Translating the State: Czechoslovakia's Search for the Soviet Model of the Secret Police, 1945–52

2017 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 317-344 ◽  
Author(s):  
Molly Pucci
Keyword(s):  
The State ◽  
Secret Police ◽  
Soviet Model

The Escape to Turkey. Ways and Methods of Illegal Border Crossings into Turkey from the perspective of SSI documents (1945-1948)

2021 ◽  
Vol 65 (2) ◽  
pp. 123-134
Author(s):  
Daniela Popescu
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
Political Power ◽  
The State ◽  
Communist Regime ◽  
The Political ◽  
Border Crossings ◽  
Secret Police ◽  
State Institutions ◽  
Police Services ◽  
The Cold War

"The Escape to Turkey. Ways and Methods of Illegal Border Crossings into Turkey from the perspective of SSI documents (1945-1948). Romania`s first years after the communist regime took political power in Romania, concurrent with the onset of the Cold War, meant a reshuffle of the state institutions at first and later a dramatic impact on people`s lives. The political and institutional purges were the first signal that soon repression and terror will follow, thus prompting numerous Romanian citizens to leave the country. Yet, due to the strict surveillance of the Secret Police Services which did not easily allow traveling to Western countries, the only way to escape was through illicit border crossings. One of the most common destinations was Turkey, with documents issued between 1945 and 1948 by the Secret police services revealing an impressive number of such cases. Keywords: Illegal border crossings, escape, communism, Romania, Turkey. "

The August 1991 Coup and Its Impact on Soviet Politics

2003 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 94-127 ◽  
Author(s):  
John B. Dunlop
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Communist Party ◽  
The State ◽  
Direct Result ◽  
Industrial Complex ◽  
Secret Police ◽  
Military Industrial Complex ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
The Military ◽  
Coup Attempt

A book published by the author in 1993 contained a lengthy chapter on the August 1991 coup attempt in the Soviet Union. This article builds on and updates that chapter, making use of a trove of newly available documents and memoirs. The article discusses many aspects of the coup attempt, but it particularly seeks to explain why the coup failed and what the implications were for the Soviet Union. The events of December 1991 that culminated in the dissolution of the Soviet Union were the direct result of changes set in motion by the failed coup. The major state and party institutions that might ordinarily have tried to hold the country together—the Communist Party apparatus, the secret police, the military-industrial complex, the Ministry of Defense, and the state administrative organs—all were compromised by their participation in the coup. As a result, when events pushed the Soviet Union toward collapse there was no way of staving off that outcome.

scholarly journals Why the Reasons for the Collapse of the USSR should be Sought before the USSR Formation. First Article

2020 ◽  
pp. 10-17
Author(s):  
V. A. Shamakhov ◽  
N. M. Mezhevich
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Russian Empire ◽  
The State ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
State And Society ◽  
The Russian Empire ◽  
Soviet Model

It is pointless to begin the search for an answer to the question about the reasons for the collapse of the Soviet Union by analyzing the events of the eighties of the last century, moreover, considering the Soviet form of organization of the state and society. It is necessary to remember what the creators of the Soviet model relied on practices tested in the Russian Empire.

scholarly journals OSOBOWE ŹRÓDŁA INFORMACJI JAKO JEDNA Z METOD OPERACYJNEGO DZIAŁANIA ORGANÓW POLICYJNYCH

2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 167
Author(s):  
Rafał Teluk
Keyword(s):  
The State ◽  
Operational Method ◽  
Sources Of Information ◽  
Secret Police ◽  
Confidential Information ◽  
Classical Source ◽  
Court Proceedings ◽  
Police Forces

INDIVIDIDUAL PERSONS AS SOURCES OF INFORMATION: AN OPERATIONAL METHOD USED BY POLICE FORCES Summary The aim of this article is to discuss an important issue in criminalistics, the use of information acquired from individuals in the police’s operational and investigative work. The author presents the methods and aims of the activities pursued out of court by authorised agencies of the state. He discusses the problems involved in the collection and recording of information from individuals who collaborate with the police, the influence this type of information has on the collection of evidence, and its value in court proceedings. Another issue discussed in the article is the institution of the secret police agent – probably the police’s oldest, classical source of confidential information. The article also addresses the question of the protection and remuneration of police informers.

The Czechoslovak Road to the Secret Police

2020 ◽  
pp. 77-117
Author(s):  
Molly Pucci
Keyword(s):  
Public Life ◽  
Eastern Bloc ◽  
Institution Building ◽  
Secret Police ◽  
Security Forces ◽  
State Institutions ◽  
Action Committee ◽  
Soviet Model

This chapter examines the evolution of communist secret police networks in Czechoslovakia between 1945 and 1948. It argues that the era was widely understood by local agents as one of “national roads to socialism” with respect to local security forces as well as other areas of institution building. It details the communist takeover of power in February 1948, when, uniquely in the context of the Eastern Bloc, communist leaders formed revolutionary councils called Action Committee to expel non-communists from state institutions and public life. It then follows the debates inside the Czechoslovak communist elite following the takeover of power in 1948 and their trips abroad to examine the “Soviet model” of the secret police in other countries of the Eastern Bloc.

Soccer Artistry and the Secret Police

2019 ◽  
pp. 85-98
Author(s):  
Erik R. Scott
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
The State ◽  
South American ◽  
Secret Police ◽  
National Team ◽  
Soviet State ◽  
The Cold War

Among Soviet footballers, Georgians were known to represent a flamboyant, artistic, and ethnic style likened to the “beautiful game” played by successful South American teams. Georgian football and the mythology surrounding it emerged from the encounter between a centralizing imperial Soviet state and an assertive Georgian republic. The republic’s footballers gained global recognition during the Cold War, both as stars of the Soviet national team and the dominant Dinamo Tbilisi side that defeated top European clubs. Moscow sought to ensure that Georgian difference on the pitch served the needs of the state by showcasing multiethnic Socialist harmony for international audiences. Simultaneously, the Soviet promotion of Georgian soccer backfired, as supporters in Georgia claimed its successes as evidence of their own national triumph.

The Czechoslovak automotive industry and the launch of a new model: The Škoda factory in Mladá Boleslav, in the 1970s and 1980s

2017 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-69 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tomáš Vilímek ◽  
Valentina Fava
Keyword(s):  
Automotive Industry ◽  
Innovation Process ◽  
The State ◽  
Eastern Bloc ◽  
Secret Police ◽  
Planned Economy ◽  
New Model ◽  
Security Services ◽  
State Security ◽  
National Enterprise

From 1945 to 1989, the Automobilové závody, n.p. (Automotive Plant, a national enterprise), in Mladá Boleslav, manufactured one of the best-known brands of motor car in the Eastern Bloc, the Škoda. This article focuses on the process of planning and manufacturing a change in models in the Czechoslovak automotive industry between 1968 and 1990. It is widely known how the launch of a new model of car represents a key step for every car manufacturer in most parts of the globe. In Czechoslovakia under Communist rule, however, passing from one model to another entailed grotesque, almost insuperable, difficulties, and it can therefore be seen as a textbook example of the complications of the innovation process in a centrally planned economy. The article draws not only on documentation available in company archives but also on the records of the Czechoslovak secret police, the State Security services.

scholarly journals EVOLUTION OF STATE FAMILY POLICY IN RUSSIA FROM SOVIET TIMES TO THE PRESENT

2013 ◽  
pp. 155-159
Author(s):  
A. V. Noskova
Keyword(s):  
State Policy ◽  
Family Policy ◽  
Family Relations ◽  
The State ◽  
Family Policies ◽  
State Activity ◽  
The Family ◽  
The One ◽  
Family State ◽  
Soviet Model

The paper describes some peculiarities in evolution of the State family politics and policies in Russia since the beginning of the XX century to present time. The aim of the paper is to shed light on the family state policy in Russia during the different periods of time. We define here the family state policy widely enough as the various state activity (ideological, legislative, economic, social) concerning institute of family. The analysis of the state measures concerning the family in different social and political contexts allowed us to allocate the five main stages and models of the family state policy in Russia. They are: the post-revolutionary model (1917-1926), the «Stalin» model (1927-1953), the "welfare" Soviet model (1954-1991), the yearly post- Soviet model (1991-2005), the modern model (since 2006). The paper is based on the some demographic and sociological surveys data and devoted to an analysis of the family changes in these various periods. On the one hand, the family policies were a reaction to new social requirements and demographic changes (decline of fertility, for example). On the other hand, the state activity concerning a family itself caused transitions in the family institute. We show how various measures of soviet and post-soviet family policies and public interventions in family life have influenced on the family relations.

scholarly journals Prague Spring’s Demise: The Involuntary Emigration of the Journalist Vladimír Tosek

Korpus 21 ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 127-142
Author(s):  
Daniela Spenser
Keyword(s):  
Mass Media ◽  
Political Change ◽  
The State ◽  
Reform Process ◽  
Secret Police ◽  
State Secret ◽  
The Mass Media ◽  
The Government

 The television journalist Vladimír Tosek broadcasted the occupation until the transmission was discovered, and he was forced to cross the border to Austria. He did not want to emigrate, but the radical political change, which culminated in April 1969, forced him to exile. The Czechoslovak authorities made him pay a heavy price for daring to defy the occupiers in 1968 by making public his previous collaboration with the state secret police. In doing so, the government sought to discredit Tosek and his colleagues in the mass media who identified with and defended vigorously the reform process.

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