ACTA HISTRIAE • 18 • 2010 • 3 received: 2009-07-09 UDC 394.21:323.1(437) original scientific article CZECH(-OSLOVAK) NATIONAL COMMEMORATIONS DURING THE INTERWAR PERIOD: TOMÁŠ G. MASARYK AND THE BATTLE OF WHITE MOUNTAIN AVENGED Dagmar HÁJKOVÁ Masaryk Institute and Archives of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic v. v. i., CZ-18200 Praha 8, Gabčíkova 2362/10 e-mail:
[email protected] Nancy M. WINGFIELD Northern Illinois University, Department of History, US-IL 60115 DeKalb, Zulauf Hall 715 e-mail:
[email protected] ABSTRACT This article examines attempts to construct »Czechoslovak« national identity in the wake of the First World War through the creation of new celebrations and holi- days. Drawing on archival material as well as a variety of contemporary books, newspapers, and pamphlets, the analysis reveals that the bourgeois, predominantly Czech rhetoric associated with these holidays, indeed, with the state itself, limited the attraction they exerted not only on the non-state-forming peoples of the countries, especially Germans and Hungarians, but also on the communists and, increasingly, some Slovaks. Key words: commemoration, First Czechoslovak Republic, First World War, Czecho- slovakia, national identity, Zborov LE COMMEMORAZIONI NAZIONALI CECHE (CECOSLOVACCHE) TRA LE DUE GUERRE MONDIALI: TOMÁŠ G. MASARYK E LA VENDETTA DELLA BATTAGLIA DELLA MONTAGNA BIANCA SINTESI L'articolo esamina gli sforzi per costruire un'identità nazionale »cecoslovacca« nel periodo successivo alla prima guerra mondiale attraverso la creazione di nuove festività e forme celebrative. Sulla base di materiale d'archivio e vari testi, giornali e opuscoli dell'epoca, l'analisi rivela che la retorica utilizzata della borghesia, preva- 425 ACTA HISTRIAE • 18 • 2010 • 3 Dagmar HÁJKOVÁ, Nancy M.