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Top hat for everyone: The image of Britain in the newspaper discourses of Czechoslovak exile and its Third Republic afterlife
Kłusek, Johana ; Smetana, Vít (advisor) ; Brenner, Christiane (referee) ; Cornwall, Mark (referee)
The thesis focuses on the image of Britain in newspaper discourses of Czechoslovak exile during the Second World War and describes how it affected the post-war development of the country. It argues that the exiles saw Britain as the appelative Other, into which they projected their visions and fears. Anglophilia, born out of lived experience as well as objective needs of the discourse's producers, brought both benefits and detriments. It meant discursive liberation from Germans as the old referential Others and finding a safe discursive space in the severely brutalized world. Yet the hope that Czechoslovakia could adopt both "conservative" and "socially progressive" qualities of Britain proved naïve in the face of the post-war geopolitical reality. Communists appropriated the image of Britain to fit their own needs after the war. While Britain of former exiles, now democratic socialists, was still portrayed as superior to Czechoslovakia, communist Britain was depicted as an equal partner with virtues as well as flaws. The "equalization" of Britain contributed to the preservation of illusion that Communists were devoted to the principles of democracy.
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British policy towards the Soviet Union during Winston Churchill's second term as Prime Minister
Vondráčková, Tereza ; Váška, Jan (advisor) ; Kłusek, Johana (referee)
The bachelor thesis titled "British policy towards the Soviet Union during Winston Churchill's second term as Prime Minister" deals with the issue of British policy towards the Soviet Union which was influenced by the changing attitude of the most prominent British statesman of the first half of the 20th century, Winston Churchill. The thesis focuses on the beginnings of the détente policy caused by Stalin's death in 1953. In order to shed light on the historical context, it was also necessary to make a recapitulation of the policy pursued by the previous Labour government which was led by Clement Attlee. The examined period of 1951-1955 is characterised by the diplomatic efforts to initiate dialogue between the Western and Eastern blocs. The thesis further focuses on international conferences that aimed to reduce tensions and the arm race in order to eliminate the possibility of a nuclear conflict between the superpowers. Based on the studied secondary literature and available primary sources, the result of the thesis is the determination of the influence of détente on British policy towards the USSR and the evaluation of Churchill's attempts to engage in dialogue with the Eastern bloc.
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Policy of Faith: Contribution to the study of the early medieval Welsh ecclesiastical history
Bartošík, Jan ; Kubín, Petr (advisor) ; Doležalová, Eva (referee)
Title: Policy of Faith: Contribution to the study of the early medieval Welsh ecclesiastical history Abstract The thesis studies the early christian church on the land of present Wales, specifically from the late antique practically to the beggining of 7th century. Analyzes in detail the whole ecclesiastical organization, its each of pillars and its influence on formation of the early medieval Welsh state units. Because it is a difficult historical period for a reconstruction, the thesis combines several theories, hypothesis and different researching methods. The first part analyzes the christianization of Britain in roman period and follows its eventual continuity in early medieval welsh society. In second part the thesis analyzes 5th century in Britain and follows turning points between the sub- roman administration and origin of the early medieval tribal structure and the insular christian culture. Third part follows the ecclestical structure in "The Age of Saints" (6th century) and so connected origins of some welsh kingdoms. Key words Medieval, Britain, Wales, England, Saint Patrick, Saint David, king Arthur, Sub-roman Britain
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Politické tendence ve vybrané romantické poezii
RILLICH, Jan
This thesis analyses selected poetry of English Romantic poets in terms of their political opinions. The works of various poets are scrutinised and put into the context of important political events of the period. The main topics discussed are the left-right political spectrum, the conflict between monarchism and republicanism, and the critique of institutionalised religion in how the Romantic poets perceive them. In cases where more poets show interest in the same question, their ideas are compared.
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The Influence of Western Thinkers on Sun Yat-Sen, His Political Philosophy and Practice
Mališ, Jan ; Halamka, Tomáš (advisor) ; Franěk, Jakub (referee)
The aim of this paper is to highlight the influences of major Western thinkers on Sun Yat-sen, which authors have had how much of an influence, and how different influences from different authors interact. The thesis begins immediately after the introduction, with a brief summary of Sun Yat-sen's life, emphasizing the possible influences from any angle. The work then moves on to the main part, which are the influences themselves, divided into two parts. The first are the broader influences, that is, the influences of authors, stimuli, or environments that did not have as much of an influence as the four main authors, but are still worthy of a subsection in the thesis alone. These chapters analyze Mill, Rousseau, Lincoln, and then the influence of Japan and British-influenced territories. The second part then deals with the main authors, which are Montesquieu,George, Kropotkin and Marx. The thesis then concludes with a summary of the main findings, a short recapitulation of the thesis and overall concluding thoughts on the thesis.
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The Image of Czechoslovakia in the British Press 1918 - 1922
Bajerová, Adéla ; Pešek, Jiří (advisor) ; Köpplová, Barbara (referee)
This diploma thesis deals with the reception of the newly established Czechoslovakia by the British press from 1918 to 1922. My task was to find out how often and in what context did Czechoslovakia appear in the press and what was the difference between the image of the republic in each newspaper. Secondarily, my task was to evaluate the success of the Czechoslovak propaganda in Britain. The thesis consists of two parts. The first part presents the context of the emergence of Czechoslovakia, Czechoslovak-British diplomacy aims and cultural propaganda in the given period. One chapter is dedicated to the history of the British press and includes profiles of the journals examined. The practical part incorporates both quantitative and qualitative analysis. Four broadsheets in total were analysed; The Times, The Manchester Guardian, The Daily Telegraph and a Sunday newspaper The Observer. Quantitative content analysis of The Times was used to determine the frequency, the length and the interest of the mentions of Czechoslovakia as well as the theme of the articles. Based on the quantitative analysis, sample time periods were selected for the qualitative section. The qualitative analysis further deepens the quantitative part and presents the explicit and implicit attributes that Czechoslovakia was...
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British policy towards Malaysia and its decolonization, 1945-1971
Hladíková, Kristýna ; Váška, Jan (advisor) ; Pečenka, Marek (referee)
The bachelor thesis deals with the British policy towards Malaya and its decolonisation between 1945 and 1971. It aims to learn and describe how British cabinet approached to Malaya in the chosen time period, and to define goals of the monarchy for this country. The goals were being often changed or modified. The thesis follows also the circumstances (Malayan national demands, bad domestic economic situation, decreasing position in international politics, growing imperial commitments, the Cold War and special relationship with the US), which led to changes in British plans. It takes all the questions above impeach when appraising if Britain really attained her goals and which means she used to reach them. On these grouns it tries to assess if Britain was successful and if decolonisation in Malaya was an achievement, or not.
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Geraldine Mucha. A probe into the life and work of a female composer
Vacková, Barbora ; Havelková, Tereza (advisor) ; Havelková, Hana (referee)
This bachelor thesis is concerned with the life and work of a Scottish-Czech composer Geraldine Mucha (1917-2012). Based on existing sources, its aim is to critically analyse her approach towards composition and its development in the course of her life. An emphasis is placed on the analysis of various social and cultural factors which shaped both her compositional activities and the way in which she addressed them. I therefore present Mucha as a woman of specific era and culture who had to find a way to combine her musical interests with other roles she wished to, or was obliged to, fulfil. Moreover, I discuss why the chosen way had to include dissociating herself from any form of promotion of her work and composing inconspicuously in the privacy of her home. The thesis is methodologically anchored in literature discussing the specifics of writing a female biography in musicology. Using a specific example of a female composer not previously reflected in musicological literature I wish to contribute to the exploration of this topic. Key words: Geraldine Mucha, female composer, female biography, gender, Czechoslovakia, Britain
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British Civil Service Reforms: tradition-transformation-continuity?
Hálová, Daniela ; Rovná, Lenka (advisor) ; Váška, Jan (referee)
The aim of this Master thesis is to analyse the British civil service reforms both in theory and practice. The author picked three areas where the reforms would be scrutinized. By analysing four essential documents that contributed to the reforms of the civil service: The Northcote-Trevelyan report, The Fulton report, Next Steps and Modernising Government, we would be able to evaluate the impact of these changes in the following areas: 1) Human Resources (recruitment, training and the promotion of the civil servants) 2) Administration and Accountability (the aspects of ministerial responsibility, accountability, special advisers) 3) Decentralisation and Fragmentation (impact of the multi-level governance including deconcentration, devolution and EU membership). The first chapter is the necessary introductory part that deals with the basic principles of the British civil service, its history and the challenges it faces today. The second chapter provides analysis and historical background of the four documents that are used in the next section. Finally, the third chapter discusses the three above mentioned problematic areas. By analysing and comparing the documents, we seek to understand the reforms of the British civil service and their impact.
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