DOCSLIB.ORG

Czech the News Summer/2005

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Czech the News Summer/2005 CZECH the NewsNews Newsletter of the Embassy of the Czech Republic of the Czech Republic Summer 2005 In this issue: Havel Promoted Human Rights While in the US ormer Czech President Vaclav Havel and his wife Havel Promoted Human Rights Dagmar stayed two months While in the US...........................1 F in the United States on a stipend, EU Constitution Put on Hold.........1 granted to Havel by the Library of Congress in Washington, Message from the D.C. Even though the primary Ambassador................................2 purpose of his visit was to study Czech Senator Schwarzenberg and work on his new book, Expelled from Cuba.....................2 he attended a number of events, informal dinners with U.S. Czech Republic Has a New Government................................2 officials, met with dissidents and gave an impressive speech Vaclav Havel Speaks at on human rights at the Library Vaclav Havel receives a standing ovation at the Library of Congress Library of Congress......................3 of Congress. former U.S. President Bill State Madeleine Albright News Brief...................................3 During his visit, the former Clinton, and President Victor were joined by students at Czech President met, among Yushchenko of the Ukraine. On Georgetown University for an Czech Republic Has New Envoys others, with the President of the another occasion, Vaclav Havel afternoon session of political, at the World Bank and IMF..........4 United States, George W. Bush, and former U.S. Secretary of (Continued on page 3) Czech Ice Hockey Team Wins World Championship...................5 EU Constitution Put on Hold History of the Czech Olympic ust recently, the largest larger role for European and Movement...................................5 The Constitution requires economic bloc in the world national Parliaments, as well as that all 25 member states Business Buzz...............................6 Jset out to accomplish what promoting the citizens’ right to approve and have ratified the would have been its greatest feat ask the EU to launch new initia- Constitution within their respec- Prague, Sixth Most Visited to date: unifying all 25 European tives. City in Europe.............................6 tive States in order for it to Union Member States under one The proposed Constitution “enter into force.” The Prague Named Best ‘Region’ Constitution. Although many merges the three pillars of the Constitutional Treaty was for Business.................................6 member states had already former treaties and amendments approved in Brussels on June approved and ratified the into one treaty. Included are the Sokol Slet in Chicago...................6 18, 2004 and signed by the new Constitution, the forward Charter of Fundamental Rights Member States in Rome on Liberation of Plzen by US Forces progress came to a halt when the and enhanced efforts toward October 29, 2004, with the can- in May 1945...............................7 French and Dutch citizens voted cooperation or structured coop- didate countries of Turkey, against the ratification of the eration in the field of defense. Exhibit: Commemorating Bulgaria, and Romania only 60th Anniversary of Western Constitution via popular referen- Adjustments in the institutional signing the Final Act; however, Bohemia by US Forces.................7 da. The European Union’s goal framework include clarifying each Member State had yet to of ratifying its first Constitution respective roles of the European ratify the Constitution in their Remembering Jan Werich by 2006 quickly became obso- Parliament, the Council, and the One Hundred Years After respective country. To do so, His Birth......................................7 lete; upon reflecting on the rapid Commission. Setting Parliament each Member State was given developments of the EU in the representation to “digressive two options: to ratify the treaty Journey: A Novel of America........8 past year, the bloc was forced to proportionality” and guarantee- by referendum or by ratification reexamine its priorities and ing each Member state at least 6 Congratulations...........................8 in national legislatures. focus on other pressing issues. (up to 96) seats out of the 750 Two types of referenda The European Constitution total, defining voting rules, exist – binding and non-binding. was the EU’s first, solid attempt updating the field of Justice and The French decision to reject the to streamline decision-making in Home Affairs, and increasing Constitution was based on a an expanded Union, allowing transparency and democracy are binding referendum in which the for a more visible role in interna- some general points that are people voted and the outcome tional affairs. That said, the new emphasized. The Constitution was the final decision (69% Constitution also endeavored also outlines the rights of EU voter turnout and 55% voting to simplify and consolidate citizens, inviting them to against). In the Netherlands, all prior treaties, make the petition and be present at legisla- however, the citizens voted in a institution more transparent and tive Council proceedings, among non-binding referendum; the more democratic, leaving a many others. (Continued on page 4) Czech the News/Summer 2005 1 Ambassador Message from the Ambassador ear readers, Prague at the beginning of July. will soon complete his assign- The summer season has He will be replaced by Jaroslav ment and leave for Prague. At Dslowly, but surely Kurfurst, who has previously the Foreign Ministry, he will prevailed over the spring. For served as the Head of the rejoin the Cabinet of the many of my colleagues at the Department of Security Policy, Minister in a senior position. On Czech Embassy, this time of the where he arrived from his first top of these senior officials I year will mean the “completion posting in Moscow. I certainly have mentioned, several other of their tour of duty,” as we say thank Mr. Janda for his work and members of my staff are in our “diplomatic jargon.” As a achievement toward strengthen- scheduled to leave during the matter of fact, I myself have ing and enhancing Czech- summer and the fall. To arrived in Washington almost American relations, and I wish everyone leaving the Embassy, I four years ago, therefore my Mr. Kurfurst good luck in his would like to express my sincere and economic news and also own posting as Ambassador to new endeavor as the second gratitute and to all those who are some light reading fit for the the Unites States will, over highest ranking Czech diplomat coming to replace them, I next couple of months. some time, also come to an end. in Washington. sincerely wish good luck and I wish you an enjoyable My departure, although, is not The Head of the success. summer and refreshing as imminent as my other Administrative Section, Eduard For you, our readers, we vacation. colleagues´ journey back to the Metela, is scheduled to leave in have prepared the Summer 2005 Czech Republic. the fall. He also deserves a edition of Czech the News, Yours, Vratislav Janda, who has sound “thank you” for all he has featuring highlights of the spring served as the Deputy Chief of done during his tenure. From the and summer season in bilateral Mission, is bound to return to Cultural Section, Jakub Skalnik relations, EU events, political Czech Republic Has a New Government fter the resignation of Stanislav Gross in April, Athe new Premier, Jiri Paroubek, became the third Social Democrat to head the Czech government since the last parliamentary elections in 2002. The 52-year old economist has pledged to ratify the new EU constitution and reduce the budget deficit to less than 4 per- cent of GDP next year to keep the country on track in adopting the Euro (common EU currency) by 2010. Political analysts see Foreign Minister Svoboda remains Paroubek as a pragmatist ready in the new government of to cut deals in order to be able Prime Minister Paroubek to push through his party´s legislation. The center-left Social of Freedom (US), agreed that democrats (CSSD) and its the new cabinet would include coalition partners, the Christian four new names, but that all key Democrats (CSL) and the Union ministers remain in their posts. Czech Senator Schwarzenberg Expelled from Cuba n May 19, Cuban hotel, took him to the airport and The Czech senator affirmed that heard during his stay, his expul- authorities expelled placed him on a plane. It was the he would continue pushing sion was a trifle. OCzech senator Karel conduct of for human Schwarzenberg met sever- Schwarzenberg who arrived a totalitarian ItIt isis unbelievableunbelievable thatthat oneone rights in al dissidents, including Oscar there for a meeting organized by country, he isis expelledexpelled fromfrom aa countrycountry Cuba in Espinosa and Oswaldo Paya in the Cuban Association for the added. It is without having spite of his Cuba. “They are absolutely not Support of Cuban Civic Society unbelievable violated the law, expulsion extremists, but very reasonable (APSC), a dissident umbrella that one said Schwarzenberg from the people who work for civic group, devised to push through is expelled country. society,” he said. democratic reform in Cuba. from a coun- He also Schwarzenberg said that the try without having violated the said that compared with the fate police had fetched him in the law, Schwarzenberg said. of Cuban prisoners, of which he 2 Czech the News/Summer 2005 Current Events Vaclav Havel Speaks at Library of Congress News Brief “The Emperor Has No Clothes” Czech Republic to s one of the highlights of army.” Czech Republic to issue biometric his visit to the USA, Vaclav Havel issue biometric passports AVaclav Havel addressed a shared his convic- passports distinguished audience on May tion that “we must Czech Republic, along 24, at the Library of Congress, support in every with other EU countries, with his speech, entitled “The possible way the should be issuing new, the Emperor has No Clothes.” people who stand so-called “biometric” trav- The former Czech up to dictatorial el documents within two President spoke about his regimes by taking years.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • A Short Survey of Czech Literature
    A Short Survey of Czech Literature who later lived as a journalist in Paris, and was close to the Surrealists and avant- James Naughton garde painters such as the Czech Josef Šíma. Some similarity has also been observed between Kafka and the outsider and refugee anti-heroes of Egon Hostovský (1908- 73), a Czech novelist of Jewish family, who went to the United States after the 1948 CZECH LITERATURE SINCE 1918 Communist takeover. A skilful practitioner of the mystery short-story, especially in its detective form, as An independent Czechoslovak Republic was established after the First World War well as of anti-Utopian science-fiction, was the Czech author Karel Čapek (1890- under the leadership of its first president Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk (1850-1937). 1938). An admirer of H. G. Wells and Chesterton, Čapek was rather well known in Masaryk’s own writings on the course of Czech history, his war memoirs, and English translation before the Second World War. His drama R.U.R (=Rossum's expositions of his political and philosophical ideas won him a devoted following, Universal Robots, 1920) turned the Golem and related figures into commercially though there is doubtful matter in his seductive interconnecting of Hussitism and useful products of bio-engineering, who proceed to threaten mankind and the Czech plebeian or non-aristocratic traditions with modern ideas of democratic survival of the human soul. The play gave the world the term “robot” (from robota - government into a Czech “meaning of history”. feudal labour), nowadays associated with fairly unworrying Japanese machine-tools. Jaroslav Hašek’s (1883-1923) Osudy dobrého vojáka Švejka (The Good Soldier His detective stories in Povídky z jedné a druhé kapsy (Tales of Two Pockets, 1929) Švejk, 1921-23) is one place to begin a look at post-1918 literature, with its First explore epistemological and moral issues with a light, often whimsical touch.
    [Show full text]
  • Jaroslav Tůma Tomáš Jamník Gustav Mahler and Prague
    czech music quarterly 1 | 2 0 0 7 Jaroslav Tůma Tomáš Jamník Gustav Mahler and Prague Dear Readers, As you have certainly already noticed, Czech Music Quarterly has been graphically reworked for 2007. We thought that the existing design needed freshening up, and I hope the new appearance of the magazine will give you the same pleasure that it has given us. The smaller format and more attractive paper should make for more comfortable reading. This issue of the magazine also comes with a free CD, containing pieces by six contemporary Czech composers, which means that Czech Music Quarterly is now a magazine not just to be read but to be “listened to” as well. The Chamber Music compilation is the fi rst in a series. You can read more about the whole project in the preface to the CD itself and so I here I shall just draw you attention to the article by Miroslav Pudlák, which is related to the CD and highlights some aspects of the contemporary Czech scene in composing. I would also like to remind you that you can order older numbers of Czech Music Quarterly – if we have any of the ones you want, we shall be glad to post them to you. You can fi nd a list of the contents of all preceding numbers at www.czech-music.net, and there is plenty of choice! And please feel free to contact us any time if you have a question or a comment – just write to the e-mail address [email protected].
    [Show full text]
  • Lustration Laws in Action: the Motives and Evaluation of Lustration Policy in the Czech Republic and Poland ( 1989-200 1 ) Roman David
    Lustration Laws in Action: The Motives and Evaluation of Lustration Policy in the Czech Republic and Poland ( 1989-200 1 ) Roman David Lustration laws, which discharge the influence of old power structures upon entering democracies, are considered the most controversial measure of transitional justice. This article suggests that initial examinations of lustrations have often overlooked the tremendous challenges faced by new democracies. It identifies the motives behind the approval of two distinctive lustration laws in the Czech Republic and Poland, examines their capacity to meet their objectives, and determines the factors that influence their perfor- mance. The comparison of the Czech semi-renibutive model with the Polish semi-reconciliatory model suggests the relative success of the fonner within a few years following its approval. It concludes that a certain lustration model might be significant for democratic consolidation in other transitional coun- tries. The Czech word lustrace and the Polish lustrucju have enlivened the forgotten English term lustration,’ which is derived from the Latin term lus- Roman David is a postdoctoral fellow at the law school of the University of the Witwa- tersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa ([email protected]; [email protected]). The original version of the paper was presented at “Law in Action,” the joint annual meeting of the Law and Society Association and the Research Committee on the Sociology of Law, Budapest, 4-7 July 2001. The author thanks the University for providing support in writing this paper; the Research Support Scheme, Prague (grant no. 1636/245/1998), for financing the fieldwork; Jeny Oniszczuk from the Polish Constitutional Tribunal for relevant legal mate- rials; and Christopher Roederer for his comments on the original version of the paper.
    [Show full text]
  • Man Is Indestructible: Legend and Legitimacy in the Worlds of Jaroslav Hašek
    Man Is Indestructible: Legend and Legitimacy in the Worlds of Jaroslav Hašek The Harvard community has made this article openly available. Please share how this access benefits you. Your story matters Citation Weil, Abigail. 2019. Man Is Indestructible: Legend and Legitimacy in the Worlds of Jaroslav Hašek. Doctoral dissertation, Harvard University, Graduate School of Arts & Sciences. Citable link http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:42013078 Terms of Use This article was downloaded from Harvard University’s DASH repository, and is made available under the terms and conditions applicable to Other Posted Material, as set forth at http:// nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:dash.current.terms-of- use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
    [Show full text]
  • Public Opinion and Democracy In
    PUBLIC OPINION AND DEMOCRACY IN CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE (1992-2004) by Zofia Maka A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the University of Delaware in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Political Science and International Relations Summer 2014 © 2014 Zofia Maka All Rights Reserved UMI Number: 3642337 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. UMI 3642337 Published by ProQuest LLC (2014). Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, MI 48106 - 1346 PUBLIC OPINION AND DEMOCRACY IN CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE (1992-2004) by Zofia Maka Approved: __________________________________________________________ Gretchen Bauer, Ph.D. Chair of the Department of Political Science and International Relations Approved: __________________________________________________________ George H. Watson, Ph.D. Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences Approved: __________________________________________________________ James G. Richards, Ph.D. Vice Provost for Graduate and Professional Education I certify that I have read this dissertation and that in my opinion it meets the academic and professional standard required by the University as a dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Signed: __________________________________________________________ Julio Carrion, Ph.D.
    [Show full text]
  • Introduction
    2008 ACTA UNIVERSITATIS CAROLINAE – PAG.117–126 STUDIA TERRITORIALIA XII JAZZ IN CZECH CULTURE AFTER WORLD WAR ONE: CLASH OF WESTERN MODERNITY WITH CENTRAL EUROPEAN TRADITIONALISM MILOŠ CALDA Abstract The paper deals with the reception of American culture in the interwar years, the time when the Czech cultural elites tried to abandon the traditional Central European patterns and reoriented themselves to embrace those of Western Europe and North America. The reorientation was accompanied by the discovery of exotic new genres like film and jazz. Perhaps surprisingly, the Western culture was enthusiastically received by the Left. The two prominent representatives of this direction were the left-leaning intellectual Emil František Burian and the Liberated Theatre (Osvobozené divadlo) with such individualities as the composer Jaroslav Ježek and its two main protagonists, playwrights and actors Jiří Voskovec and Jan Werich. The paper focuses on the first Czech book on jazz music, E. F. Burian’s Jazz (1928), in which the author, apart from many misjudgements, constructed a novel model of culture hitherto unknown in Central Europe, the model that combined sports, social patterns, lifestyle, modernity, and left-wing politics. The difficulties with finding out what jazz really was are also treated as well as the factor of “technological reproducibility” (W. Benjamin). Lastly, the contribution of Vladimír Polívka, the leading informant of the Czech society about musical life in the United States in the interwar period, is assessed. Keywords: jazz, American popular music, cultural reception, modernity, cultural Left, E. F. Burian, Jaroslav Ježek, Vladimír Polívka, age of technological reproducibility Introduction The paper examines the influx of American popular culture into Czechoslovakia in the aftermath of World War One.
    [Show full text]
  • The State As a Firm
    EEPXXX10.1177/0888325418791723East European Politics and SocietiesBuštíková and Guasti 791723research-article2018 East European Politics and Societies and Cultures Volume 33 Number 2 May 2019 302 –330 © 2018 SAGE Publications The State as a Firm: https://doi.org/10.1177/0888325418791723 journals.sagepub.com/home/eep hosted at Understanding the Autocratic Roots http://journals.sagepub.com of Technocratic Populism Lenka Buštíková Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA Petra Guasti Goethe-Universität, Faculty of Social Sciences, Frankfurt am Main, Germany; Ash Centre for Democratic Governance and Innovation, Harvard Kennedy School, Cambridge, USA Why, when, and how does populism emerge in a stable democracy? This article inves- tigates the political logic and ideological appeal of a rarely explored form of populism: technocratic populism. Technocratic populism uses the appeal of technical expertise to connect directly with the people, promising to run the state as a firm, while at the same time delegitimizing political opponents and demobilizing the electorate by instilling civic apathy. Technocratic populism is an anti-elite ideology that exploits competence to create the appearance of authenticity and proximity to ordinary people. It is less exclusionary than nativist or economic forms of populisms and its broad appeal is therefore arguably more threatening to representative democracy. In order to under- stand the appeal of technocratic populism, as well as why it arises at critical junctures when dominant ideologies are in turmoil, we argue that one must not ignore its his- torical roots, which shows that it transcends both regime changes and the traditional left–right divide. The article develops and examines these points using evidence from communist-era populist campaigns against “elitist” dissidents (from Charter 77) in the Czech Republic, and demonstrates how post-1989 politicians have exploited and also adapted ideas and strategies from the authoritarian past for the new democratic setting.
    [Show full text]
  • Table of Contents Journal on Legal and Economic Issues Zdeněk Koudelka: Judicial Control of the Acts of the President in the Czech Republic
    Editorial staff table of contents JOURNAL ON LEGAL AND ECONOMIC ISSUES Zdeněk Koudelka: Judicial control of the acts of the President in the Czech Republic . 2. OF CENTRAL EUROPE: Jan Hejda: Private law reformation in the Czech Republic . 12. JUDr. PhDr. Stanislav Balík (Constitutional Court of the Czech Republic) Radka MacGregor Pelikánová: Intellectual property rights and their enforcement Prof. Dr. Mezey Barna in the Czech Republic . 15. (Eötvös-Loránd-University Budapest, Hungary) Ivona Ondelj: Croatian Context of the Right of Establishment . 19. Doc. JUDr. PhDr. Jiří Bílý, CSc. Milan Jančo: On the Long Road towards a European Civil Code . 25. (Metropolite – University Prague, Czech Republic) Petr Kolman: Rules of Administrative Procedure – the question Prof. JUDr. Ignác Antonín Hrdina, DrSc. of procedure language in the Czech Republic . 38. (Faculty of Law, Westbohemia University, Plzeň, Czech Republic) Nina Bachroňová: Ombudsman and Principles of Good Administration – JUDr. Vilém Knoll, Ph.D. (Faculty of Law, Westbohemia University, Czech and European Perspective . 41. Plzeň, Czech Republic) Olga Sapoznikov: A Treatise on the Extent of the Legal Concept of an Animal . 46. ao. Univ. Prof. Dr. jur. Christian Neschwara (Faculty of Law, University of Vienna, Karel Schelle: Tradition of the Czech Constitutional System . 49. Austria) Jaromír Tauchen: Local Referendum in the Czech Republic – History Doc. JUDr. Karel Schelle, CSc. (Faculty of Law, Masaryk University, Brno, and Present Days . 52. Czech Republic) Jiří Myšík: Production & Operations Management Strategy of the company . 55. JUDr. Bc. Jaromír Tauchen, Ph.D., LL.M. Eur.Integration (Dresden) Andrea Schelleová: Overview of the Office for the Protection of the Competition (Faculty of Law, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic) concerning public procurement and rewarding procedures .
    [Show full text]
  • Czech Literature Guide
    CZECH CZECH LITERATURE LITERATURE GUIDE GUIDE GUIDE LITERATURE CZECH CZECH LITERATURE GUIDE Supported by the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic © Institut umění – Divadelní ústav (Arts and Theatre Institute) First edition ISBN 978-80-7008-272-0 All rights of the publication reserved CONTENT ABOUT THE CZECH REPUBLIC 12 A CONCISE HISTORY OF CZECH LITERATURE 13 LITERATURE 1900–45 13 LITERATURE AFTER 1945 13 CONTEMPORARY CZECH LITERATURE 1995–2010 20 PROSE 20 POETRY 26 ESSAY 31 LITERATURE FOR CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE 37 THE BOOK MARKET 41 THE TEACHING OF WRITING IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC 48 CONTEMPORARY LITERARY LIFE 51 ORGANIZATIONS AND INSTITUTIONS 51 LITERARY AND BOOK AWARDS 56 FESTIVALS AND FAIRS 58 EDUCATION 59 LEGISLATION AND LITERARY AGENCIES 62 LIBRARIES AND ARCHIVES 63 GRANTS AND SCHOLARSHIPS 65 LITERARY CAFÉS AND TEA-ROOMS 68 ANTIQUARIAN BOOKSHOPS 71 MEDIA 77 LITERARY PERIODICALS 77 CZECH LITERATURE ON THE WEB 82 LITERARY PROGRAMMES ON TV 83 LITERARY PROGRAMMES ON RADIO 83 CZECH LITERATURE ABROAD 87 VARIOUS LINKS 87 OVERVIEW OF FOREIGN CZECH STUDIES SCHOLARS, TRANSLATORS AND FRIENDS OF CZECH CULTURE 87 DEAR READERS WITH AN INTEREST IN CZECH LITERATURE Allow us to draw your attention to our Czech Literature Guide. It presents a panorama of the contemporary life of Czech literature with a short historical overview. It has been produced for everyone who has an interest in understanding Czech literary culture and its milieu, from the specialist and scholarly to the active and practical. 11 ABOUT THE CZECH REPUBLIC CZECH LITERATURE GUIDE 12 ABOUT THE CZECH REPUBLIC The Czech Republic (CR) is a landlocked country The GDP per capita in CZK in 2010 was 361,986 with a territory of 78,865 m2 lying in the centre (exchange rate EUR 1 = CZK 24.5) and the infl ation of Europe.
    [Show full text]
  • 2002.10.21 NYT Havel
    October 21, 2002 THREATS AND RESPONSES: THE VIEW FROM PRAGUE; PRAGUE DISCOUNTS AN IRAQI MEETING By JAMES RISEN The Czech president, Vaclav Havel, has quietly told the White House he has concluded that there is no evidence to confirm earlier reports that Mohamed Atta, the leader in the Sept. 11 attacks, met with an Iraqi intelligence officer in Prague just months before the attacks on New York and Washington, according to Czech officials. Mr. Havel discreetly called Washington to tell senior Bush administration officials that an initial report from the Czech domestic intelligence agency that Mr. Atta had met with an Iraqi intelligence officer, Ahmad Khalil Ibrahim Samir al-Ani, in Prague in April 2001 could not be substantiated. Czech officials did not say precisely when Mr. Havel told the White House to disregard the reports of the meeting, but extensive interviews with leading Czech figures make clear that he did so quietly some time earlier this year in an effort to avoid publicly embarrassing other prominent officials in his government, who had given credibility to the reports through their public and private statements in the months after the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. The statements by those officials, including the Czech prime minister, had helped turn the reports of a meeting between an important Al Qaeda operative and an Iraqi spy into an international issue. When the reports of a meeting between Mr. Atta and Mr. Ani came to attention in October 2001, they appeared to provide the most direct connection yet uncovered between the Sept.
    [Show full text]
  • The First World War in the Czech and Slovak Cinema
    University of New Orleans ScholarWorks@UNO Habsburg's Last War: The Filmic Memory (1918 to the Present) University of New Orleans Press 6-2018 The First World War in the Czech and Slovak Cinema Václav Šmidrkal Charles University, Prague Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.uno.edu/hlw Part of the European History Commons, and the Film and Media Studies Commons Recommended Citation Šmidrkal, Václav. “The First World War in the Czech and Slovak Cinema.” In Habsburg’s Last War: The Filmic Memory (1918 to the Present), edited by Hannes Leidinger, 69-92. New Orleans: University of New Orleans Press, 2018. This Chapter is brought to you for free and open access by the University of New Orleans Press at ScholarWorks@UNO. It has been accepted for inclusion in Habsburg's Last War: The Filmic Memory (1918 to the Present) by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks@UNO. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THE FIRST WORLD WAR IN THE CZECH AND SLOVAK CINEMA1 Václav Šmidrkal Introduction In a speech broadcast from the Vítkov National Memorial in Prague on October 28, 2014, the ninety-sixth anniversary of Czechoslovakia’s declaration of independence, Colonel Jaroslav Vodička, Chairman of the Czech Union of Freedom Fighters (Český svaz bojovníků za svobodu), urged the Czech government to fund a new feature film about the Czechoslovak Legionnaires. He said, “we lack a film in our cinema that would show the audience the heroic campaign of the Legionnaires and their fundamental influence on the recognition of Czechoslovakia. It is one of the brightest points in our modern history, deserving of a high-quality film adaptation.
    [Show full text]
  • Informality Reigns the Country: the Case of the Czech Republic1
    inForMALitY reiGns tHe CoUntrY: tHe CAse oF tHe CZeCH rePUBLiC1 Nicole Gallina Criminal networks have infiltrated the Czech justice system. Czech Security Information Services BIS, 2007 Abstract: This work focuses on informal politics for the political elite level in the Czech Republic and proposes an actor-based view. It considers the relationship between formal and informal structures and the functions of informality. I analyse areas highly affected by informality: the justice system and anti-corruption agencies as well as state ministries and state monopolies distributing large amounts of money, and identify patterns of informality. Additionally, the work shows the effect of informality for the European level. The work concludes with a rather pessimistic view on the effects of informal politics in a democratic country. Keywords: Informality, Political Elite, Justice System, (anti-)Cor- ruption, the Czech Republic Introduction At least 200 Czech state prosecutors sighed with relief at the end of October 2010: Finally, the general state prosecutor, Renata Ves- ecká had resigned from her office. This would finally put an end to the instrumentalisation of the state prosecution. The destructive informal networks that had developed between the state prosecu- tion and politics had used the justice and political system for their personal gains, and impeded independent agencies from fulfilling their function as control institutions. The Czech Republic has some democratic traditions; however it is still a country in transition. One important aspect is that the for- malisation of politics and of the political system is outweighed in certain situations – for instance, should future possibilities arise to generate financial gain or power advantages.
    [Show full text]