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Alone Amid the Storm: The Hungarian Uprising and the Western Powers
Ding, Xiaopeng ; Smetana, Vít (advisor) ; Toth, Gyorgy (referee)
The purpose of this thesis is to review and revise all historical evidence hitherto available concerning the international aspects of the 1956 Hungarian Uprising. Its scope includes several layers, including how the peoples in the West, as well as their leaders, behaved during the crisis. It will look at the international arena in 1956 from the Hungarian perspective, as well as attempt to come to a historical explanation for Western, and specifically American actions during the uprising, and the precepts which led to them. In doing so, it shall in particular take a careful revision of the long-standing charges levelled against the West, concerning its alleged passivity, hypocrisy, or willingness to escalate the crisis via the controversial broadcasts of Radio Free Europe.
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Reasons for American Intervention in Vietnam
Trubačová, Zuzana ; Tůma, Oldřich (advisor) ; Smetana, Vít (referee)
This thesis examines reasons for American intervention in Vietnam. It ranges over the period of the years 1950 - 1965, from the initial stages of American involvement in Vietnam to the onset of the full-scale war with the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV). The thesis investigates the decisive moments which eventually influenced the further development of American presence in Vietnam. In assessing the respective events the emphasis is put on the international political context, the US foreign policy toward Indochina/Vietnam, the decision- making process on the highest political and army levels, the relationship between the superpowers, and the personal beliefs of single international players. In the first part of the thesis close attention is paid to the initial phase of the American intervention - getting involved in the affairs of South-East Asia and ending with the Geneva Accords. The second part is focused on the critical years of 1963-1965 that set the scene for the subsequent escalation of the Vietnam war.
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The Marshall Plan Historiography Debate.
Kačírková, Petra ; Smetana, Vít (advisor) ; Calda, Miloš (referee)
This bachelor's thesis deals with the historiography debate about the Marshall Plan and the origins of the cold war which was revived after the collapse of communist regimes due to newly-opened archives in the former socialist bloc. Some historians analyzed the available resources to reveal whether the summer 1947 unsuccessful negotiations regarding the European Recovery Program had been inevitable and who had borne the responsibility for the failure. This thesis focuses on the interpretations of the specialists participating in the debate and aims to ascertain firstly, to which extent they correspond to the conclusions of orthodox historians, revisionists and post-revisionists, and secondly, if the new evidence enables us to unambiguously answer the particular questions.
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Mexican Drug Cartels: Dynamics of Supernational Organized Crime
Kristlík, Tomáš ; Smetana, Vít (advisor) ; Kozák, Kryštof (referee)
After the end of the Cold War global security environment changed significantly. Major threat of global nuclear conflict was replaced by a number of less challenging security concerns. One of them is transnational organized crime. The phenomenon of organized crime, traditionally more of an internal security issue of individual states, expanded to global stage taking advantage of new opportunities raised by globalization of international environment. Relative shortage of distances, easier communication and transfer of financial sources, all this contributed to successful upgrade of organized crime to international level. The thesis "Mexican Drug Cartels: Dynamics of Transnational Organized Crime" explores one specific representative of the phenomenon, that is, Mexican drug cartels. The main argument here is that Mexican drug cartels became such a threat for Mexican state sovreignty, because they took the full advantage of opportunities offered by the changing international environment during 1990's and adapted both its vertical and horizontal structure to maximize effectivness of the illicit drug business minimizing potential risks at the same time. In order to secure the operational environment cartels expanded their activities and engaged in arms-trafficking trying to gain means to protect their...
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The Truman Doctrine: Greece and Turkey
Urban, Petr ; Smetana, Vít (advisor) ; Fojtek, Vít (referee)
In this paper, I compare the causes, development and effect, that the promulgation of the Truman Doctrine had. I argue that the theses, declared by President Truman contrasted fundamentally with the subsequent advancement of their application to contain communism in Greece and Turkey. I prove this incompatibility on the analysis of (1) the causes, why the Doctrine was promulgated in the United States, with stress on the Turkish Straits crisis of 1946, (2) the American economic and military aid to Greece in 1947-1948 and (3) the strategic support of Turkey by the United States. This triplet of events forms the backdrop to the three related aims, which the authors of the Doctrine pursued. One was to garner domestic support for a swift change in the American foreign policy towards the role of a world superpower. The second aim was to forestall the expansion of the Soviet sphere of influence (to contain communism) and the final aim was the support of freedom and democracy as a means of countering the communist ideology. The three given points contrast with the actual problems that threatened Greece and Turkey. By analyzing the key events surrounding the Truman Doctrine through the years 1946 to 1948 I look for the reason for its success. I see it in the combination of a moralist ideological attitude on...
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British policy towards South Africa during the premiership of Margaret Thatcher
Lellák, Jan ; Váška, Jan (advisor) ; Smetana, Vít (referee)
This bachelor thesis "British Policy towards South Africa during the premiership of Margaret Thatcher, 1979-1990" attempts to describe and evaluate the most important influences that shaped the policy-making towards South Africa during the premiership of Margaret Thatcher. The emphasis is placed on describing the factors that led to the imposition of sanctions against the South Africa's apartheid regime. It considers the various factors that influenced the policy- making, especially in the economic, political, social, strategic and normative-value areas. Foreign policy towards South Africa was a relatively important part of the premiership of Margaret Thatcher especially in the context of the Cold War. Thatcher, thanks to her opposition to the sanctions, was frequently criticised both at home and abroad. She insisted that the British government consistently pursued its interests in South Africa by promoting a policy of constructive engagement, which attempted to reduce the impact they had on the government in Pretoria. Thatcher's period coincides approximately with the period of breakup of the apartheid regime in South Africa. This adds an additional angle from which the formation of British policy towards South Africa during the end of the Cold War can be viewed.
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American opposition to the Vietnam war
Vítek, Tomáš ; Anděl, Petr (advisor) ; Smetana, Vít (referee)
This thesis deals with antiwar opposition during the Vietnam war. It contains interval between the 1950s and the year of 1968, from the movement for nuclear disarmament to the end of presidential tenure of Lyndon B. Johnson. The biggest stress lays upon interval between 1965 and 1968, thus the conflict itself. Thesis examines the roots and main representatives of antiwar movement, whether they were individuals or organisations. Furthermore it briefly summarizes situation in Southeast Asia and follows subsequent growing of american military presence. In the next part it describes escalation of the war and simultaneous emergence of antiwar movement. In the part of 1965 till 1967 it observes not only the development, spread and establishment as social current of the movement, but also inner and outer conflicts and its interconnection with civil rights movement. It examines the methods, which were used by the movement and also its relationship tomajor society. In the last section it draws attention to the year of 1968, which profoundly changed the perception of the Vietnam war. In addition, it analyzes the impacts of august Democratic convetion in Chicago on the antiwar dissent. In the end it draws the perspective after 1968.
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Poland and the Eastern Pact
Hamatová, Kateřina ; Vykoukal, Jiří (advisor) ; Smetana, Vít (referee)
The bachelor thesis "Poland and Eastern Pact" deals with the question of collective security in Eastern Europe between 1925 and 1934. Its main subject is the attitude of Poland towards the concept of "Eastern Locarno", respectively Eastern Pact. Polish efforts to implement "eastern Locarno" in 1925 were, during only one decade, replaced by a negative attitude towards the same issue. Poland was than striving for preservation of geopolitical status quo through concluding bilateral agreements, not by joining multilateral pacts. The main goal of this thesis is to find out why Poland refused to sign the Eastern Pact in 1934 in the focus of the development of its foreign policy. Stepwise the thesis deals with international relations between Poland and primarily France, Germany and the Soviet Union. On the basis of their development between 1925 and 1935 my thesis tries to find prevailing tendencies. Subsequently thesis focuses on the project of the Eastern Pact, as it was presented by France in 1934, and on Polish arguments for refusal of the pact. In the end the thesis summarizes motives why the second Polish republic adopted negative attitude and how significant this refusal was for the failure of the whole project.
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The Attitude of the British Administration of the Palestine towards the Jewish immigration 1945-1947
Nnaji, Kristýna ; Smetana, Vít (advisor) ; Kubátová, Hana (referee)
NNAJI, Kristýna. Postoj britské správy Palestiny k židovskému přistěhovalectví v letech 1945-1947. Praha, 2011. 38 s. Bakalářská práce. Univerzita Karlova, Fakulta sociálních věd, Institut mezinárodních vztahů. Vedoucí práce: PhDr. Vít Smetana, Ph.D. The thesis is concerned with the policy of the British Palestine mandate administration towards the Jewish immigration after the World War Two. To understand the broad issue, the position of Great Britain and Palestine, the direction of british foreign policy after 1945, the history of the mandate administration in the Palestinian territory, the situation of the European Jews fated by the holocaust and the efforts for the recognition of their right to settle in Palestine, are first described. The main part of the thesis is concerned with the attitude and policy of the British administration towards the Jews who intended to emigrate to Palestine, the illegal migrants, the demands of the zionist organisations and the United States. Next it atends to general as well as particular British government considerations concerning the Jewish immigration and its implications. The thesis endeavours to answer questions about the influence rate of the Jewish immigration to Palestine after the World War Two on the British position in the Near East and British decision of...
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1968
Švarc, Zdeněk ; Tůma, Oldřich (advisor) ; Smetana, Vít (referee)
This work considers questions, why the prevention of attempt to socialism with a human face in Czechoslovakia took place in 1968. The work sequentially makes a statement on then political mentality in that era as well as it considers the outer influences that led to an army intervention of Warsaw Pact's lands into Czechoslovakia in August 1968. The work should answer the following question, why the break of sub political progress came true that consequently aimed at the normalization orientation.
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