Milan Drápala: “Dissidents” of the Third Republic (1945–1948)

1945 delivered freedom and a great deal of hope in the construction of a democratic society to the revived Czechoslovakia. However, threats appeared on the horizon. These arose from the Communists’ thirst for power supported by Soviet dominance but were also encoded in the National Front political system and the post-war collective mentality. Attempts at a systemic critique and change of regime in the Third Republic were highly exceptional and unsuccessful in the Czech environment; nevertheless, there is noteworthy evidence of intellectual non-conformism and political foresight. This paper introduces figures representing these marginal positions in the discourse of the time and outlines their critiques.