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Censorship in the Czech Republic had been highly active until 17 November 1989 and the fall of Communism in the former Czechoslovakia. Czech Republic was ranked as the 13th most free country in the World Press Freedom Index in 2014. [1]
Censorship in the Czech Republic was most prevalent during the Nazi era and communist governance. These regimes enforced a strict system of censorship to ensure that the dissemination of messages to the masses aligned with political objectives. [2] However, the ‘Velvet Revolution’ in 1989 sparked a shift to democracy, where public discourse was freed from state control, signalling the end of censorship restrictions in the Czech Republic. [3]
Censorship restrictions in the Czech Republic were most prevalent during the German occupation of Czechoslovakia between 1938-1945. [4] During this time, Czech civilians experienced Nazi indoctrination exercised through mass media, where messages distributed reinforced obedience to the ‘Fuhrer’. [5] Censorship was institutionalised in 1938, where the Nazi occupation of the Czech Republic meant that the army and the Gestapo assumed authority to censor all media. [6]
The Reich Minister of Propaganda, Goebbels, utilised the radio as a mouthpiece for the regime. [7] The radio was a mechanism for disseminating propaganda maintained through a strict system of censorship. The government imposed harsh restrictions on Czech civilians that owned a radio. [8] The foreign minister of Germany (Konstantin von Neurath) espoused that anyone intentionally distributing news that did not align with Nazi ideologies would be imprisoned or killed. [8] Following this announcement, listening to foreign broadcasts became illegal in 1940. [9] Despite this law, as the Reich Protector's Office acknowledged, locating radio-listeners was nearly impossible. [10] Nazi officials attempted to control radio listeners through intimidation tactics, whereby officials sent those who owned a radio a gold-plated plate the words engraved, “listening to foreign broadcasts is punishable by death”. [9] Despite these regulations, Czech national loyalty prevailed over censorship restrictions. Civilians carried disassembled radio parts in their pockets, and once reassembling the pieces, could listen to foreign broadcasts. [11]
Within the realm of literature, the boundaries between political and social spheres were blurred, where all published books mirrored Nazi ontologies. To ensure this, the Nazi government censored all literature to make sure civilians were engaging with literary works that adhered to Nazi ideals. During the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia, the Gestapo confiscated any material that encapsulated negative aspects of Nazi life, these books were mainly “decadent literature”. [12] The communist government produced lists of libri prohibiti and composers faced harsh penalties for not complying with censorship standards, such as imprisonment. [13] Books that explored explicit themes of a sexual nature were also banned, such as pornography. [14] The Nazi ideology that sexual intercourse was solely for procreation was reinforced through literature. Adhering to a Nazi perspective, the role of women was to become mothers, sexual ethical issues surrounding contraception and birth control methods were censored. [15] Authors that published works that explored such topics were listed as “parasites of the people” because they subverted Nazi ideologies and culminated opposition. [16] The Nazis wanted to orchestrate all literature to reinforce Nazi ideologies, disseminating these ideals throughout the Czech Republic.
Censorship restrictions also applied to music, transitioning towards ‘Gleichschaltung’ (the coordination or economic, political and social sectors) meant that officials policed the broadcasting of music. [17] The Reich Chamber of Culture aimed to reintroduce the neo-Wagnerian genre - folk music which was popular in Germany during 1920. [18] Aryan singers, like Wagner, were broadcast on radio programs, promoting conservative values and stimulating nationalistic pride. [18] The Nazi government endorsed this genre of music as opposed to American Jazz which governments banned in the Czech Republic in 1938. [19] The Reich Chamber of Culture established a separate unit within the chamber, specially composed of senior members assigned the responsibility of supervising and censoring social performances, such as opera or church music. [17] In the Czech Republic, music broadcast on radio programmes consisted mainly of opera, as Nazi officials promoted a return to conservatism. Censorship of theatre performances also existed in the Czech Republic, with the passing of the Reich's theatre Act in 1934 which facilitated this. [20] Theatre drama reflected and reinforced Nazi doctrines, the idea of individual sacrifice for the betterment of society and obedience to the Fuhrer were common themes embedded in plays. [21] ‘Pillars of Society’ by Ibsen is an example of this, composed for propaganda purposes, exploring ideas of extreme nationalism and the glorification of war. [22]
Censorship under the authority of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (CPC) was more relaxed than that of the Nazi regime. However, in 1968, the CPC agreed to the Moscow Protocols, a document between Soviet and Czech leaders to authorise the stationing of troops in the Czech Republic, making the Czech Republic a satellite state of Soviet Union (USSR). [23] The USSR invasion of Czechoslovakia prompted strict censorship regulations, as the USSR feared the influence of Americanisation on civilians and its potential to destabilise communist ideologies. Political scientist Joseph Nye's theory of ‘Soft Power’ (1980) - a country's tendency to propagate a desired self-image to attain superiority over other countries, was employed through American cultural manifestations such as rock ‘n’ roll to culminate support for democratic societies. [24]
Following the Moscow Protocols in 1968, media practitioners adopted ‘self-censorship’ which was the responsibility appointed to media producers in censoring their own content, who “... created such media content as they supposed was required by the ruling power”. [25] Media practitioners, such as journalists or film producers, protected themselves from potential penalisation by projecting the communist lifestyle in a positive light, creating an “atmosphere of silent pressure…”. [25] However, journalists whose works were deemed ambiguous or containing an underlying satirical tone, in regards to communist governments and their regulations, resulted in unemployment and possible imprisonment. [26] Communist authorities endeavoured to ‘clean’ the media industry of any journalists who were opposed to the communist regime, replacing them with writers who were supporters and promoted socialist and communist governments. [27]
Rock’ n’ roll during the Cold War period played a role in the collapse and disintegration of the Communist regime. Rock ‘n’ roll served as an instrument employed by democratic America to destabilise communist ontologies, depicting the democratic lifestyle in a glamorous light. [28] Communist authorities viewed rock music as representative of democratic ideologies and Western culture. Mikhail Gorbachev (a Czech civilian) recounted that rock and roll was "our quiet way of rejecting the system while conforming to most of its demands". [29] The emergence of rock bands which gained popularity and a large fanbase prompted communist authorities to impose restrictions on rock ‘n’ roll music, where the leader of the Department of Art published a “Trojan list” which consisted of 35 rock music bands that officials banned in the Czech Republic. [30]
The communist response was to create alternatives, creating propaganda media campaigns to undermine the popularity of rock culture. For example, comparing rock to the “devil's music” in an attempt to prompt civilians to adopt more conservative taste in music. [31] To suppress the influence of Americanisation, the CPC banned the smuggling and distribution of ‘bone music’, which was gramophone recordings made from X-ray films. [32] Bone music played prohibited rock ‘n’ roll music banned from broadcast in the Czech Republic, such as Elvis Presley's records. [32] The tension between Czech communist leaders and youth was evident in the 1968 Prague Spring, which was a period of political liberalisation. [33] The Prague Spring resulted in the formation of ‘The Plastic People of the Universe’, a band that was an emblem of anti-communist values and Czech's underground culture. [34] The Plastic People of the Universe rejected communist ideologies through music, where Pareles stated that fans “...endured police beatings and other reprisals just to hear what the band had to say”. [34]
The Czech film industry suffered significantly after WW2 and film distributors couldn't keep up with the demand for new movies. [35] This posed ample opportunities for America to infiltrate the Czech film industry, strengthening the presence of America over the Iron Curtain, threatening the authority of communism. [36] America utilised their superiority in the film industry and cinematic achievements as an advantage to influence the public opinion of Soviet civilians. The American film industry had an active interest in penetrating foreign markets, such as the Czech Republic. From 1947, the US government established the ‘House of Un-American Activities Committee’ which interrogated film producers for any links with communist organisations over the Iron Curtain, removing all communist sympathisers. [37] As a result, American film distributors produced motion pictures that illuminated explicit anti-communist themes. [37] Communist authorities could not escape or suppress the influence of Americanisation which seeped through and penetrated the film industry, where almost 60% of movies showcased in the Czech Republic were foreign origin. [38] During 1946-1949, foreign films were popular in the Czech Republic, referred to as ‘trophy films’. [39] These trophy films were produced and written in America, although communist authorities manipulated the meaning of these films through censorship. [39] For example, changing subtitles to align with communist ideals. Soviet authorities attempted to suppress the impact of Hollywood and Americanisation on Czech civilians, through the release of Soviet films throughout 1950 and 1960s, spreading a positive depiction of Soviet lifestyle. [38]
The Velvet Revolution was a non-violent uprising in the Czech Republic capital, Prague, from November to December 1989. [40] The Velvet Revolution became a statement of resistance against the communist regime, which eventually led to its overthrow and establishment of a democratic government. Revolution sparked when university students protested in the streets of Prague on 17 November 1989. [41] Due to the dissemination of nonconformist messages, police brutally attacked the university students. [42] This police attack evoked mass opposition, where the coalition Civic Forum unified civilians, bringing 75% of the population in a general strike followed by street demonstrations. [40] By the end of these demonstrations, the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia relinquished its power, and Vaclav Havel was now the president of democratic Czechoslovakia. [43] This new pressure to eradicate communism in the Czech Republic prompted the abolishment of censorship restrictions, meaning that public discourse was free from political control. [40] Previously, the media was the primary propaganda mechanism for the communist party, where officials chose the information to be distributed and excluded, presenting events in the world in compliance with official ideologies.
The president of the Czech Republic, Havel, diminished censorship restrictions that were mandated by Soviet authorities. [44] This afforded more artistic freedom and expression, making the media a separate institution from the state. In terms of the film industry, more than 50% of the Czech press was owned by foreign bodies, mostly Soviet corporations. [45] Havel introduced broadcasting laws, ‘The Law on Radio and Television Broadcasting’ in 1991, which abolished the government's monopoly on broadcasting programmes, such as television or radio. [46] This allowed producers to compose works devoid of government influence or pressures. The newly formed democratic government of the Czech Republic reorganised the Barrandov Film Studio in Prague, the largest film studio in Europe, reaffirming the new freedoms and liberties that are afforded under the democratic government. [47] This remains the case today, where the Czech Republic has a relatively low rate of censorship restrictions - having the 23rd lowest rate of internet censorship out of a ranking of 179 countries. [48]
The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The Czech Republic has a hilly landscape that covers an area of 78,871 square kilometers (30,452 sq mi) with a mostly temperate continental and oceanic climate. The capital and largest city is Prague; other major cities and urban areas include Brno, Ostrava, Plzeň and Liberec.
Czechoslovakia was a landlocked state in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland became part of Nazi Germany, while the country lost further territories to Hungary and Poland. Between 1939 and 1945, the state ceased to exist, as Slovakia proclaimed its independence and Carpathian Ruthenia became part of Hungary, while the German Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia was proclaimed in the remainder of the Czech Lands. In 1939, after the outbreak of World War II, former Czechoslovak President Edvard Beneš formed a government-in-exile and sought recognition from the Allies.
The Prague Spring was a period of political liberalization and mass protest in the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic. It began on 5 January 1968, when reformist Alexander Dubček was elected First Secretary of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSČ), and continued until 21 August 1968, when the Soviet Union and most Warsaw Pact members invaded the country to suppress the reforms.
The Velvet Revolution or Gentle Revolution was a non-violent transition of power in what was then Czechoslovakia, occurring from 17 November to 28 November 1989. Popular demonstrations against the one-party government of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia included students and older dissidents. The result was the end of 41 years of one-party rule in Czechoslovakia, and the subsequent dismantling of the command economy and conversion to a parliamentary republic.
The military occupation of Czechoslovakia by Nazi Germany began with the German annexation of the Sudetenland in 1938, continued with the creation of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, and by the end of 1944 extended to all parts of Czechoslovakia.
The Third Czechoslovak Republic, officially the Czechoslovak Republic, was a sovereign state from April 1945 to February 1948 following the end of World War II.
The National Front was a political coalition created in 1943 serving as united front of political parties for liberation of Czechoslovakia, after 1948 organized solely by the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. It was the vehicle for control of all political and social activity by the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSČ). It was also known in English as the National Front of Czechs and Slovaks.
The mass media in Communist Czechoslovakia was controlled by the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSČ). Private ownership of any publication or agency of the mass media was generally forbidden, although churches and other organizations published small periodicals and newspapers. Even with this informational monopoly in the hands of organizations under KSČ control, all publications were reviewed by the government's Office for Press and Information. Censorship was lifted for three months during the 1968 Prague Spring but afterward was reimposed under the terms of the 1966 Press Law. The law states that the Czechoslovak press is to provide complete information, but it must also advance the interests of socialist society and promote the people's socialist awareness of the policy of the communist party as the leading force in society and state.
With the collapse of the Austria-Hungary at the end of World War I, the independent country of Czechoslovakia was formed as a result of the critical intervention of U.S. President Woodrow Wilson, among others.
Rudé právo was the official newspaper of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia.
The Czechoslovak Socialist Republic, known from 1948 to 1960 as the Czechoslovak Republic, Fourth Czechoslovak Republic, or simply Czechoslovakia, was the Czechoslovak state from 1948 until 1989, when the country was under communist rule, and was regarded as a satellite state in the Soviet sphere of interest.
The Prague uprising was a partially successful attempt by the Czech resistance movement to liberate the city of Prague from German occupation in May 1945, during the end of World War II. The preceding six years of occupation had fuelled anti-German sentiment and the rapid advance of Allied forces from the Red Army and the United States Army offered the resistance a chance of success.
Germany has taken many forms throughout the history of censorship in the country. Various regimes have restricted the press, cinema, literature, and other entertainment venues. In contemporary Germany, the Grundgesetz generally guarantees freedom of press, speech, and opinion.
The expulsion of Germans from Czechoslovakia after World War II was part of a series of evacuations and deportations of Germans from Central and Eastern Europe during and after World War II.
During World War II, the Soviet Union occupied and annexed several countries effectively handed over by Nazi Germany in the secret Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of 1939. These included the eastern regions of Poland, as well as Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, part of eastern Finland and eastern Romania. Apart from the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact and post-war division of Germany, the USSR also occupied and annexed Carpathian Ruthenia from Czechoslovakia in 1945.
On 20–21 August 1968, the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic was jointly invaded by four Warsaw Pact countries: the Soviet Union, the Polish People's Republic, the People's Republic of Bulgaria and the Hungarian People's Republic. The invasion stopped Alexander Dubček's Prague Spring liberalisation reforms and strengthened the authoritarian wing of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSČ).
Czechoslovak resistance to the German occupation of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia during World War II began after the occupation of the rest of Czechoslovakia and the formation of the protectorate on 15 March 1939. German policy deterred acts of resistance and annihilated organizations of resistance. In the early days of the war, the Czech population participated in boycotts of public transport and large-scale demonstrations. Later on, armed communist partisan groups participated in sabotage and skirmishes with German police forces. The most well-known act of resistance was the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich. Resistance culminated in the so-called Prague uprising of May 1945; with Allied armies approaching, about 30,000 Czechs seized weapons. Four days of bloody street fighting ensued before the Soviet Red Army entered the nearly liberated city.
China–Czech Republic relations or Sino–Czech relations are international relations between China and the Czech Republic. There were official relations by 1919 and formally established relations followed on 6 October 1949 between Czechoslovakia and China. In 1993, the Czech Republic was established and inherited the Czechoslovak treaty. The relations, trade and tourism between the China and the Czech Republic improved rapidly since the 1990s; and in the 2010s, agreements were made for more thorough economic improvements. Recently, relations have deteriorated due to major Czech politicians visiting Taiwan.
Václav Kopecký was a Czechoslovak Communist politician, journalist and chief ideologue of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia during the leadership of Klement Gottwald. A high-ranking member of the party since the interwar era, he spent World War II in Moscow and served as minister of culture and information in the postwar government. Kopecký was noted for his antisemitic statements, criticizing Jews for Zionism and cosmopolitanism; he also stage-managed the Slánský trial.
Relations between Czechoslovakia and the United States refer to two periods in Czechoslovakia's history. The first being the establishment of Czechoslovakia after its declaration of independence in 1918 from Austria-Hungary initiated by President Woodrow Wilson as part of his Fourteen Points following World War I. The second period being the communist era from 1948 when relations were strained, until 1992 when Czechoslovakia split forming the independent nations of the Czech Republic and Slovakia as a result of the 1989 Velvet Revolution.
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)Censorship in the 1990s. Literature: Silber, Radomír. Partisan media and modern censorship: media influence on Czech political partisanship and the media's creation of limits to public opposition and control of exercising power in the Czech Republic in the 1990s. First edition. Brno: Tribun EU, 2017. 86 pages. Librix.eu. ISBN 978-80-263-1174-4.
SILBER, Radomír. Stranictví médií. Vliv médií na české politické stranictví, mediální tvorba limitů veřejné oponentury a kontroly výkonu moci v ČR v 90. letech 20. století. 1. vyd. Brno: Tribun EU, 2014. 74 s. ISBN 978-80-263-0792-1.
