Content area
Abstract
The dissertation deals with the Czech fascist movement, a subject largely ignored by English-speaking historians, from its inception in 1922 until its suppression by the Nazi occupation regime in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia in 1942. The essential argument presented is that Czech fascism was an imitative movement without any deep roots in the country's political culture. Although Czechoslovakia's ethnic Germans and its Slovaks considered themselves to be oppressed by the dominant Czech ethnic group, which explains the attraction that fascism had for a sizable number of Germans and Slovaks, the Czechs as a nationality were sufficiently satisfied that fascism had little attraction for them. Czech fascism resulted from resentment against the so-called Hrad (Castle) faction centered around Tomas Masaryk and Edvard Benes. Various malcontents who felt that they had been cheated of their just rewards for their part in the creation of Czechoslovakia saw fascism as a way to strike back at the Hrad. Foremost among these malcontents were Radola Gajda and Jiri Stribrny. Karel Kramar, a former collaborator of Masaryk's, initially lent moral support to the fascist movement, but never openly proclaimed himself a fascist.
Chapters I through VI survey the history of Czech fascism during the First Czechoslovak Republic of 1918 through 1934. Chapter VII examines the rightist National Union and the Czech fascists in the parliamentary and presidential elections of 1935. Chapter VIII focuses on the role of the Czech fascists during the so-called Second Republic, which followed the Munich Pact of September 1938 and lasted until the German occupation of rump Czechoslovakia in March 1939. The focus of Chapter IX is the role of the Czech fascists in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, from March 1939 until their suppression by the German occupation regime in December 1942. The conclusion, Chapter X, offers an explanation of why fascism had so little appeal for most Czechs.
