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Radio and the Performance of Government

Broadcasting by the Czechoslovaks in Exile in London, 1939–1945

Erica Harrison

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Paperback

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English
Karolinum,Nakladatelstvi Univerzity Karlovy,Czech Republic
26 March 2024
An original study of radio propaganda in Czechoslovakia.

Between 1939 and 1945, Czechoslovakia disappeared from the maps, existing only as an imagined ‘free republic’ on the radio waves. Following the German invasion and annexation of Bohemia and Moravia and the declaration of independence by Slovakia on 15 March 1939, the Czechoslovak Republic was gone. From their position in exile in wartime London, former Czechoslovak President Edvard Beneš and the government that formed around him depended on radio to communicate with the public they strove to represent. The broadcasts made by government figures in London enabled a performance of authority to impress their hosts, allies, occupying enemies, and claimed constituents.

This book examines this government program for the first time, making use of previously unstudied archival sources to examine how the exiles understood their mission and how their propaganda work was shaped by both British and Soviet influences. This study assesses the strengths, weaknesses, and limitations of the government’s radio propaganda as they navigated the complexities of exile, with chapters examining how they used the radio to establish their authority, how they understood the past and future of the Czechoslovak nation, and how they struggled to include Slovakia and Subcarpathian Ruthenia within it.

By:  
Imprint:   Karolinum,Nakladatelstvi Univerzity Karlovy,Czech Republic
Dimensions:   Height: 203mm,  Width: 146mm,  Spine: 15mm
ISBN:   9788024655215
ISBN 10:   8024655217
Pages:   385
Publication Date:  
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Undergraduate
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active

Erica Harrison is a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Amsterdam.

Reviews for Radio and the Performance of Government: Broadcasting by the Czechoslovaks in Exile in London, 1939–1945

“The book makes an important contribution to our understanding of those who recreated Czechoslovakia in 1945. It reveals, via the broadcasts, what can be learnt about the exiles’ mentality and the major obstacles which confronted them from both enemies and allies… It will certainly be used as a starting point for new research about radio propaganda in wartime Central Europe.” * Mark Cornwall, University of Southampton *


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