Od spolků ke společenským organizacím pod Národní frontou. Regionální sonda do vývoje po únoru 1948
From the associations to the social organisations under the National Front in an analysis to the development in regions outside Prague after 1948

Summary/Abstract: The power monopoly of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia targeted, from the very start, at associations as the last resort of the relatively free social life. This happened through the renewed National Front, which was transformed, after February 1948, into an important tool in the process of creation of the new totalitarian regime. The paper as a case study of the primary archival documents clarifies the establishment of the new social interest groups at the level of districts. Although the control over associations formally belonged to the District National Committees (ONV), the political supervision was carried out by District Action Committees of the National Front. The unification process in the interest activities was introduced by the Act No. 68/1951 Coll., the partial reorganisations, however, continued even after this date (for women’s movement, mass gymnastic education and firemen). The ideologically preferred groups were the trade union movement, Czechoslovak Union of Youth and Union of the Czechoslovak-Soviet Friendship as well as organisations with a limited membership basis – Svazarm and Union of the Anti-Fascist Fighters. In the context of tense international relations at the beginning of 1950s, the district committees of peace defenders were established; and the consumption cooperatives were also represented in the National Front. The components of the National Front presented a limited base for the interest groups, yet during the building-up phase of their structure, the political bodies encountered difficulties for the whole 1950s. The authentic minutes from the presidency meetings of the district committees of the National Frond and of the ONV in the first years after the February 1948 show the broader context of the establishment of the totalitarian power and also a certain helplessness in dealing with traditional associations that could not be dismantled (gymnastic, firemen associations and cooperatives) and that could not be seized by a simple reorganisation move.

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