"Pravda vítězí" The Czech Victimisation Narrative and the Creation of the First Czechoslovak Republic in the Beginning of the Twentieth Century

Maeva Carla CHARGROS

Master's thesis

Abstract:

Every nation has its myth; every myth has its own discourse and narratives. The Czech nation was first built on the martyrdom of historical figures such as Jan Hus, and then on a duality of heroism and victimisation once it moved towards Czechoslovak nationalism. Indeed, including various nationalities with very different historical experiences required a less exclusive version of the Czech national identity. This evolution of the national discourse occurred shortly before the outbreak of the First World War, which saw many of the "small nations" of Central Europe gain independence. The narrative of victimhood was the most influential part of this newly imagined identity; it even infiltrated Czech historiography up until today. One of the recent traces of this narrative can be found in the works of one of the most prominent Czech historians, Miroslav Hroch. While the narrative has been identified and its historical accuracy has been challenged and discussed multiple times already, I examined its diffusion patterns and its role, thus sketching its map. Thanks to this discourse-historical research drawing on Ruth Wodak's methodology for national discourses, the narrative's crucial role at the core of the Czech national myth is highlighted. The victimisation narrative enabled Czech Nationalism to be inclusive, to be efficiently branded when addressed to a foreign audience, and eventually, to gain considerable influence during one of the most important events of the twentieth century in Europe. This inclusive character of the narrative is the main finding of the present research, alongside the extent of its diffusion. The narrative travelled from Prague to Paris, London, Geneva; it crossed the Atlantic Ocean and reached the shores of the New World through the Czech-American community; and it inspired Czech Jews to seize this unprecedented momentum and cross the traditionally impenetrable religious borders of Austria-Hungary. Using both published and unpublished sources, including private correspondence of T. G. Masaryk, Edvard Beneš, Ernest Denis and other key figures of the Czech nation-building process, this analysis demonstrates through qualitative methods that the victimisation narrative was not just a small detail in Czech nationalism - it was its main driving force.

Abstract:

Every nation has its myth; every myth has its own discourse and narratives. The Czech nation was first built on the martyrdom of historical figures such as Jan Hus, and then on a duality of heroism and victimisation once it moved towards Czechoslovak nationalism. Indeed, including various nationalities with very different historical experiences required a less exclusive version of the Czech national identity. This evolution of the national discourse occurred shortly before the outbreak of the First World War, which saw many of the "small nations" of Central Europe gain independence. The narrative of victimhood was the most influential part of this newly imagined identity; it even infiltrated Czech historiography up until today. One of the recent traces of this narrative can be found in the works of one of the most prominent Czech historians, Miroslav Hroch. While the narrative has been identified and its historical accuracy has been challenged and discussed multiple times already, I examined its diffusion patterns and its role, thus sketching its map. Thanks to this discourse-historical research drawing on Ruth Wodak's methodology for national discourses, the narrative's crucial role at the core of the Czech national myth is highlighted. The victimisation narrative enabled Czech Nationalism to be inclusive, to be efficiently branded when addressed to a foreign audience, and eventually, to gain considerable influence during one of the most important events of the twentieth century in Europe. This inclusive character of the narrative is the main finding of the present research, alongside the extent of its diffusion. The narrative travelled from Prague to Paris, London, Geneva; it crossed the Atlantic Ocean and reached the shores of the New World through the Czech-American community; and it inspired Czech Jews to seize this unprecedented momentum and cross the traditionally impenetrable religious borders of Austria-Hungary. Using both published and unpublished sources, including private correspondence of T. G. Masaryk, Edvard Beneš, Ernest Denis and other key figures of the Czech nation-building process, this analysis demonstrates through qualitative methods that the victimisation narrative was not just a small detail in Czech nationalism - it was its main driving force.

Keywords

First World War (1914-1918), Czech Nationalism, Czechoslovakia, T. G. Masaryk, Edvard Beneš, Ernest Denis, Czech-Americans

Language used: English

Date on which the thesis was submitted / produced: 27. 5. 2019

Thesis defence

• Supervisor: Mgr. Lukáš Perutka, Ph.D.

Palacký University Olomouc

Faculty of Arts

Master programme / field:
Humanities / Euroculture