Böcker av Slavomir Michalek

This book provides a detailed account of the Czechoslovak-American dispute that arose over monetary gold which was forcibly seized by Nazi Germany in the 1930s. After the Second World War, the Czechoslovak gold was found by the American armed forces in the salt mines in Merkers, Germany. Over the next 37 years, it became a part of complicated Czechoslovak-American relations, international economic trade, and political-ideological disputes and conflicts. Only in February 1982, after extensive diplomatic discussions, was a sufficient portion of the gold returned to the Czechoslovak State Bank in Prague. This book maps the story of this gold, how it was seized, blocked and finally, returned. Tracing the path of the monetary gold from its seizure by Nazi Germany in the 1930s to the last decade of the Cold War, the author outlines the main diplomatic steps taken to resolve the dispute, which framed the shape of bilateral relations between Communist Czechoslovakia and the USA.Offering a new contribution to the hisThis book provides a detailed account of the Czechoslovak-American dispute that arose over monetary gold which was forcibly seized by Nazi Germany in the 1930s. After the Second World War, the Czechoslovak gold was found by the American armed forces in the salt mines in Merkers, Germany. Over the next 37 years, it became a part of complicated Czechoslovak-American relations, international economic trade, and political-ideological disputes and conflicts. Only in February 1982, after extensive diplomatic discussions, was a sufficient portion of the gold returned to the Czechoslovak State Bank in Prague. This book maps the story of this gold, how it was seized, blocked and finally, returned. Tracing the path of the monetary gold from its seizure by Nazi Germany in the 1930s to the last decade of the Cold War, the author outlines the main diplomatic steps taken to resolve the dispute, which framed the shape of bilateral relations between Communist Czechoslovakia and the USA. Offering a new contribution to the history of the Second World War and shedding light on East-West relations during the Cold War period, this book will provide useful reading for those researching modern European history, the Cold War, and international history.

Landesflucht ¿ dieses Phänomen findet sich überall dort, wo es undemokratische, generell unfreie Verhältnisse gibt. Es finden sich zahlreiche Beispiele und Schicksale, bei denen die Flucht aus dem Heimatland jeweils als einzige Möglichkeit verblieb, so auch in der tschechischen und slowakischen Geschichte des 20. Jahrhunderts zur Zeit der totalitären Regimes.Slavomír Michálek befasst sich in seinem vorliegenden Buch mit Fluchten aus der Tschechoslowakei (¿SR) in den Jahren 1948 bis 1953. Dabei betrachtet er insbesondere vier Entführungen von Zivilflugzeugen sowie eines Personenzugs und die darauf folgende ¿Antwort des kommunistischen Hammers¿, der tschechoslowakischen Staatssicherheit (¿tB). Auch die mit den Entführungen verbundenen auswärtigen politischen Zusammenhänge und die daraus erwachsenen Folgen werden beleuchtet. Mit der Machtübernahme des kommunistischen Regimes in der ¿SR und infolge seines totalitären Charakters begannen die Fluchtwellen ¿ Menschen suchten ihr Heil, ihre Freiheit und ein neues Zuhause in der Flucht. Fluchtbewegungen in die Demokratie, egal ob aus wirtschaftlichen, politischen oder sozialen Gründen, prägten das gesamte 40-jährige Bestehen des kommunistischen Regimes in der Tschechoslowakei. Slavomír Michálek bietet mit seinem vorliegenden Buch einen hervorragenden Einstieg in die nähere Auseinandersetzung mit dem Thema Flucht und Fluchtursachen.

Milan R. Stefanik is a principal figure in modern Slovak history. Who were those that followed him? Osusky, Hurban, Palic, Slavik, Krno and Papanek. Seven brave men, seven Slovaks who left a substantial and permanent mark on Czechoslovak diplomacy and Czechoslovak-American relations in the 20th century.

Czechoslovakia played an important role within the Soviet bloc, yet its history remains under-researched. This monograph blends historical analysis of the superpowers¿ foreign policies with an assessment of their impact on Czechoslovakia and its position within the Soviet bloc. The book thereby places Czechoslovakia on the map of Cold War history, i.e. the era of ¿mutually assured destruction¿ that lasted almost half a century. It provides a lucid introduction to some milestones in international Cold War history in their relation to Czecho-Slovak history. The book¿s novel contribution is to explain Czechoslovakiäs domestic situation during the Cold War from the ¿outside¿. Drawing on extensive source materials of Slovak, Czech, American, and Russian provenance, it provides a more comprehensive understanding of post-war Czecho-Slovak history while also contributing to general knowledge about the nature and impact of the Cold War.