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From the perspective of 1989 the 20th century in Europe seemed to be the story of a contested but ultimately successful triumph of liberal democracy over the ideologies of communism, fascism and virulent nationalism. Prague was one of the main scenes of this heroic drama which contributed enduring images of European history: the proclamation of the Czechoslovak Republic 1918, the German occupation of Prague in March 1939, the seizure of power by the Communists in 1948, the protests of the Prague Spring on Wenceslas Square, the Soviet occupation in August 1968, and finally the Velvet Revolution. Twentieth-first century trends in East Central Europe seem to have reversed these developments, especially in Hungary and Poland but to a certain degree also in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Particularistic framings now dominate contemporary East Central European politics. The lecture will explore the question of whether universalism and particularism are meaningful concepts with which to understand the broader sweep of Czechoslovak history.
