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Černí Baroni (novel)
''Černí baroni'' (''Black barons'') is a satirical novel written by Miloslav Švandrlík during the period of the Prague Spring and published in 1969. Subsequent publication of the book in Czechoslovakia was only made possible after the Velvet Revolution, in 1990. The work takes as its background one of the "technical auxiliary battalions" of the Czechoslovak People's Army. The subtitle ''Válčili jsme za Čepičky'' (We fought for Čepička) is a reference to then-Minister of Defense, Alexej Čepička. The story was made into a film of the same name in 1992 and a television series in 2003. Background The first part of the book was published in 1969 by Vysočina (Havlíčkův Brod) and consists of seventeen chapters, ending with one of the main characters, Kefalín, desperate to extend his service for another year, getting drunk on cider. Švandrlík continued writing the second part, though due to the post-Prague Spring normalization, it could not be published in Czechoslov ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Miloslav Švandrlík
Miloslav Švandrlík (10 August 1932 – 26 October 2009) was a Czech writer and humourist. He also used the pseudonym Roman Kefalín. Life and work Miloslav Švandrlík was born in Prague, Czechoslovakia, in 1932. After finishing secondary school, Švandrlík took a number of jobs and also completed a two-year teaching course at a music college in Prague. Subsequently in 1950, he obtained his ''Matura#Czech Republic, matura'' diploma. Between 1951 and 1953, he studied at the Faculty of Theatre (Prague), Faculty of Theatre in Prague, but left after two years. After completing his studies, Švandrlík became an assistant director at the in Prague. He joined the Auxiliary Technical Unit of the Czechoslovakian army (compulsory at the time) in October 1953. He left in the winter of 1955, and worked as a teaching assistant for Korean children in Liběšice before becoming a professional writer. Most of his work was humorous and satirical, but he is also known for his science fic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prague Spring
The Prague Spring (; ) was a period of liberalization, political liberalization and mass protest in the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic. It began on 5 January 1968, when reformist Alexander Dubček was elected Secretary (title), First Secretary of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSČ), and continued until 21 August 1968, when the Soviet Union and three other Warsaw Pact members (People's Republic of Bulgaria, Bulgaria, Hungarian People's Republic, Hungary and Polish People's Republic, Poland) Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia, invaded the country to suppress the reforms. The Prague Spring reforms were an attempt by Dubček to grant additional rights to the citizens of Czechoslovakia in an act of partial decentralization of the economy and democratization. The freedoms granted included a loosening of restrictions on the freedom of the press, media, freedom of speech, speech and freedom of movement, travel. After national discussion of dividing the country into a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Velvet Revolution
The Velvet Revolution () or Gentle Revolution () was a non-violent transition of power in what was then Czechoslovakia, occurring from 17 November to 28 November 1989. Popular demonstrations against the one-party government of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia included students and older dissidents. The result was the end of Czechoslovak Socialist Republic, 41 years of one-party rule in Czechoslovakia, and the subsequent dismantling of the command economy and conversion to a parliamentary republic. On 17 November 1989 (International Students' Day), riot police suppressed a Student activism, student demonstration in Prague. The event marked the 50th anniversary of a violently suppressed demonstration against the Nazi storming of Prague University in 1939 where 1,200 students were arrested and 9 killed (see International Students' Day#Origin, Origin of International Students' Day). The 1989 event sparked a series of demonstrations from 17 November to late December and turned ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alexej Čepička
General Alexej Čepička (18 August 1910 – 30 September 1990) was a Czechoslovakia, Czechoslovak communist politician. He held several ministerial positions in Czechoslovakia after World War II, including Minister of Justice from 1948 to 1950 and Ministry of Defense (Czechoslovakia), Minister of National Defence from 1950 to 1956. Early years Čepička was born to the family of a civil servant in Kroměříž. He matriculated from gymnasium in Kroměříž in 1929, and then moved to Prague, where he was admitted to the Faculty of Law at Charles University. In Prague, he also joined the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSČ), and worked as a functionary of the Young Communist League of Czechoslovakia from 1932 to 1935. Čepička obtained a doctorate in law in 1935, and then worked at a law firm in Brno. After the start of World War II and the Occupation of Czechoslovakia (1938–1945), occupation of the Czech lands by Nazi Germany, he became involved with the Resistance in the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Černí Baroni (film)
''Černí baroni'' is a Czechoslovakia, Czechoslovak comedy film released in 1992. The movie is directed by Zdenek Sirový and stars Václav Vydra (actor born 1956), Václav Vydra, Jan Kraus (actor), Jan Kraus, Miroslav Donutil, Jiří Schmitzer, and Ondřej Vetchý. It is based on the 1969 novel ''Černí baroni (book), Černí baroni'' by Miloslav Švandrlík. Synopsis The film presents "Pétepáky"—members of the Technical auxiliary battalion—an army battalion formed by people known as class enemies of History of Czechoslovakia (1948–1989), communism in Czechoslovakia in the 1950s. The group includes intellectuals, people of bourgeois origins, peasants, religious adherents, etc. This group is offset by their commanders, who are uneducated but politically active. From the clashes between the two groups, absurd situations arise, parodying the conditions of the period in Czechoslovak history. Cast External links * 1992 films Czechoslovak comedy films 1992 comedy ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Černí Baroni (TV Series)
''Černí baroni'' is a Czech television series that aired in 2004. It is based on a series of books by Miloslav Švandrlík, including ''Černí baroni'' (1990), ''Říkali mu Terazky'' (1991), and ''Pět sekyr poručíka Hamáčka'' (1993). The show takes as its background one of the "technical auxiliary battalions" of the Czechoslovak People's Army during the socialist era in Czechoslovakia. Cast and characters * Andrej Hryc as Major Haluška * Radek Holub as Private Kefalín * Vítězslav Jandák as Captain Ořech * Tomáš Töpfer as Captain Reich * Karel Heřmánek as Captain Honec * Oldřich Kaiser as Lieutenant Troník * Bolek Polívka as Lieutenant Hamáček * Petr Rychlý as Lieutenant Pecháček * Petr Nárožný as General Mandel * Pavel Liška as Private Ciml * Martin Myšička Martin Myšička (born 9 March 1970) is a Czech actor. He has appeared in more than twenty films since 1996. He won the 'Talent of the Year' award at the Alfréd Radok Awards while still ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Normalization (Czechoslovakia)
In the history of Czechoslovakia, normalization (, ) is a name commonly given to the period following the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia in August 1968 and up to the ''glasnost'' era of liberalization that began in the Soviet Union and its neighboring nations in 1987. It was characterized by the restoration of the conditions prevailing before the Prague Spring reform period led by the First Secretary Alexander Dubček of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSČ) earlier in 1968 and the subsequent preservation of the new ''status quo''. Some historians date the period from the signing of the Moscow Protocol by Dubček and the other jailed Czechoslovak leaders on 26 August 1968, while others date it from the replacement of Dubček by Gustáv Husák on 17 April 1969, followed by the official normalization policies referred to as Husakism. The policy ended either with Husák's removal as leader of the Party on 17 December 1987, or with the beginning of the Velv ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alexander Tomský
Alexander () is a male name of Greek origin. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here are Aleksandar, Aleksander, Oleksandr, Oleksander, Aleksandr, and Alekzandr. Related names and diminutives include Iskandar, Alec, Alek, Alex, Alexsander, Alexandre, Aleks, Aleksa, Aleksandre, Alejandro, Alessandro, Alasdair, Sasha, Sandy, Sandro, Sikandar, Skander, Sander and Xander; feminine forms include Alexandra, Alexandria, and Sasha. Etymology The name ''Alexander'' originates from the (; 'defending men' or 'protector of men'). It is a compound of the verb (; 'to ward off, avert, defend') and the noun (, genitive: , ; meaning 'man'). The earliest attested form of the name, is the Mycenaean Greek feminine anthroponym , , (/Alexandra/), written in the Linear B syllabic script. Alaksandu, alternatively called ''Alakasandu'' or ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Samizdat
Samizdat (, , ) was a form of dissident activity across the Eastern Bloc in which individuals reproduced censored and underground makeshift publications, often by hand, and passed the documents from reader to reader. The practice of manual reproduction was widespread, because printed texts could be traced back to the source. This was a grassroots practice used to evade official Soviet censorship. Name origin and variations Etymologically, the word ''samizdat'' derives from ''sam'' ( 'self, by oneself') and ''izdat'' (, an abbreviation of , 'publishing house'), and thus means 'self-published'. Ukrainian has a similar term: ''samvydav'' (самвидав), from ''sam'' 'self' and ''vydavnytstvo'' 'publishing house'. The Russian poet Nikolay Glazkov coined a version of the term as a pun in the 1940s when he typed copies of his poems and included the note ''Samsebyaizdat'' (Самсебяиздат, "Myself by Myself Publishers") on the front page. ''Tamizdat'' refers to lit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Czechoslovak People's Army
The Czechoslovak People's Army (, , ČSLA) was the armed forces of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSČ) and the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic from 1954 until 1989. From 1955 it was a member force of the Warsaw Pact. On 14 March 1990 the Army's name was officially reverted to the Czechoslovak Army removing the adjective "People's" from the name. The Czechoslovak Army was split into the Army of the Czech Republic and the Slovak Armed Forces, Armed Forces of the Slovak Republic after the dissolution of Czechoslovakia on 1 January 1993. Transition to Communist rule On 25 May 1945 the Provisional organization of the Czechoslovak armed forces was approved, according to which there was a reorganization of the Czechoslovak army. Soldiers who had fought against Nazism on all fronts of World War II gradually returned. The territory of Czechoslovakia was divided into four military areas in which emerged gradually over 16 infantry divisions, which complemented the Tank Corps an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the world's countries participated, with many nations mobilising all resources in pursuit of total war. Tanks in World War II, Tanks and Air warfare of World War II, aircraft played major roles, enabling the strategic bombing of cities and delivery of the Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, first and only nuclear weapons ever used in war. World War II is the List of wars by death toll, deadliest conflict in history, causing World War II casualties, the death of 70 to 85 million people, more than half of whom were civilians. Millions died in genocides, including the Holocaust, and by massacres, starvation, and disease. After the Allied victory, Allied-occupied Germany, Germany, Allied-occupied Austria, Austria, Occupation of Japan, Japan, a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
