Prague Spring

The Cold War which started in 1946 to 1991 was a global military, political, economic, ideological struggle between the U.S. and Britain, and the Soviet Union (U.S.S.R.). The Cold War was not only a struggle between two nations, but what the nations represented or stood for: Democracy and Communism. This led to a series of wars, most memorably the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and the fall of the U.S.S.R. Adolf Hitler's Nazi empire in Europe was defeated by the joint efforts of then allies the…

In Testaments Betrayed Milan Kundera describes a situation during the Prague Spring where someone’s private life is intermixed with their public life. This person was Jan Prochazka, who was a major figure during the Prague Spring. Prochazka commonly had conversations with a opposition figure, Professor Vaclav Cemy and their conversations were recorded and broadcasted throughout several radio stations. Milan Kundera depicts this as a horrid act and explains how people, no matter who they are, act…

anthem embraced by the Bohemian people in an attempt to preserve their culture in the 1870’s, reflecting pride, oppression, and hope. Smetana defines the Moldau as a natural monument with keystone elements of the Bohemian nationalism in the mountain springs that become great rivers, passing through rapids, and imitates the sights and sounds while flowing through the landscape. The sensory journey evokes pride in an oppressed nation with the use of folk melodies, subjects, language, history,…

The opening line of Karl Marx’s Communist Manifesto claims that communism is a specter haunting Europe. This specter, however, was lively, not only in global history, but in literature. As communism took root in Russia and continued into Eastern Europe, allusions to communism became more present in literary works, not only from intellectuals in those areas, but Western intellectuals as well. Czeslaw Milosz, a Polish intellectual, claims that this increase in communist nations is a natural…

The writings of intellectuals Vavclav Havel, Adam Michnik, and Gyorgy Konrad provide ways of responding to communist regimes by explaining their own philosophies. Havel focuses his theory on a more philosophical approach that focuses on how one act of bravery can cause a wave of change to a population. Michnik provides an analytic approach critiquing the idea that violence is to respond to a communist regime. Michnik and Havel are similar in their ideas because they both adamantly support the…

for children, to drive away evil spirits. A garnet that dimmed while worn on the body was thought to be a sign of melancholy. Most Americans are familiar with polka, but few of them know that is a Czech courtship dance. The Polka originated in Prague in 1837. Derived from the Czech word for half, as it is dance with a half step. Another popular dance is the beseda, a collection of mazurkas, polkas, and waltzes arranged accordingly to local tradition and performed at festivals. And melodies…

Nikola Tesla was a great inventor from Smiljan, Croatia.He made many great inventions during his time here in the United states.Tesla studied math and physics at the Technical University of Graz and philosophy at the University of Prague. From there on he made many inventions that has given him a reputation that would later catch Tomas Edisons eye in many years to come. At one point Edison told Tesla he would pay $50,000 for an improved design for his DC dynamos. Tesla never got paid that money…

because in order to maintain Human Rights, it is up to the government to enforce a moralistic and fair rule. Furthermore, because the world is everchanging, Human Rights Movements began to revive across the world. Recently, In the Middle East, the Arab Spring was a series revolutions that sparked due to the failures of powerful and corrupt regimes in the Middle East. Additionally, In America, Black Lives Matter, Feminism, and Labor Movements are fighting against the American government due to an…

A1 Bedrich Smetana’s The Moldau begins in a light, uplifting tone that brings hope and possibilities to mind. I imagined ladies busying about to ready themselves for a grand dance. Soon, the song brings to mind a romance, with emotions of love. The rest of the song seems to ebb and flow with intense conflicts followed by warm satisfaction and even light-hearted playfulness. Minor conflict followed by warmth and comfort. The song is familiar, but not easy to place from where. The music lingers…

Thus, this philosophy, utterly concerned with human existence, influenced writers such as Franz Kafka and Milan Kundera. The latter’s novel, ‘The Unbearable Lightness of Being’ shows clear traces of this philosophy in Czechoslovakia during the Prague spring. The characters struggle to define their lives amidst harsh times: “man is nothing else but that which he makes of himself” (Sartre). Furthermore, due to the individualist nature of existentialism, it was antagonistic to communism. Therefore,…