ČESKÝ ČASOPIS HISTORICKÝ
THE CZECH HISTORICAL REVIEW
4/2010

STUDIE / STUDIES

BOUBÍN Jaroslav
Obraz převráceného světa. K úvahám Petra Chelčického o společnosti
(An Image of the World Turned Upside Down. Peter Chelčický’s Reflections on Society), S. 593-614.
The article is devoted to social concepts of the Hussite thinker Peter Chelčický (b. around 1380 – d. before 1460). The main attention is focused on his image of a world turned upside down, in which falsehood dominates the truth and nearly everything is the reverse of what it seems to be. Although the fundamental features of this concept were commonly present in medieval thinking, Chelčický did expand them greatly and they became the starting point of his revolutionary sociological thoughts and his devastating critique of society. This study also deals with the issue of how his notion of a world turned upside down influenced the language and vocabulary of Chelčický’s writings.
Key words: Medieval society, Hussite movement, Petr Chelčický, John Huss, falsehood, truth, history of ideas, Political thought, semantics.

FEJTOVÁ Olga
Formování správy raně novověkých měst pražských jako „demokratizační“ proces?
(The Formation of Administration in Early Modern Age Boroughs of Prague as a „democratization“ process?), S. 615-636.
This contribution observes changes in the participation of the individual classes of bourgeois society in town administration and the formation of its independent policy towards the sovereign and other groups of Estates’ society in the period between the Hussite Revolution and the defeat of the Estates’ Rebellion in 1620, against the backdrop of several socio-political crises in Prague (namely in The Old Town and The New Town of Prague). It does not study merely the periods of these crises but it primarily pays attention to the consequent periods of relative stabilization of social conditions. It searches for answers to the question to what degree certain „democratic“ features of the system of functioning of the administration in both towns of Prague were maintained and in which direction they developed. Indeed, they significantly influenced the functioning of the system of municipal administration from the period of the Hussite Revolution onwards. The formation and functioning of the early modern administration of the Boroughs of Prague is viewed in the context of Central European development (respectively, the development of the Holy Roman Empire and Imperial towns) as a process of communication between the three fundamental components of municipal administration, i.e. a municipal community, town elders and a council, at the level of administration, as well as at political, religious and economic levels.
Key words: Late Middle Ages, Early Modern Age, Prague, history of administration, socio-political crises.

KOZMANOVÁ Irena
Fridrich Vilém Braniborský a jeho místodržitelé. Panovník v kontextu vícenásobné vlády 17. století
(Frederick William I, Elector of Brandenburg, and his Stadholders. The Ruler within the Framework of 17th Century Composite State), S. 637-663.
This study deals with the issues of a composite state (Mehrfachherrschaft), using the example of the Elector of Brandenburg Frederick William I (1640-1688) and his Stadholders. They represented one of the most important means which the Elector chose to overcome the structural problems stemming from a composite state. The study analyses the manner of selecting Stadholders and their function as it was understood by the ruler and contemporary society. It characterizes the first half of the reign of Frederick William as the key period for the possibility of implementing this function as an efficient tool of government with regard to the character of statehood and the weakening of sovereign power after the Thirty Years’ War.
Key words: Frederick William of Brandenburg, Brandenburg-Prussia, Stadholders, composite state, development of statehood.

OBZORY LITERATURY / REVIEW ARTICLES AND REVIEWS

DEJMEK Jindřich
Moderní dějiny československého státu v revizionistickém pohledu
(Modern History of the Czechoslovak State from a Revisionist Point of View), S. 664-677.
This review article scrutinizes a history of Czechoslovakia from the pen of the British based, American born historian Mary Heimann. This review critically assesses some of the author’s propositions, which relate to, for example, the politics of inter-war Czechoslovakia and its minority policy. She also investigates issues of the resistance movement, which fought for the restoration of the Czechoslovak state in the years following World War II. Dejmek observes that the book under review often overlooks the international context of certain events. At the same time he also comments upon the selective manner in which they are chosen as well as considerable gaps in the use of English and American works on this topic, which contributes to rather numerous factual mistakes in this historian’s interpretation.
Key words: Czechoslovakia – history, minorities in Central Europe, history of the Communist bloc.

SPÁČIL Vladimír - SPÁČILOVÁ Libuše, Míšeňská právní kniha. Historický kontext, jazykový rozbor, edice (Hana Pátková) S. 678-679;

RYANTOVÁ Marie, Památníky aneb štambuchy, to jest alba amicorum. Kulturně historický fenomén raného novověku (Jiří Pešek) S. 679-683;

Úděl žen. Žena v českých zemích od středověku do 20. století. LENDEROVÁ Milena - KOPIČKOVÁ Božena - BUREŠOVÁ Jana - MAUR Eduard (eds.) (Magdaléna Pokorná) S. 683-687;

ŠTAIF Jiří, Obezřetná elita. Česká společnost mezi tradicí a revolucí 1830–1851; ŠTAIF Jiří, František Palacký. Život, dílo, mýtus (Jiří Kořalka) S. 687-691;

Pohled odjinud: nesnadná dilemata evropské levice. STEPHAN Jean-Pierre, Thomas Harlan: das Gesicht deines Feindes. Ein deutsches Leben (Svatava Raková) S. 691-696;

Nové poznatky k druhé berlínské krizi. WETTIG Gerhard, Chrustschows Berlin-Krise 1958 bis 1963. Drohpolitik und Mauerbau; UHL Matthias, Krieg um Berlin. Die sowjetische Militär und Sicherheitspolitik in der zweiten Berlin-Krise 1958 bis 1962; LUŇÁK Petr (ed.), Plánování nemyslitelného. Československé vojenské plány 1950–1990 (Tomáš Nigrin) S. 696-702;

RUSCONI Gian Enrico - WOLLER Hans (ed.), Parallele Geschichte? Italien und Deutschland 1945–2000 (Soňa Mikulová) S. 702-705;

Monumentální dílo v oboru historické retrospektivní bibliografie. KUBÍČEK Jaromír a kolektiv, Česká retrospektivní bibliografie (Jaroslav Pánek) S. 706-710.