Anatomie poválečného vzestupu KSČ
The Anatomy of the Post-War Rise of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia

Summary/Abstract: ŠLOUF, Jakub. Podvedená strana: Zrod masového komunistického hnutí na Plzeňsku, jeho disciplinace, centralizace a byrokratizace (1945–1948). Plzeň: University of West Bohemia in Plzeň 2016, 303 pp., ISBN 978-80-261-0524-4. In the opinion of the reviewer, the work "The Cheated Party: The Birth of the Mass Communist Movement in the Plzeň Region, Its Disciplining, Centralization, an dBureaucratization (1945–1948)" dedicated to the history of the Communist movement in West Bohemia from 1945 to 1948, with an overlap into the late 1940s, is groundbreaking. As a matter of fact, it originated a decade ago, when some of its conclusions would have been even more revolutionary for the Czech historiography than today. It is not just a regional study with a narrow focus: using rich empirical regional information, the author attempts to reveal more general factors which might be easily overlooked or not regarded as important from the power center.He examines the post-war transformation of the Communist party into a mass organization, analyzes the development of its membership, and personal changes in the party hierarchy. He comes to a conclusion that its victory in the 1946 elections was primarily influenced by internal political factors, in particular a moderate programme and flexible tactics. However, the reviewer regards the proposition of the existence of two post-war Communist Parties of Czechoslovakia – one of party functionaries, the other of members who did not wish a dictatorship and felt cheated after the party had usurped power – as overly simplifying.

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