Abstract:
Based on a recently published book, Tchécoslovaques en guerre. De Munich à la Guerre froide - Czechoslovaks at War. From Munich to the Cold War, 2023, this seminar will discuss the (re)building of the dissolved Czechoslovak state that took place throughout the Second World War and the beginning of the Cold War. I aim at assessing how participation in coalitions and alliances – with their share of cooperation and conflict – affected the balance of power within Czechoslovakia, chiefly through the eyes of the military. This talk also offers to discuss broader issues in international, political and social history related to Central and Eastern Europe in the 20th century, especially nationalities policies, resistance and collaboration under occupation, the role of exiles, politicization of the army, repression and adaptation to regime change, and Stalinism.
Paul Lenormand is Associate Professor in contemporary history at Paris-Nanterre University. He previously taught at Sciences Po Paris, Paris-Sorbonne University, and Yale University. His research focuses on World War II and the Cold War in Central and Eastern Europe.