Central European and Czech Politics - JTB322

• Title: Central European and Czech Politics
• Czech title: Středoevropská a česká politika
• Guaranteed by: Department of Russian and East European Studies (23-KRVS)
• Faculty: Faculty of Social Sciences
• Actual: from 2024
• Semester: winter
• E-Credits: 6
• Examination process: winter s.:
• Hours per week, examination: winter s.:0/2, Ex [HT]
• Capacity: unknown / unlimited (3)
• Min. number of students: unlimited
• 4EU+: no
• Virtual mobility / capacity: no
• State of the course: taught
• Language: English
• Teaching methods: full-time
• Note: course can be enrolled in outside the study plan; enabled for web enrollment
• Guarantor: Mgr. Martina Heranová, Ph.D.
• Teacher(s): Mgr. Martina Heranová, Ph.D.

Annotation

The course focuses on political developments after 1918 in Czechoslovakia and other Central European countries, which places in the overall framework of international relations. Developments after 1989 emphasize in particular the importance of regional cooperation as a key pillar in ensuring the stability and security of Central Europe.

Last update: Heranová Martina, Mgr., Ph.D. (19.09.2024)

Aim of the course

The aim of this course is to deepen students´ knowledge of geopolitical changes in Central Europe in the context of European and global developments in the 20th and 21st centuries.

Last update: Heranová Martina, Mgr., Ph.D. (19.09.2024)

Course completion requirements

The condition for successful completion of the course is participation in the class and passing the written exam (test).

Last update: Heranová Martina, Mgr., Ph.D. (19.09.2024)

Literature

ASH, Timothy Garton: The Magic Lantern. The Revolution of ´89 Witnessed in Warsaw, Budapest, Berlin and Prague, New York 1999.

BERNHARD, Michael - KUBIK, Jan (eds): Twenty Years After Communism: The Politics Of Memory And Commemoration. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014.

ČORNEJ, Petr – POKORNÝ, Jiří: A Brief History of the Czech Lands, Praha 2015.

KOPEČEK, Michal – WCIŚLIK, Piotr (eds.): Thinking trough Transition. Liberal Democracy, Authoritarian Past, and Intellectual History in East Central Europe after 1989, Budapest – New York 2015.

KRAPFL, James: Revolution with a human face. Politics, culture, and community in Czechoslovakia 1989-1992, Ithaca – London 2013

KŘEN, Jan: Čtvrt století střední Evropy. Visegrádské země v globálním příběhu let 1992-2017, Praha 2019.

MAZOWER, Mark: Hitler's Empire, London, 2008.

STEIN, Eric: Czecho/Slovakia-Negotiated Breakup, Ann Arbor, 1997.

Last update: Heranová Martina, Mgr., Ph.D. (20.09.2024)

Teaching methods

Presentation of topics (using PowerPoint) and subsequent discussion

Last update: Heranová Martina, Mgr., Ph.D. (19.09.2024)

Syllabus

Topics:

1.      Definition of Central Europe and geopolitical changes in the region up to the beginning of the 20th century

2.      Emancipation of nations in Central Europe and the emergence of new states after the World War I

3.      Tensions and disputes in Central Europe between the world wars

4.      Czechoslovakia in 1938

5.      Central Europe as a victim of geopolitical ambitions of Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia

6.      Results of the World War II and the incorporation of Central Europe into the Russian sphere of influence

7.      Central Europe in the Cold War (1948-1968)

8.      Central Europe in the Cold War (1969-1989)

9.      Democratisation of Central Europe and restoration of independence after the end of the Cold War and integration into Euro-Atlantic structures

10.    Strengthening regional cooperation and the growing importance of Central Europe after the end of the unipolar world

11.    Future of Central Europe and its role on the European continent

Last update: Heranová Martina, Mgr., Ph.D. (19.09.2024)