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Palgrave Macmillan

Czechoslovakia and Eastern Europe in the Era of Normalisation, 1969–1989

  • Book
  • © 2022

Overview

Editors:
  1. Kevin McDermott

    1. Department of Humanities, Sheffield Hallam University, Sheffield, UK

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  2. Matthew Stibbe

    1. Department of Humanities, Sheffield Hallam University, Sheffield, UK

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  • Examines European communism in Czechoslovakia from the Prague Spring in 1968 to the Velvet Revolution of 1989

  • Draws from archival material inaccessible before 1990

  • Explores Czechoslovakia's relations with several East European countries (USSR, GDR, Poland and Yugoslavia)

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Table of contents (14 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xix
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  2. Czechoslovakia and Eastern Europe in the Era of Normalisation

    • Matthew Stibbe, Kevin McDermott
    Pages 1-25

  3. Building the Normalisation Panorama, 1968–1969

    • James Krapfl
    Pages 27-51

  4. The Ideological Face of Normalisation: Socialist Modernity and the ‘Quiet Life’

    • Michal Pullmann
    Pages 53-71

  5. The Leadership of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia During Normalisation: Stability and Change

    • Martin Štefek
    Pages 73-95

  6. An Uncommon Course: Normalisation in Slovakia

    • Adam Hudek
    Pages 97-119

  7. The Czechoslovak Security Service During Normalisation: The Appearance of Success

    • Kieran Williams
    Pages 121-143

  8. Twenty Years in Shades of Grey? Everyday Life During Normalisation Based on Oral History Research

    • Miroslav Vaněk
    Pages 145-169

  9. Gendering Normalisation: Citizenship in Czechoslovakia During Late Socialism

    • Celia Donert
    Pages 171-194

  10. Shaping ‘Real Socialism’: The Normalised Conception of Culture

    • Jan Mervart
    Pages 195-214

  11. The ‘City of Shoes’ Under Normalisation: Local Politics and Socio-Economic Trends in Gottwaldov after 1968

    • Vítězslav Sommer
    Pages 215-237

  12. Friendship Under Occupation: Soviet-Czechoslovak Relations and Everyday Life after the 1968 Invasion

    • Rachel Applebaum
    Pages 239-258

  13. Normalisation Across Borders: Official Cooperation and Contacts between East Germany and Czechoslovakia, 1969–1980

    • Matthew Stibbe
    Pages 259-289

  14. Fragile Friendship: Polish-Czechoslovak Labour Force Cooperation in the Normalisation Era

    • Ondřej Klípa
    Pages 291-312

  15. A Different Socialism: Czechoslovak Normalisation and Yugoslavia

    • Ondřej Vojtěchovský, Jan Pelikán
    Pages 313-336

  16. Back Matter

    Pages 337-345
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Keywords

About this book

This edited collection represents the first comprehensive volume in English on the crucial, but under-explored, late period in the history of East European communism. Focusing on developments in Czechoslovakia from the crushing of the Prague Spring in August 1968 to the ‘Velvet Revolution’ of November 1989, the book examines a broad range of political, social and cultural issues, while also analysing external perceptions and relations. It explores the concept of ‘normalisation’ in historical context and brings together British, American, Czech and Slovak experts, each with their own archival research and particular interpretations. Overall, the anthology aims to assess the means by which the Prague Spring reforms were repealed and how Czechoslovakia was returned to a ‘normal’ communist state in line with Soviet orthodoxy. Key themes include the Communist Party and ideology; State Security; Slovak developments; ‘auto-normalisation’; women and gender; cultural and intellectual currents; everyday life and popular opinion; and Czechoslovakia’s political and cultural relationship with the USSR, the GDR, Poland and Yugoslavia. The volume sheds light on the process of decay of the Czechoslovak communist regime and the reasons for its ultimate collapse in 1989.

Reviews

“The post-1968 ‘normalisation’ era in Czechoslovakia is usually dismissed as ‘grey’, yet, until Gorbachev, it represented the Soviet-sanctioned archetype for ‘real socialism’. This superb collection, with its unprecedented range of analysis and themes, disperses the grey to reveal vibrant complexity and in so doing fills a real gap in the historiography." (Nigel Swain, Lecturer, University of Liverpool, UK)

Editors and Affiliations

  • Department of Humanities, Sheffield Hallam University, Sheffield, UK

    Kevin McDermott, Matthew Stibbe

About the editors

Kevin McDermott is Professor Emeritus of Modern East European History at Sheffield Hallam University. 

Matthew Stibbe is Professor of Modern European History at Sheffield Hallam University. 

They have jointly edited five previous volumes of essays on post-1945 Eastern Europe.

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Czechoslovakia and Eastern Europe in the Era of Normalisation, 1969–1989

  • Editors: Kevin McDermott, Matthew Stibbe

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-98271-3

  • Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Cham

  • eBook Packages: History, History (R0)

  • Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-030-98270-6Published: 01 November 2022

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-3-030-98273-7Published: 01 November 2023

  • eBook ISBN: 978-3-030-98271-3Published: 31 October 2022

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XIX, 345

  • Number of Illustrations: 3 b/w illustrations

  • Topics: Russian, Soviet, and East European History, Modern History, Political History, Social History

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