CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2021
| Author | Smejkal, Boleslav |
|---|---|
| Title | A Red Town? Trebic Workers Between Bataism and Communism |
| Summary | In this thesis I argue that the relationships between the local working class and the Baťa company underwent a dynamic change during the 1930s in the Czech town of Třebíč, which can be characterized as an industrial town with a strong working-class tradition. I identify the character of the local working-class movement as a communist one and analyze its parts, activities and spatial distribution and analyze the Baťa company actions and approaches in Třebíč as well as different types of relationships between the Baťa company and the workers of Třebíč. In the first three years of the 1930s, these relationships had a highly conflictual character and were shaped by the economic crisis, restructuration of the production in the factory and the strong position of the local Communist party. Later on, with the improvement of the economic conditions and a renewal of the production in the factory, the Baťa company became more and more acculturated into the local society. This development was also connected to the change in the tactics of the Communist party, which in the period of the Popular front tactic became less confrontational. The success of the Baťa company May Day celebrations demonstrates the company’s beginning dominance over the town in the second half of the 1930s. However, the 1938 May Day celebrations, which were connected with a demonstration for the Czechoslovak republic facing the threat of Nazi Germany, once again showed the strong roots of the local culture of protest, connected to the working-class movement. |
| Supervisor | Zimmermann, Susan |
| Department | History MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2021/smejkal_boleslav.pdf |
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