation; and the different meaning of socialism) are extensively addressed with interesting interweaving of ideas and motifs. The book is a solid, very informed read that leaves this reader, at least, considerably more aware of the political and social forces at work in this critical period of Czech (and Slovak) history. Abrams does an excellent job of engaging his reader's attention and suggesting complex questions rather than provide facile answers.
An excellent detailed study of the rise of communism within the matrix of ideas about Czech national identity and aspirations.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Fascinating, infuriating
Comment: The 1948 Communist seizure of power was the only time when Communism came to power in a country with strong democratic traditions. Previously, it has been the leading member of the democratically elected coalition government that had ruled the country since 1945. During the cold war, American and emigre scholars argued that this was a classic example of Communist subversion, of how it pretended to offer a democratic visage while plotting to install totalitarian government. As time went on, some scholars were skeptical of this, wondering whether if it had not been for the cold war the coalition government might have been continued. Bradley Abrams seeks to look at this period again in a new book, whose focus is fascinating and infuriating. Abrams' argument is that a key reason why the Communists were successful in 1948 was because they were able to construct intellectual debate in such a way as to give them a decisive advantage. Although Abrams doesn't use this term, the CPC had a hegemony in Czech political life. Partly this was the result of the shock of Munich, which ruined the image of the West in Czech eyes, as well as the Nazi occupation. But by looking at such issues as the widespread socialist consensus, the need for a new national consciousness, the generation of 1945, and the reputation of the first republic, we can see the Communist advantage in one arena of debate after another. Abrams looks at three groups: the "democratic socialists" who ended up accepting too many of the Communists' premises, the Czech Protestants, who enthusiastically endorsed more of them, and the Czech Catholics, who were properly skeptical and reasonable, but who were too weak to have sufficient influence. Abrams is useful in providing a good comparative account of Eastern Europe, both in its war experiences, as well as the strength of local Communist parties, based on the latest research. Nor were the CPC's claims for a moderate, parliamentary road to socialism mere subterfuge, though obviously they were not sincere enough. There is one particularly useful passage about 1948 Czech opinion. For many years people thought independent opinion polls showed that Communist support was falling noticeably from the 38% it won in 1948, and that is why the carried out the Prague coup. But Abrams notes that the Communist polls suggested they would win a majority in 1948, while other scholars suggest that their support was stable. In general, Abrams provides new detail and information about the 1945-1948 period.
But there are less satisfactory aspects of the book. For a start, this book almost entirely deals with the CZECH experience. There is much less said about the Slovak experience. There is little said about the Czech experience of collaboration, either as a theme of intellectual debate or in retrospective scholarship. Nor is there any discussion of the Holocaust in Czechoslovakia. It is noteworthy that in his approval of Catholic criticisms of socialism, that Abrams does not really discuss Tiso, the Slovakian Quisling who happened to be a priest, and whose political party relied on Catholic mobilization for its political success. (It also makes one Protestant's crude denunciation of Catholicism as a "fascist religion" slightly more reasonable). One serious problem is that his discussion of "democratic socialists" lumps in both the right of the Social Democratic party and the National Socialists. The latter party, which incidentally had nothing to do with the Nazis, is glibly described as socialist. It certainly was not a socialist party in the first republic it dominated, where Abrams himself notes that the state sector was smaller than in most other Eastern European countries. And this leads to the real problem with Abrams' book. It has a top-down approach, with everything concentrating on intellectual discussion. We only get brief mentions of who supported the political parties, and even less on why people supported them or how the parties worked on a local and grassroots basis. Aside from a few opinion polls, we get little sense of what people actually thought about politics. In summary, Abrams' account follows contemporary Czech opinion which castigates the democratic opposition for not posing a more vigorous resistance. But it strikes me as unfair for criticizing Benes for lacking the heroism of a Havel. Havel, after all, was risking only his own life, as well as inconveniencing a few friends, while Benes faced the risk of civil war with little likelihood he could win, and less practical assistance from the United States. Moreover, the focus of intellectual discourse and the lack of focus of public opinion makes it difficult to judge the non-communist's strategy. If Communist support was declining, then the non-communists' tactful attitude was working. But even if the CPC was not declining, Abrams' account conflates intellectual matters with strategic and tactical ones. A more thorough account is needed to be really satisfactory.
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