The Slovak Dilemma

The Slovak Dilemma is a case-study in nationalism. Accepting the view that the four and a half million Slovaks who inhabit the eastern part of Czechoslovakia are a separate Slav ethnic group, Dr Steiner describes their position in Czechoslovak history, their role in political life, the extraordinary persistence and continuing frustration of their national aspirations. After a brief survey of the history of the Slovaks under Hungarian rule, Dr Steiner examines their position in the democratic Czechoslovak Republic which was established in 1918. He analyses the causes of Slovak discontent and shows that although the new constitution granted full expression to Slovak culture, it limited complete development of Slovak national rights. Nevertheless he suggests that Slovak separatism played little part in the dismemberment of Czechoslovakia in 1938 and that the real attitude of the people towards Hitler's puppet Slovak State was eloquently expressed in their tragic rising against it in August 1944.

The first English-language monograph on the Slovak-Polish border in 1918-47 explores the interplay of politics, diplomacy, moral principles and self-determination. This book argues that the failure to reconcile strategic objectives with territorial claims could cost a higher price than the geographical size of the disputed region would indicate.

This book, the most thoroughly researched and accurate history of Czechoslovakia to appear in English, tells the story of the country from its founding in 1918 to partition in 1992—from fledgling democracy through Nazi occupation, Communist rule, and invasion by the Soviet Union to, at last, democracy again.The common Western view of Czechoslovakia has been that of a small nation that was sacrificed at Munich in 1938 and betrayed to the Soviets in 1948, and which rebelled heroically against the repression of the Soviet Union during the Prague Spring of 1968. Mary Heimann dispels these myths and shows how intolerant nationalism and an unhelpful sense of victimhood led Czech and Slovak authorities to discriminate against minorities, compete with the Nazis to persecute Jews and Gypsies, and pave the way for the Communist police state. She also reveals Alexander Dubcek, held to be a national hero and standard-bearer for democracy, to be an unprincipled apparatchik. Well written, revisionist, and accessible, this groundbreaking book should become the standard history of Czechoslovakia for years to come.

This volume explores the impact of democratization and marketization on the environment in East Central Europe. The essays investigate: how the twin processes of change affect the physical environment; the expression of environmental interest; and environmental management policies.

Little contemporary scholarship on Slovak history exists in English. This title fills an important gap in historiography about events throughout Central Europe over the last fourteen centuries. It presents the history of Slovakia in terms of the latest scholarship and in the context of on-going historical debate about Slovak history and its presentation in post-socialist world. Extensive footnotes by scholars, 350 color illustrations, Index, Bibliography, Foreword and Epilogue.

The Czech and Slovak Experience assembles essays by leading specialists from the USA, Canada, Britain and Czechoslovakia on key aspects of modern Czech and Slovak history: Joseph II's contribution to the development of the Czech national movement, the troubled relationship between Czechs and Slovaks as seen through Czech and Slovak eyes, Slovak linguistic separatism, the emergence of political democracy in post-Versailles Czechoslovakia, Masaryk as a religious heretic, Czechoslovakia's Germans and their treatment by the Czechoslovak government, and Prague's Jewish community after 1918.

The A to Z of Slovakia offers an up to date series of cross-referenced dictionary entries on Slovak political, social, and economic development since the creation of the second Slovak Republic in 1993 until its admission into the European Union in 2004. It includes all of the political actors: the presidents, prime ministers, and party leaders, and many leading academics and cultural personalities, including those from the national minorities. It also contains entries on the various institutions of the Slovak Republic like the judiciary, the armed forces, the media, and parliamentary committees as well as entries that explain Slovakia's position and role in international organizations like NATO and the European Union. The historical survey explains how Slovakia, in its post-Communist transformation, was almost excluded, but in the end became a full member of these two institutions.

Since the sudden collapse of the communist system in Eastern Europe in 1989, scholars have tried to explain why the Soviet Union stood by and watched as its empire crumbled. The recent release of extensive archival documentation in Moscow and the appearance of an increasing number of Soviet political memoirs now offer a greater perspective on this historic process and permit a much deeper look into its causes. The Rise and Fall of the Brezhnev Doctrine in Soviet Foreign Policy is a comprehensive study detailing the collapse of Soviet control in Eastern Europe between 1968 and 1989, focusing especially on the pivotal Solidarity uprisings in Poland. Based heavily on firsthand testimony and fresh archival findings, it constitutes a fundamental reassessment of Soviet foreign policy during this period. Perhaps most important, it offers a surprising account of how Soviet foreign policy initiatives in the late Brezhnev era defined the parameters of Mikhail Gorbachev's later position of laissez-faire toward Eastern Europe--a position that ultimately led to the downfall of socialist governments all over Europe.