Intellectuals and the Communist Idea

Intellectuals and the Communist Idea describes how the Communist ideology penetrated into Czech culture and politics from the dawn of the twentieth century into the late 1930s, just before the outbreak of WW II in Europe. Based mainly upon the research of contemporary primary sources, the analysis examines the complex issue of personal reasons and individual motivations, appealing slogans, and ideological and power peripheries connected with the formation of the relationship between the newly-founded Communist Party in Czechoslovakia and the left-wing artists and intellectuals declaring themselves Marxists. The work follows two main paths: the first is marked by the melting of the pre-war (meaning WWI) libertarian communism and radical left-wing stream in Czech politics into the Czechoslovak Communist Party, established in 1921 and becoming a strong and relevant political subject soon after its foundation. The second path follows the left-wing art front involvement in the Communist Party and its activities within.
This concise insight into the world of Czech Communist intellectuals uncovers the ideological bigotry and intolerance of the Communist class-defined ideology, together with pointing out the unprincipled pragmatics of the ideological flops committed by the members of the interwar Communist movement under Lenin's and later Stalin's ward. The book illustrates clearly how the initial enthusiasm of the Czech Communist intellectuals eventually changed either into disillusionment resulting in their disaffiliation with Communism, or into permanent fear and obedient loyalty, which later became the base for establishing the Communist system in post-WW II Czechoslovakia.

Ladislav Cabada, Zdenek Benedikt

Chapter 1 1. Introduction Chapter 2 2. The Czech left in the early 20th century Chapter 3 3. Czech political scene during WWI Chapter 4 4. The Czech and Slovak Left in the period between the establishment of the sovereign Czechoslovak Republic and the first parliamentary elections Chapter 5 5. En route to the communist party Chapter 6 6. Czechoslovak Communist Party Established Chapter 7 7. Proletarian Culture Chapter 8 8. The Left in the first half of the 1920s Chapter 9 9. Leftist culture in the mid-1920s Chapter 10 10. KSC and the leftist culture in the years 1926 - 1928 Chapter 11 11. Fifth congress of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia Chapter 12 12. Generation debate and the origin of the Left Front Chapter 13 13. KSC and the Left Front in the first half of the 1930s Chapter 14 14. KSC and left-wing culture in the mid-1930s Chapter 15 15. Political trials in the USSR, Trotskyism and the definitive dissension in the cultural left Chapter 16 16. Conclusion