CZECHOSLOVAKIA, 1918-88

Czechoslovakia 1918-88

Seventy Years from Independence

Edited by H. Gordon Skilling Professor Emeritus University of Toronto

Palgrave Macmillan

© H. Gordon Skilling, 1991 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1 st edition 1991

All rights reserved. For information, write: Scholarly and Reference Division, St. Martin's Press, Inc., 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010

First published in the United States of America in 1991

ISBN 978-0-312-05785-5

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Czechoslovakia, 1918--88: seventy years from independence/edited by H. Gordon Skilling. p. cm. Proceedings of a conference held Oct. 1988, in Toronto. ISBN 978-0-312-05785-5 1. Czechoslovakia-History-1918--Congresses. H. Gordon (Harold Gordon), 1912-DB2186.C94 1991 943. T03--dc20

I. Skilling,

90-20269 CIP

ISBN 978-1-349-21455-6 ISBN 978-1-349-21453-2 (eBook)DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-21453-2

To Sally Skilling

Contents

Foreword

Notes on the Contributors

PART I TRIUMPH AND TRAGEDY OF CZECHOSLOVAK LEADERSHIP

1 Lions or Foxes: Heroes or Lackeys? H. Gordon Skilling

PART II INDEPENDENCE ACHIEVED

2 T. G. Masaryk: The ProblemofaSmall Nation George 1. Kovtun

3 On the Emergence of Czechoslovakia laroslav Opat

PART III CZECHOSLOVAKIA IN EUROPE

4 Benes between East and West Walter Ullmann

PART IV THE NATIONALITIES

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3

25

41

55

5 Slovaks and Czechs: An Uneasy Coexistence 65 Edita Bosak

6 Castles on the Landscape: Czech-German Relations 82 Ronald M. Smelser

7 Magyars and Carpatho-Rusyns 105 Paul Robert Magocsi

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PART V POLITICAL CULTURE AND ECONOMIC CHANGE

8 Political Culture: Continuity and Discontinuity Frederick M. Barnard

9 From Capitalism to Socialism Radoslav Selucky

PART VI LITERATURE: FREE, OFFICIAL AND INDEPENDENT

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154

10 Traditions of Czech Literature: Curses and Blessings 177 Igor Hajek

11 Slovak Literature: Loyal, Dissident and Emigre 196 Peter Petro

12 A Neglected Generation 211 Vaclav Havel

APPENDICES I Conference Participants 215 II Greetings to the Toronto Conference on Czechoslovakia 216 III Letter of Charter 77 to the Toronto Conference 217 IV Letter to L. Adamec, Czechoslovak Prime Minister 218 V Thoughts on the Jubilee of the Republic 220 V I Seventy Years - Tradition and Legacy 223

Index 226

Foreword

1988 was a year of anniversaries in Czechoslovak history. Some dates, for example, 1938, marked unrelieved tragedies; others, such as 1948 and 1968, combined elements of triumph and tragedy. The years 1928 and 1958, and 1988 itself, were without enduring significance. Only one date, October 1918, represented a great and historic success with the attainment of independence. This was, alas, to be lost in 1938-39, regained in 1945, lost from within again in 1948, and after a brief reprise in 1968, destroyed by outside force in August of that year. October 1918, in spite of the later fate of the Republic then established, retained its significance and remains an inspiration for a future restoration of Czechoslovak independence.

At the University of Toronto it was decided to mark the anniversary of 1918 with a conference devoted to the seven decades from independence. A happy accident of the calendar made it possible to hold the meetings on the very days in 1918 which were decisive in the establishment of the Republic - 28 October, the declaration of independence in Prague, and 30 October, the declaration in TurCiansky Svaty Martin of Slovak association with the new state.

Participants included distinguished scholars from Canada and the United States as well as from Europe and Israel, who presented papers, acted as discussants or served as chairmen. I Two contributions to the discussions were sent in written form from Prague by laroslav Opat and Vaclav Havel who were unable to attend. Some 75-100 persons were present at each session and contributed to a lively scholarly debate.

Other events which occurred parallel to the conference testified to the importance attached to the anniversary in Toronto. All participants were able to view Padlocked: an Exhibition of Independent Czechoslovak Writings, based on the special collection of Czechoslovak samizdat in the Thomas Fisher Rare Books Library. The Czechoslovak community arranged an evening of Czech and Slovak music, performed by artists of Czech and Slovak origin, and a Toronto premiere performance of Havel's play, Pokouseni (Temptation). During the week prior to the anniversary a special series of five one-hour programmes dedicated to Czechoslovak

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history, The Human Face, by John Reeves, was presented on CBC radio.

In sharp contrast was the way in which the anniversary was 'celebrated' in Czechoslovakia. The governing regime, for the first time in many years, did give official recognition of the importance of the date but banned any independent actions in honour of the anniversary. This foreword, along with several appendices, is intended to depict the differences in the atmosphere in which the day was celebrated in Toronto and Prague and the links which were established between us and like-minded persons in Czechoslovakia.

Charter 77 sent a letter of greeting to our conference which was read at the banquet. The letter declared that 'we shall be with you in spirit' during the anniversary days. 'It is hard to express how much it means to us to have support and encouragement and to know that throughout the open world there are friends of Czechoslovakia who are profoundly interested in our cause and who, unlike us, can discuss it without fetters. ,2

I was authorized by those attending the conference to respond with our thanks and warmest greetings to a sister meeting, Czechoslovakia 88, scheduled to take place on 11-13 November. My letter transmitted our best wishes for unhampered and free discussion on that occasion and expressed the hope that no official actions would hinder the holding of the meeting. When it was prevented by the exercise of police power, I sent a personal letter to the Czechoslovak prime minister, Ladislav Adamec, deploring this action. 3

On 1 October Charter 77 issued a fuller statement, Thoughts on the Jubilee of the Republic', which was circulated to all participants in our conference. 4 This document reviewed the achievements and the failures of the 70 years since 1918 and singled out for special mention the way in which the history of that period had been distorted; it called for revision of official historical doctrine through· 'free scholarly research and free discussion'. 'The 28th of October had never ceased to be a national holiday in the hearts and minds of Czechs and Slovaks'.

The ruling regime responded to the anniversary in an ambiguous but essentially negative fashion. For the first time since 1951, the 28th of October was declared to be a non-working public holiday, along with the 9th of May 1945, the day of Soviet 'liberation'. For many years the historic October date had been celebrated merely as the anniversary of the nationalization of heavy industry and banking in 1945, and after 1969, as the anniversary of the establishment of a federal system in 1968. It was now recognized as representing 'a historic break in the

Foreword xi

national life of Czechs and Slovaks'. 5 Meetings were organized by the National Front to celebrate the occasion.

At the ceremony in the Prague Castle the President, Gustav Husak, spoke of the historical importance of the 28th of October as the date of the creation of an independent state and paid tribute to the role played by Masaryk, Benes and Stefanik, and the authority gained by Masaryk by this deed. However, the decisive influence on the achievement of independence was assigned to the Great October Socialist Revolution, and the USSR was praised for its readiness to defend the Republic at the time of Munich and for its major contribution to a new liberation in 1945. Husak severely criticized the bourgeois First Republic and its failure to defend itself in 1938. Gottwald was praised for his actions at the time of Munich, during the war and in February 1948, and Benes's role in these events was not mentioned. The friendship of the USSR was described as the guarantee of Czechoslovak independence throughout the 70 years and its 'international aid' in August 1968 was lauded.6

The leading Prague party secretary, Milan Stepan, spoke in a similar vein and warned that they would not permit the misuse of reconstruction and democratization by those who do not care about socialism and the homeland, who do not wish to understand the legacy of the 28th of October, and who try to destabilize society and poison the atmosphere, and allow themselves to be well paid in foreign exchange for this supposedly patriotic activity.

In spite of such warnings, Charter 77 and four other independent groups (the Children of Bohemia, the Democratic Initiative, the Independent Peace Association and the Association of Friends of the USA) scheduled a meeting on the 28th of October and requested permission from the National Committee in Prague 1. When this was denied7 the organizers went ahead and some thousands gathered on Vaclavske namest£. The police used brutal means to break it up, including tear-gas, police dogs and water-cannon, and detained many persons.8

Similar treatment was meted out to the international symposium, Czechoslovakia 88, which had been called by Charter 77 and the other independent groups. The theme of the meeting was 'Czechoslovakia in the European Context, 1918-1988'. Foreign scholars were invited to attend and present papers. Although it was intended to be a private gathering, the organizers informed the authorities in September of their plan. Foreign guests who received visas included distinguished persons from West Germany, from France (Pierre Hassner), Italy,

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Great Britain (Lord Avebury, Timothy Garton Ash), Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Holland (Max van der Stoel, former foreign minister) and the United States.

On the day before the opening the authorities rounded up some 40 people, including 25 planning to take part in the meeting, and in the morning access to the meeting place was barred. Vaclav Havel, chairman of the organizing committee, managed to escape arrest and appeared at the Paris Hotel where foreign guests had gathered. He was at once dramatically arrested in front of the visitors, an event recorded by German television. Some discussion of papers prepared for the occasion did take place in private apartments and even in prison cells, but the meeting had been effectively banned. This police action was widely reported in the world press and was strongly condemned by Western European governments at the Conference of Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) then in progress in Vienna.

The foreign participants proceeded to Vienna where they joined some hundred Czech and Slovak exiles in a parallel conference (12-14 November) which had been planned for such a contingency by the International Helsinki Human Rights Organization. Those who had come from Prague reported on the unseemly happenings there. Scholarly papers were read or circulated, and were, it was announced, to appear in samizdat in due course, under the editorship of Eva Kantfirkova. 9

It was a matter of profound satisfaction that the abortive conference in Prague and our own in Toronto manifested a similar desire for a scholarly re-examination of seventy years of Czechoslovak history and in spite of distance and intervening boundaries found a common language in honouring the 28th of October. It was encouraging that many other citizens displayed a new civil courage in expressing their respect for the national holiday. It was a revealing illustration of the character of the ruling regime and of the insincerity of their attitude to the 28th of October that a peaceful scholarly discussion of the seventy years of the Republic could not be held, nor were popular demonstrations in celebration of the anniversary of its founding permitted. It is ironic that the present rulers, who, with their predecessors, had for decades been subservient to Moscow, seemed determined for once to act independently, in defiance of the reform course adopted by Gorbachev and the Soviet party.

* * * * *

Foreword xiii

In presenting this volume of the conference proceedings we would like to express our appreciation to all those who participated and to those who contributed in one way or another to its success. Special thanks go to the Centre for Russian and East European Studies,and its director, Timothy J. Colton, who provided moral and generous financial support. Appreciation should also be expressed to colleagues who took part in an initial planning session and later responded to calls for advice (Professors Peter Brock, Paul Magocsi, Andrew Rossos and Gleb Zekulin); to Jana Oldfield and Kathryn Stoner of CREES, and Mildred Lewis, Elizabeth Jagdeo, and Mary Lenius of the Department of Political Science, for their willing help; to Glenys Babcock, Cheryl Chandran and Irena Kapolka, for performing innumerable tasks for the conference; to J. R. C. Cermak, QC and Professor Richard Gregor for valuable advice and assistance; to Zdena Novotna-Cole who read the messages from Prague at the conference banquet and to the staff of Trinity and Massey College who provided excellent facilities for our meetings. Finally a word of special gratitude goes to Richard Landon, head of the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, and to Luba Hussel who organized the exhibition of Czechoslovak samizdat.

Toronto H. GORDON SKILLING

Notes

1. See Appendix I for a list of participants. 2. See Appendix II for an English translation of the letter, dated 30

September 1988, signed by the three Charter spokespersons, Stanislav Devaty, Milos Hajek and Bohumfr Janat.

3. Text of letter, Appendix III. 4. 'Zamyslenf k jubileu Republiky', Charter 77 document no. 50, 1988,

dated 1 October 1988. (Informace 0 Charte, no. 19, 1988), text in Appendix IV.

5. Law passed by the Federal Assembly Presidium, 21 September, Rude Pravo, 22 September 1988. See also editorial, 'Sedmdesat let - tradice a odkaz' (Seventy Years - Tradition and Legacy), ibid, 24 September 1988, text in Appendix V.

6. Ibid, 28 October 1989. 7. Pravda (Bratislava), 25 September 1988. 8. For description of the event, lnformace 0 Charte 77, no. 19 (1988); Rude

Pravo, 31 October 1988, under the heading 'Those who mix democracy with anarchy!'.

9. For description of the event, Charter document no. 56, lnformace 0

Charte, no. 20 (16 November 1988), issued jointly with the Independent Peace Movement and the Association of Friends of the USA.

Notes on the Contributors

Frederick M. Barnard is Professor Emeritus of Political Science, University of Western Ontario, London, Canada. He has published on Herder, Rousseau, Masaryk and the Prague Spring; he is the author of Self-Direction and Political Legitimacy (1988).

Edita Bosak is Assistant Professor of History, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St John's, Newfoundland, Canada; she is the author of articles and papers on Slovak history.

Igor Hajek is Senior Lecturer and Head, Department of Slavonic Languages and Literatures, University of Glasgow, Scotland; he is the author of translations into Czech of English and American authors.

Vaclav Havel is the author of The Garden Party (1963) and other plays; The Power of the Powerless (1978) and other political essays; he has honorary doctorates from the University of Toulouse, France, and York University, Toronto; he won the Erasmus Prize in Rotterdam, Netherlands. In 1939 he was elected President of the Czech and Slovak Republic.

George J. Kovtun is area specialist for Czechoslovakia and Eastern Europe in the Library of Congress, Washington, DC; he is the author of The Czechoslovak Declaration of Independence: A History of the Document (1985), Masarykfiv triumf (1987) Masaryk and America: Testimony of a Relationship (1988) and editor of The Spirit of Thomas G. Masaryk (1990).

Paul R. Magocsi is Professor of History and Political Science and Chair of Ukrainian Studies, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada; he is the author of The Shaping of a National Identity: Subcarpathian Rus', 1848-1948 (1978), Wooden Churches in the Carpathians (1982) and The Rusyn-Ukrainians of Czechoslovakia (1983).

Jaroslav Opat worked at the Institute for the History of the European Socialist Countries, Academy of Sciences, Prague; he is the author of Filozof a PoUtik, Tomas Garrigue Masaryk, 1882-1893 (samizdat, 1987), also published abroad (1987).

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Notes on the Contributors xv

Peter Petro is Associate Professor, Department of Slavonic Studies, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada; he is the author of Modern Satire: Four Studies (1982) and A History of Slovak Literature (forthcoming).

Radoslav Selucky is Professor of Political Science, Carleton Universi­ty, Ottawa, Canada; he is the author of Czechoslovakia: The Plan that Failed (1970); Economic Reforms in Eastern Europe (1970) and Marxism, Socialism, Freedom (1979).

H. Gordon Skilling is Professor Emeritus of Political Science, University of Toronto; he is author of The Czech Renascence, edited with Peter Brock (1970), Czechoslovakia's Interrupted Revolution (1976), Charter 77 and Human Rights in Czechoslovakia (1981), Samizdat and an Independent Society in Central and Eastern Europe (1989).

Ronald M. Smelser is Professor of History, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah; he is the author of The Sudeten German Problem, 1933-1938, Volkstumpolitik and the Formulation of Nazi Foreign Policy (1975) and Robert Ley: Hitler's Labor Front Leader (1988).

Walter Ullmann is Professor of History, Syracuse University, New York; he is the author of The United States in Prague 1945-1948 (1978).