„Organizovaný pes – záruka bezpečnosti“. „Animal Turn“ na příkladu Svazarmu
„An Organised Dog – A Guarantee of Security“ Animal Turn at the Example of Svazarm

Summary/Abstract: „An organised dog – aThe paper is focused on the specific position of the dog in the era of the state socialism and on the change in perceiving its function, as it was defined, in different periods of the 20th century, by the communist regime. At first sight, a marginal or even amusing topic of the paper guarantee of security“ Animal Turn at the Example of Svazarm intends to show a highly modernist concept that the state was able to work out in order to easily integrate animals into a defensive infrastructure of the Czechoslovak state. As means for such analysis, the history of the Union for Collaboration with the Army (Svaz pro spolupráci s armádou – Svazarm) will be used which shielded the main part of the Czechoslovak cynology – breeding and training of utility and working breeds – for the whole latter half of the 20th century (with only a short interruption at the turn of 1960s and 1970s). The Svazarm, due to its membership in the National Front organisation, enjoyed an important position in the framework of main components of the Czechoslovak state – and the fact that the Svazarm held the cynology of utility and working breeds under its control for the whole time of its existence proves what a solid and crucial position the dog had in the modern conception of the state socialism. The text is divided into three parts. The first is dedicated to theoretical issues in the study of the role of animals in the contemporary historiography since it has been only a marginal topic so far. The second part is focused on the position of the Svazarm in the system of the National Front, its role and function. And the third part, exemplified by the case of labour cynology and its unique position within the Svazarm, attempts to answer the question to what extent the instrumentalisation of a dog as a part of armed services was a legacy of inter-war cynology and to what extent the Czechoslovak concept featured the high modernism.

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