Fi s Czechoslo ak Republic and he Fo ms o i s Celeb a ion
Dagma Hájko á— Pa el Ho ák— Voj ěch Kessle — Mi osla Michela (eds.), Slá a e-
publice!: o iciální s á ky aosla y mezi álečném Českoslo ensku [Long Li e he e-
public!: Public Holidays and Celeb a ions in In e wa Czechoslo akia], P ague: academia
2018, 532 p.
The celeb a ions ma king he cen ena y o Czechoslo akia on 28Oc obe 2018 may
ha e a ac ed pe haps mo e a en ion o his e en han i had ecei ed du ing all o
he 1990s. This in e es by ala ge pa o he gene al public also opened oppo uni ies
o many schola s o publish hei analyses. One o he mos s imula ing among hem
is acollec i e monog aph i led Long Li e he Republic!, which is dedica ed pa icu-
la ly o he celeb a ions o he public holidays du ing he Fi s Czechoslo ak Republic
(1918–1938).The book is he ou come o along- e m p ojec unded by he Czech Sci-
ence Founda ion and managed by a eam o schola s Dagma Hájko á, Pa el Ho ák,
Voj ěch Kessle , and Mi osla Michela, in associa ion wi h he Masa yk Ins i u e o
he Academy o Sciences o he Czech Republic.
Th ough he pe spec i e o he Fi s Republic holiday calenda , he au ho s en-
dea ou ed o ind ou how he Czechoslo ak S a e celeb a ed i sel a e 1918, and
wha adi ions i ollowed in so doing. They also ocused on he spa ial aspec s o
he celeb a ions, in pa icula he a ou i e places o he popula celeb a ions, and
on he con a y, he places which a oused he ese ed eac ion, o e en he open
esis ance. The c ucial ques ion was, how he S a e cons uc ed he loyal y o i s ci i-
zens and wha esponse his e o elici ed in he socie y. The book can he e o e be
pe cei ed as acon ibu ion o he his o y o Czecho-Slo akism, which was an in e -
wa a emp o c ea e auni ed Czecho-Slo ak na ion. The au ho s did no conside
he na ion as some hing pe manen and immu able. Toge he wi h Roge s B ubake ,
hey emphasize ha ideas abou na ions a e eshaped epea edly h ough he ac ions
o indi idual ac o s.
The book coun s en chap e s. The i s one ocuses on he legisla i e p ocess by
which he o icial holiday calenda was es ablished in Pa liamen . This did no ake
place un il 1925. The e was also acon o e sy o e wha e en s he new S a e should
commemo a e and how i would in e p e hem. The ollowing nine chap e s a e
subsequen ly di ided in o h ee blocks. The hi d and ou h chap e s ep esen he
cons i u ional es i i ies o he new S a e. As he ea ise on 28Oc obe shows, al-
hough his day was he mos impo an holiday o he in e wa egime, he gene al
ag eemen on i s o m was achie ed pe haps only in he Czech pa o he s a e, wi h
he excep ion o he Communis pa y. On he con a y, i s adop ion did no ha e
such a - eaching implica ions in Slo akia, whe e ace ain pa o socie y p e e ed
he 30Oc obe , he da e on which he Ma in Decla a ion was adop ed by he Slo ak
Na ional Council.
As he au ho s o ano he s udy on he celeb a ions o P esiden Masa yk’s
bi hday demons a e, he da e o 7Ma ch was able o appeal o he ci izens ac oss
he coun y. This was p obably due o he long-da ed adi ions o celeb a ing he
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Jakub ba 93
bi hday o he mona ch. By con as , he anni e sa y o he Ba le o Zbo o in 1917
p omp ed asympa he ic esponse almos exclusi ely om he Czech public. Few
soldie s o Slo ak na ionali y had se ed in he Legions, and many Hunga ians and
Ge mans conside ed he Legionnai es o be mo e o less dese e s, who, mo eo e ,
had di ec ly ough agains hem o hei ela i es.
The second pa o he book conce ns he holidays wi h longe adi ions, which
pa ly acqui ed anew meaning unde he new egime. Fi s and o emos , i was he
May Day, aholiday o he in e na ional labou mo emen , e e ing o he e en s
su ounding he 1886 Chicago s ike. The go e nmen ins i u ions and he poli ical
pa ies made e o s o in e p e i in hei own way. Pa icula ly he Social Demo-
c a s and he Communis s we e implica ed, and e en he oo wea manu ac u e and
e aile Ba a. Acco ding o he au ho , he celeb a ions o his holiday ep esen ed an
imagina y a ena, whe e mo e in e p e a ions compe ed. By i s e y na u e, howe e ,
i could no appeal o all he s a a o socie y. This could no be no o he 6July, he
anni e sa y o he day when ap ies Jan Hus had been bu ned o dea h. The Hussi e
adi ion had been pe cei ed by he Czech public as an i-Ca holic and an i-Ge man.
Which is why he Ca holics and he Ge mans ejec ed i . Besides, wo Ca holic holi-
days, ha o Cy il and Me hodius, he Ch is ian missiona ies, and o Sain Wenc-
eslas, apa on sain o he Czech lands, o he also became memo able days. Bo h
had sligh ly di e en implica ions: he i s could se e p ima ily as asymbol o he
long-da ed link be ween Czechs and Slo aks, while he Sain Wenceslas cul , e e ed
o he link be ween Ge many and Czech lands. Sain Wenceslas was e e ed by many
Czech Ge mans, bu he was ba ely known in Slo akia.
The hi d block o ex s p esen s ape spec i e o Ge man and Hunga ian mi-
no i ies. Achap e en i led The Ge man All Souls’ Day poin s ou an e en ha ook
place in he mos ly Ge man ci y Kadaň on 4Ma ch 1919. Du ing ademons a ion,
he Czechoslo ak A my opened i e on ac owd o ci ilians and killed 25 o hem,
wi h a o al o 54 people killed in simila demons a ions in o he Ge man-speaking
owns. This e en subsequen ly became ac ucial si e o memo y o he newly o med
Sude en Ge man mo emen . In i s poin o iew, i symbolized opp ession by he
Czechoslo ak S a e. The las chap e o his sequence ocuses on he Czechoslo ak
Hunga ians. A e he ounda ion o Czechoslo akia, hey o en con inued o cele-
b a e adi ional Hunga ian holidays, in pa icula he cul o S .S ephen, and he
adi ions o he e olu iona y yea 1848. Al hough he s a e au ho i ies ela i ely
succeeded in cu bing hese es i i ies, he loyal y o he Hunga ian mino i y o he
new S a e emained limi ed.
In sum, i s o all, i should be app ecia ed ha he edi ed monog aph cons i-
u es acompac en i y wi h well- i ing chap e s. This is no s anda d in oday’s Czech
book p oduc ion. Also, al hough he au ho s admi ha hey lea e he e en s in Ca -
pa hian Ru henia ou o he pic u e, he include case s udies manage o co e all he
he e ogenous e i o y o he hen Czechoslo akia. I is wo hy ha he book is no
one o hose ocusing solely on he Czech lands, while Slo akia is le aside. I is also
impo an ha he au ho s include he mino i ies pe spec i e. O he posi i e poin
o he book is ha i does no me ely desc ibe he s a e-p esc ibed o m, bu is also
in e es ed in he speci ic p ac ices o celeb a ions and hei local pa icula i ies.
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94 WISOHIM/ESHP 30
The au ho s con incingly show ha he hen es ablishing s a e was unable o o ge
aconsensus abou he o m o he holiday calenda as well as he in e p e a ions o
he indi idual memo able days. The S a e-con olled celeb a ions a he deepened
he di isions ac oss he social classes, he con essional and he e hnic bounda ies
wi hin he Czechoslo ak socie y han hey would o e come hem.
As Zdeněk Ká ník poin ed ou ea lie , du ing 1918 he e we e mo e e olu ions
in he e i o y o he u u e Czechoslo ak S a e, and he Czech na ional e olu ion
e en ually p e ailed.1 I is no su p ising ha he ounding my h o he Fi s Czecho-
slo ak Republic, di ec ly linked o he Czech na ional s o y, ne e succeeded o ully
inco po a e Slo ak socie y. The symbolical in eg a ion o he Czechoslo ak Ge mans
o Hunga ians was e en weake . Consequen ly, he Czechoslo ak na ion was la gely
seen as an e hnic a he han aci ic one. So a , howe e , no much wo k has been
done o de e mine how he o ms o celeb a ion o public holidays, and he s o ies
hey ied o ell, limi ed he loyal y o he a ious componen s o he Czechoslo ak
socie y o he S a e and pa icipa ed on he des abiliza ion o he socie y. I is clea
ha he opic canno be exploi ed by one s udy, so he space o u he esea ch is
open. The book well illus a es jus how con adic o y he eac ions o he S a e cele-
b a ions we e om below. I also ies o s ike abalance be ween desc ibing how he
holidays we e supposed o be celeb a ed and how hey we e in p ac ice . Howe e , he
deba es in he Chambe o Depu ies o on he pages o newspape s and o he p ess
p esen ed in he book a he desc ibe he e en s in speci ic municipali ies han hey
would se e as a ool o hei analysis. I was al eady aphilosophe Emanuel Rádl
in he la e 1920s, who ad anced ha he Czech Ge mans canno be expec ed o cel-
eb a e Czechoslo ak public holidays, as hei con en is di ec ed agains hem. These
conclusions s ongly esona ed, howe e hey a e no men ioned i in he book. I
he au ho s would conside mo e such public deba es, hey could o e an e en mo e
i id pic u e o he in e wa holiday calenda .
As a as he o e all s uc u e o he collec i e monog aph is conce ned, he di-
ision in o indi idual holidays is undoub edly clea . Ne e heless, mo e a en ion
should be paid o he ins umen s o he indi idual celeb a ions. Fo example, in
se e al passages i is highligh ed ha ac ucial componen o each es i al was he
na ional an hem, and he ac ha i was ansla ed in o Ge man in 1929 is also men-
ioned. Ye i is no explained why i was done so la e, in wha he ansla ion o he
ex was p oblema ic and why i could no help he in eg a ion o Czechoslo ak Ge -
mans in o he S a e. I is also logical ha he case s udies ocus mainly on he g ea
jubilees celeb a ed un il he la e 1920s. Ne e heless, some chap e s pay much less
a en ion o he 1930s, which ma k he limi s o he in e wa s a e. Finally, one o
he s ong poin s o he book is an ex ensi e pic u e supplemen , al hough i me ely
complemen s he ex . Un o una ely, i is no di ec ly linked o he au ho s’ indings;
he e a e no many e e ences o speci ic illus a ions o hei in e p e a ions in he
espec i e chap e s.
Despi e hese ese a ions, his publica ion is su ely bene icial. Wi hou adoub ,
his is one o he mos hough -p o oking wo ks dealing wi h he in e wa pe iod
1 Zdeněk Ká ník, České země éře I. epubliky, 1s ol., P ague 2000.
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Jakub ba 95
la ely published. I is api y ha i has no ecei ed mo e a en ion. This book no only
ins iga es he e lec ions abou he signi ican con adic ions o in e wa Czecho-
slo akia, bu also abou wha he holiday calenda looks like in p esen -day Czech
Republic. I is undoub edly bene icial o ask wha s o ies he celeb a ions o he na-
ional holidays ell, wha ole he S a e plays in hem, and who pa icipa es (o does
no pa icipa e) in hem and whe e.
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