Czechoslovakia, 1918-48

Russia – The Prague Spring, 1968

In this course, Professor Kevin McDermott (Sheffield Hallam University) explores the historical events leading up to and encompassing the Prague Spring, a period of political reform and liberalisation in Czechoslovakia in 1968. We begin by examining the historical context of Czechoslovakia between 1918 and 1948, from the founding of the First Czechoslovak Republic to the rise to power of the Czechoslovak Communist party. The second module examines the political and economic development of Communist Czechoslovakia under the influence of Stalinism and explores the growing resistance to Soviet ideology among the Czechoslovak population in the 1950s. We then move on in module three to discuss the Prague Spring Reforms under Alexander Dubček in the first eight months of 1968. Module four concludes the course with an examination of the reasons that eventually led the Soviet leadership to invade Czechoslovakia in August 1968, crushing the reformist tendencies of the Prague Spring.

Czechoslovakia, 1918-48

In this module, we think about the history of Czechoslovakia, from the founding of the First Czechoslovak Republic in 1918 to the rise to power of the Czechoslovak Communist party in 1948. In particular, we consider the demographic constitution of the Czechoslovak Republic between the wars, the invasion of Czechoslovakia by the Nazis in 1939 and the growing significance of the Czechoslovak Communist party after World War II.