Social Conflict and Negotiation in the Ostrava-Karviná Coal District between 1920 and 1925
Viola Suchánková
DOI 10.69108/slsb.2025.1.01
The presented study deals with the strike movement taking place among miners from the Ostrava-Karviná coalfield. The causes of miners‘ strikes, and the attitudes of trade union representatives are presented and analysed here, on the basis of contemporary newspapers and archival material, consisting mainly of state police agenda and papers of administrations regional of mining companies. The essence of the social disputes in the period of question often arose from the political rivalry between the communist and social democratic parties for the favour of workers‘ votes. Among other things, the study also deals with the issue of collective agreements, as a very important and often neglected source for this topic.
Visual Artists on the Borders of „Interstice.“ Emigration of Artists in Great Britain during World War II
Zuzana Duchková
DOI 10.69108/slsb.2025.1.02
The study summarizes many years of research on selected artists Erich A. Bischof, Kurt Lade, John Heartfield, Ludwig Meidner, Heinz Worner, Bedřich Feigl, and Karl Vogel. They were forced to leave their homeland – whether it was Nazi Germany or the First Czechoslovak Republic, which served as a transit country for many – because of their Jewish origin, democratic liberal and left-wing views, or their inclination towards the principles of modern art and, in some cases, avant-garde movements, which were undesirable according to Nazi aesthetics. This social group had to define itself, thematize itself, and reflect on itself in some way in its new environment. Using methodological inspiration from historical anthropology, approaches applied in German research on exile, and identity theory, the author attempted to capture the impact of historical change on the identity of artists, which can be closely linked to the concept of a displaced person, i.e., a person expelled, deported, or forced to flee their country due to oppression or the consequences of war. For many, this also involved so-called internal displacement, as will be demonstrated with a specific example.
Hlučín Region during World War II in the Discourse of Czech Historians
Jiří Neminář
DOI 10.69108/slsb.2025.1.03
The study compares and analyses scholarly texts by Czech historians focusing on the specific experience of population of the Hlučín region during World War II. It examines the issues the authors focused on and attempts to capture their discursive practices. It investigates various narratives presented in the texts and the role attributed to ordinary citizens of the region – whether they are perceived as active co-creators or rather as passive victims of the Nazi regime. The paper also pays attention to personal generational experience of the authors in question and differences between communist and post-communist historiohraphy.
Invisible Hand of the Market or Shirt Closer than Coat? The Path to the Demise of the Bridge Factory at Vítkovice Ironworks in Frýdek-Místek from 1989 to 1995
Lukáš Lisník
DOI 10.69108/slsb.2025.1.04
The bridge factory at Vítkovice Ironworks in Frýdek-Místek was one of the most significant in Czechoslovakia before 1989, producing a wide range of steel structures for
the largest projects, either independently or in cooperation with the bridge factory in Ostrava. Both factories operated under the Vítkovice brand, which did not cause significant issues during the centrally planned economy era. However, the situation changed after 1989, when the two sister factories began to compete.
During the economic transformation process in the early 1990s, the position and size of the Frýdek-Místek bridge factory became unsustainable due to the recession in the steel structures market. The factory management tried to include products for alternative energy use, such as wind turbines, in the production programs, making the factory a pioneer in this field in Czechoslovakia. However, this process brought with it a number of dubious managerial steps, including the business of its own employees.
The poor economic results were then exploited by the new management of Vítkovice a.s., which decided to halt production at the bridge factory. The following text describes
the individual years of the period 1989-1995 and the gradual decline of one of the largest factories at Vítkovice Ironworks, which was shut down instead of being sold to avoid creating new competition for the original Ostrava bridge factory.
Československý rok 1945 – vědecká konference konána u příležitosti 80. výročí konce II. světové války v Evropě, Hrabyně 24. 4. 2025 (Michaela Pecinová)
