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Book
Forging political compromise: Antonín Svehla and the Czechoslovak Republican Party
Pitt Series in Russian and East European Studies, Kritika Historical Studies, University of Pittsburgh Press, 1st
1999
Abstract
Historians have long claimed Czechoslovakia between the world wars as an island of democracy in a sea of dictatorships. The reasons for the survival of democratic institutions in the Czechoslovak First Republic, with its profound divisions, have never been fully explained, partly because for years critical research was thwarted by the communist state. Drawing on information from European archives, Miller pieces together the story of the party and its longtime leader, Antonín Svehla- the "Master of Compromise," who had an extraordinary capacity to mediate between political parties, factions, and individual political leaders. Miller shows how Svehla's official and behind-the-scenes activities in the parliament provided the new state with stability and continuity. (from the publisher)
This is a political biography of Antonín Švehla, the Czechoslovak prime minister and leader of the Republican (Agrarian) party. Švehla reconciled competing interests among socialist, bourgeois, clerical, and minority parties to form coalitions that contributed to the political stability of the Czechoslovak First Republic (1918-1938). In the realm of agrarian politics, Švehla adroitly preserved the unity of a mass movement of cottagers, small agriculturalists, estate owners, and agricultural industrialists. The book analyzes one of the most successful agrarian movements in modern Europe. It aids scholars in comprehending political change and development in Europe between the world wars and furthers the understanding of political consensus and coalition building in new democracies.
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Details
- Title
- Forging political compromise: Antonín Svehla and the Czechoslovak Republican Party
- Edition
- 1st
- Resource Type
- Book
- Publisher
- University of Pittsburgh Press; Pittsburgh
- Series
- Pitt Series in Russian and East European Studies, Kritika Historical Studies
- Number of pages
- xviii, 323
- Copyright
- © University of Pittsburgh Press 1999
- Identifiers
- 9780822985877; 082298587X; 99380171992606600
- Academic Unit
- History and Philosophy; College of Arts, Social Sciences, and Humanities
- Language
- English