Intellectuals and the Communist Idea

The Search for a New Way in Czech Lands from 1890 to 1938

Inbunden, Engelska, 2010

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Intellectuals and the Communist Idea describes how the Communist ideology penetrated into Czech culture and politics from the dawn of the twentieth century into the late 1930s, just before the outbreak of WW II in Europe. Based mainly upon the research of contemporary primary sources, the analysis examines the complex issue of personal reasons and individual motivations, appealing slogans, and ideological and power peripheries connected with the formation of the relationship between the newly-founded Communist Party in Czechoslovakia and the left-wing artists and intellectuals declaring themselves Marxists. The work follows two main paths: the first is marked by the melting of the pre-war (meaning WWI) libertarian communism and radical left-wing stream in Czech politics into the Czechoslovak Communist Party, established in 1921 and becoming a strong and relevant political subject soon after its foundation. The second path follows the left-wing art front involvement in the Communist Party and its activities within. This concise insight into the world of Czech Communist intellectuals uncovers the ideological bigotry and intolerance of the Communist class-defined ideology, together with pointing out the unprincipled pragmatics of the ideological flops committed by the members of the interwar Communist movement under Lenin's and later Stalin's ward. The book illustrates clearly how the initial enthusiasm of the Czech Communist intellectuals eventually changed either into disillusionment resulting in their disaffiliation with Communism, or into permanent fear and obedient loyalty, which later became the base for establishing the Communist system in post-WW II Czechoslovakia.

Produktinformation

Utgivningsdatum2010-09-14
Mått162 x 239 x 20 mm
Vikt501 g
FormatInbunden
SpråkEngelska
Antal sidor210
FörlagBloomsbury Publishing Plc
ISBN9780739143766

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Chapter 1 1. IntroductionChapter 2 2. The Czech left in the early 20th centuryChapter 3 3. Czech political scene during WWIChapter 4 4. The Czech and Slovak Left in the period between the establishment of the sovereign Czechoslovak Republic and the first parliamentary electionsChapter 5 5. En route to the communist partyChapter 6 6. Czechoslovak Communist Party EstablishedChapter 7 7. Proletarian CultureChapter 8 8. The Left in the first half of the 1920sChapter 9 9. Leftist culture in the mid-1920sChapter 10 10. KSC and the leftist culture in the years 1926 - 1928Chapter 11 11. Fifth congress of the Communist Party of CzechoslovakiaChapter 12 12. Generation debate and the origin of the Left FrontChapter 13 13. KSC and the Left Front in the first half of the 1930sChapter 14 14. KSC and left-wing culture in the mid-1930sChapter 15 15. Political trials in the USSR, Trotskyism and the definitive dissension in the cultural leftChapter 16 16. Conclusion

From the close of the 19th century to the end of WW II, Intellectuals and the Communist Idea maps the political and cultural movements of the left in Central Europe, focusing specifically on Czech and Slovak circumstances. Cabada paints a nuanced portrait of a tumultuous time when the enemy-literal or ideological-alternated among capitalism, fascism, Nazism, and Soviet communism. In the end, it wasn't clear where left culture and politics stood-to what extent they won or lost and at what cost-but Cabada's Intellectuals and the Communist Idea offers a fascinating sketch of the struggle and is essential reading for those seeking to understand the left, whether then or now.