To extent did the Czechoslovakian communists incorporate their Hussite history into their propaganda and national mythology?

by sambarlien

Edit: Of course I forgot a word in the title. To WHAT extent did the ...

nelliemcnervous

To a significant extent, absolutely. In the Communists' reading of Czech history, the popular classes had always remained true to their national traditions while the aristocracy and bourgeoisie sold themselves out to foreigners whenever they could. The Communist Party, therefore, was the natural heir of all that was truly great and truly Czech -- in fact, Communists, Heirs of the Great Traditions of the Czech Nation is the name of a book written by Zdeněk Nejedlý, who was the Minister of Education during the early 1950s. The Hussite movement, which Nejedlý portrayed as a social movement against the feudal lords and the rising urban bourgeoisie, were the foundation of this great popular tradition. Nejedlý was behind a massive campaign to promote Alois Jirásek, whose books helped popularize the Hussites and cement their place at the center of Czech national mythology during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, as well as the effort to reconstruct the Bethlehem Chapel in Prague, where Hus had preached.

Nejedlý was especially into the Hussites, and his position in the government made him particularly influential, but the list of national symbols and traditions the Czechoslovak Communists didn't try to incorporate is much shorter than the list of the ones they did. Not all Czechs, much less all Czechoslovaks, embraced Hus or the Hussites. The regime also tried to appropriate Catholic traditions by organizing official peace manifestations at sites of Catholic pilgrimage, portraying Saints Cyril and Methodius as apostles of Slavic unity and champions of the popular classes, and celebrating particular Catholic priests who had been active in the Czech national movement during the nineteenth century. They also supported folklore associations and festivals, gymnastic festivals in the style of the Sokol movement, and initially, they even embraced parts of the legacy of Tomáš Masaryk and certain aspects of the First Republic, although eventually this became too difficult politically.

I should say that this answer mostly addresses the period immediately after the Second World War and during the earliest years of the Communist regime, a period during which the Communists were particularly dedicated to painting themselves in national colors at every possible occasion. Official rhetoric shifted substantially in later decades, although the Hussites remained an important part of national mythology.