Czechoslovakia - The Soviet Impact
| DOI | 10.1177/002070205100600203 |
| Date | 01 June 1951 |
| Author | H. Gordon Shilling |
| Published date | 01 June 1951 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
CZECHOSLOVAKIA
-
THE
SOVIET
IMPACT
H.
Gordon
Skilling
*
T
IS
NOW
THREE
YEARS
since
the
events
of
February,
1948,
the
six
days
of
crisis
in Czechoslovakia
which
placed
the
Communist
Party
in
undisputed control
of
the
affairs
of
the
republic.
In
most
spheres
of
life
this
bloodless
Czechoslovak
"October
Revolution"
accelerated
and
deepened
the
revolution
which
had
been
launched
in
1945.1
The
national
revolution,
in
the
form
of
the
expulsion
of
the
Germans,
has
not,
as
some
predicted,
been
reversed.
The
new
policy
of
Slavonic co-operation,
it
is
true,
has,
except
for
the
new
relationship
of
Czechs
and
Slovaks
within
the
state,
faded
into
the
background
as
a
result
of
the
clash
with
Yugo-
slavia
and the
rapprocehment
with
Eastern
Germany.
The
economic
and
political
revolutions
have
been
extended,
taking
Czechoslovakia
further
along
the
road
to
socialism
and a
Communist
state.
A
social
and
intel-
lectual
revolution
is
now
under
way,
penetrating
and
transforming
every
corner
of
Czech
and
Slovak
life.
Unhampered
by
civil
war
or
foreign
intervention,
the
Czech
and
Slovak
Communists
have been
able
to
effect
these
changes
at
a
much
more
rapid
pace
than
did
the
Russian
Communists and
have
accomplished
more
of
their
objectives
in
three
years
than
the
latter
did
in
a decade.
In
1918
Masaryk and
Benes
had
oriented
the
new
Czechoslovakia
on
western
examples.
The
republic
had
been
an
outpost
of
western
ideas
and until
Munich,
a
line
of
French
defence
in
Central
Europe.
Munich had
put
an
end
to
its
defensive
function
and
delivered
a
profound
shock
to
the
western orientation
in
general.
Now,
since
1948,
Gottwald,
the
Communist
leader,
now
President,
has
oriented
the
new Czechoslo-
vakia
on
the
eastern
model.
The
republic
has
become
a
westerly
outpost
of
Soviet
ideas
and
of
Soviet
defence
in
Central
Europe.
Czechoslo-
vakia
is
now fully
embarked
on
the
Leninist-Stalinist
path
towards
the
ultimate
goal
of socialism
and
communism.
For
the
first
time, an
experi-
ment
in
establishing
a
communist
state
is
being
made
in
a state
with
experience
in
democracy
and
with
a
background
profoundly
different
from
that
of
Russia,
China
or any
other
state
now
under
Communist
rule.
How
far
has
the
Soviet "way
of
life"
been
copied
or
duplicated
in
Czechoslovakia?
How
far
have Soviet
patterns
been
adapted
and
modi-
fied
in
their
application
to
vastly different conditions?
How
far
have
*Assistant Professor
of
Government,
Dartmouth
College;
was
Senior
Fellow,
The
Russian
Institute,
Columbia
University,
1949-50,
during
which time he
spent
six
weeks
in
Prague.
'See
my
article,
"Revolutions
in
Prague,"
International
Journal,
Vol.
IV,
no.
2,
Spring,
1949,
p.
119.
To continue reading
Request your trial