About this product

Product Identifiers

PublisherOxford University Press, Incorporated

ISBN-100199843465

ISBN-139780199843466

eBay Product ID (ePID)102960846

Product Key Features

Number of Pages302 Pages

LanguageEnglish

Publication NameBattle for the Castle : the Myth of Czechoslovakia in Europe, 1914-1948

Publication Year2011

SubjectWorld / European, General, Presidents & Heads of State, Propaganda

TypeTextbook

Subject AreaPolitical Science, Biography & Autobiography, History

AuthorAndrea Orzoff

FormatTrade Paperback

Dimensions

Item Height0.8 in

Item Weight15.1 Oz

Item Length6.1 in

Item Width9.1 in

Additional Product Features

Intended AudienceScholarly & Professional

Dewey Edition22

Reviews"Battle for the Castleis a stimulating and imaginative history of statecraft in interwar Czechoslovakia. ...[It] is an important, engaging, and lucid study of Czechoslovakia's political culture, and of its struggle for legitimacy. ...[E]ssential reading for anyone who hopes to understand the vexed history of democracy and nation-making in twentieth-century Europe." --Tara Zahra,H-Net "Battle for the Castledoes a great job in tying together the simultaneous use of myth in nation building at home and in promoting the state's image and interests abroad...Andrea Orzoff has taken her place among [an] impressive cohort of English-language historians of Czechoslovakia." --James Ramon Felak,Slavic Review "This well-written and researched study will be essential to anyone interested not only in Czechoslovak interwar history, but also in the impact of various national myths on our recent history." -Zbysek Brezina,History Today Books "Battle for the Castle-the story of a myth-is more broadly a story about what it means to be European-and what it means to be a small East-Central European country coveting the support of the West. The book will be of interest to all those who want to understand more about those peculiarly fascinating years between the two world wars." -Marci Shore, author ofCaviar and Ashes: A Warsaw Generation's Life and Death in Marxism, 1918-1968 "Propaganda and myth, as Andrea Orzoff shows in this impressively researched and powerfully argued book, not only helped bring Czechoslovakia into existence after World War I; they informed nearly every aspect of interwar Czechoslovakia's political culture and foreign policy efforts. Anyone interested in cultural diplomacy, the failure of interwar European democracies, and relationships between modern media and political power should read Battle for the Castle." -Chad Bryant, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill "Battle for the CastleELembodies the finest qualities of intellectual and cultural history as they are practiced today. Offering nuanced insights on the character of inter-war Prague's civil society, Andrea Orzoff takes us behind the scenes in the Castle, in editorial offices, in board rooms, in cafes, and in private homes, to reveal just who created the Masaryk myths, who financed and propagated them, and what critical political functions they served both domestically and internationally."- Pieter M. Judson, Swarthmore College, "Andrea Orzoff is superbly qualified as the author of this book, not only because she has immersed herself inthe relevant primary and secondary literature on the topic but also because of her background in journalism, which was the primary tool for spreading the myth. She also shows that national questions remain an important part of the historical agenda in Central Europe when historical actors define them as important."--American Historical Review"Battle for the Castle is a stimulating and imaginative history of statecraft in interwar Czechoslovakia....[It] is an important, engaging, and lucid study of Czechoslovakia's political culture, and of its struggle for legitimacy....[E]ssential reading for anyone who hopes to understand the vexed history of democracy and nation-making in twentieth-century Europe."--H-Net"[Battle for the Castle] does a great job in tying together the simultaneous use of myth in nation building at home and in promoting the state's image and interests abroad...Andrea Orzoff has taken her place among [an] impressive cohort of English-language historians of Czechoslovakia."--Slavic Review"This well-written and researched study will be essential to anyone interested not only in Czechoslovak interwar history, but also in the impact of various national myths on our recent history."--Zbysek Brezina, History Today Books"Battle for the Castle-the story of a myth-is more broadly a story about what it means to be European-and what it means to be a small East-Central European country coveting the support of the West. The book will be of interest to all those who want to understand more about those peculiarly fascinating years between the two world wars."--Marci Shore, author of Caviar and Ashes: A Warsaw Generation's Life and Death in Marxism, 1918-1968"Propaganda and myth, as Andrea Orzoff shows in this impressively researched and powerfully argued book, not only helped bring Czechoslovakia into existence after World War I; they informed nearly every aspect of interwar Czechoslovakia's political culture and foreign policy efforts. Anyone interested in cultural diplomacy, the failure of interwar European democracies, and relationships between modern media and political power should read Battle for the Castle."--Chad Bryant, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill "Battle for the Castle embodies the finest qualities of intellectual and cultural history as they are practiced today. Offering nuanced insights on the character of inter-war Prague's civil society, Andrea Orzoff takes us behind the scenes in the Castle, in editorial offices, in board rooms, in cafes, and in private homes, to reveal just who created the Masaryk myths, who financed and propagated them, and what critical political functions they served both domestically and internationally."--Pieter M. Judson, Swarthmore College, "Andrea Orzoff is superbly qualified as the author of this book, not only because she has immersed herself inthe relevant primary and secondary literature on the topic but also because of her background in journalism, which was the primary tool for spreading the myth. She also shows that national questions remain an important part of the historical agenda in Central Europe when historical actors define them as important." --American Historical Review "Battle for the Castleis a stimulating and imaginative history of statecraft in interwar Czechoslovakia. ...[It] is an important, engaging, and lucid study of Czechoslovakia's political culture, and of its struggle for legitimacy. ...[E]ssential reading for anyone who hopes to understand the vexed history of democracy and nation-making in twentieth-century Europe." --H-Net "[Battle for the Castle] does a great job in tying together the simultaneous use of myth in nation building at home and in promoting the state's image and interests abroad...Andrea Orzoff has taken her place among [an] impressive cohort of English-language historians of Czechoslovakia." --SlavicReview "This well-written and researched study will be essential to anyone interested not only in Czechoslovak interwar history, but also in the impact of various national myths on our recent history." -Zbysek Brezina,History Today Books "Battle for the Castle-the story of a myth-is more broadly a story about what it means to be European-and what it means to be a small East-Central European country coveting the support of the West. The book will be of interest to all those who want to understand more about those peculiarly fascinating years between the two world wars."-Marci Shore, author ofCaviar and Ashes: A Warsaw Generation's Life and Death in Marxism, 1918-1968 "Propaganda and myth, as Andrea Orzoff shows in this impressively researched and powerfully argued book, not only helped bring Czechoslovakia into existence after World War I; they informed nearly every aspect of interwar Czechoslovakia's political culture and foreign policy efforts. Anyone interested in cultural diplomacy, the failure of interwar European democracies, and relationships between modern media and political power should read Battle for the Castle." -Chad Bryant, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill "Battle for the Castleembodies the finest qualities of intellectual and cultural history as they are practiced today. Offering nuanced insights on the character of inter-war Prague's civil society, Andrea Orzoff takes us behind the scenes in the Castle, in editorial offices, in board rooms, in cafes, and in private homes, to reveal just who created the Masaryk myths, who financed and propagated them, and what critical political functions they served both domestically and internationally." -Pieter M. Judson, Swarthmore College, "Andrea Orzoff is superbly qualified as the author of this book, not only because she has immersed herself inthe relevant primary and secondary literature on the topic but also because of her background in journalism, which was the primary tool for spreading the myth. She also shows that national questions remain an important part of the historical agenda in Central Europe when historical actors define them as important." --American Historical Review "Battle for the Castle is a stimulating and imaginative history of statecraft in interwar Czechoslovakia. ...[It] is an important, engaging, and lucid study of Czechoslovakia's political culture, and of its struggle for legitimacy. ...[E]ssential reading for anyone who hopes to understand the vexed history of democracy and nation-making in twentieth-century Europe." --H-Net "[Battle for the Castle] does a great job in tying together the simultaneous use of myth in nation building at home and in promoting the state's image and interests abroad...Andrea Orzoff has taken her place among [an] impressive cohort of English-language historians of Czechoslovakia." --Slavic Review "This well-written and researched study will be essential to anyone interested not only in Czechoslovak interwar history, but also in the impact of various national myths on our recent history." -Zbysek Brezina, History Today Books "Battle for the Castle-the story of a myth-is more broadly a story about what it means to be European-and what it means to be a small East-Central European country coveting the support of the West. The book will be of interest to all those who want to understand more about those peculiarly fascinating years between the two world wars."-Marci Shore, author of Caviar and Ashes: A Warsaw Generation's Life and Death in Marxism, 1918-1968 "Propaganda and myth, as Andrea Orzoff shows in this impressively researched and powerfully argued book, not only helped bring Czechoslovakia into existence after World War I; they informed nearly every aspect of interwar Czechoslovakia's political culture and foreign policy efforts. Anyone interested in cultural diplomacy, the failure of interwar European democracies, and relationships between modern media and political power should read Battle for the Castle." -Chad Bryant, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill "Battle for the Castle embodies the finest qualities of intellectual and cultural history as they are practiced today. Offering nuanced insights on the character of inter-war Prague's civil society, Andrea Orzoff takes us behind the scenes in the Castle, in editorial offices, in board rooms, in cafes, and in private homes, to reveal just who created the Masaryk myths, who financed and propagated them, and what critical political functions they served both domestically and internationally." -Pieter M. Judson, Swarthmore College, "Andrea Orzoff is superbly qualified as the author of this book, not only because she has immersed herself inthe relevant primary and secondary literature on the topic but also because of her background in journalism, which was the primary tool for spreading the myth. She also shows that national questions remain an important part of the historical agenda in Central Europe when historical actors define them as important."--American Historical Review "Battle for the Castle is a stimulating and imaginative history of statecraft in interwar Czechoslovakia....[It] is an important, engaging, and lucid study of Czechoslovakia's political culture, and of its struggle for legitimacy....[E]ssential reading for anyone who hopes to understand the vexed history of democracy and nation-making in twentieth-century Europe."--H-Net "[Battle for the Castle] does a great job in tying together the simultaneous use of myth in nation building at home and in promoting the state's image and interests abroad...Andrea Orzoff has taken her place among [an] impressive cohort of English-language historians of Czechoslovakia."--Slavic Review "This well-written and researched study will be essential to anyone interested not only in Czechoslovak interwar history, but also in the impact of various national myths on our recent history."--Zbysek Brezina, History Today Books "Battle for the Castle-the story of a myth-is more broadly a story about what it means to be European-and what it means to be a small East-Central European country coveting the support of the West. The book will be of interest to all those who want to understand more about those peculiarly fascinating years between the two world wars."--Marci Shore, author of Caviar and Ashes: A Warsaw Generation's Life and Death in Marxism, 1918-1968 "Propaganda and myth, as Andrea Orzoff shows in this impressively researched and powerfully argued book, not only helped bring Czechoslovakia into existence after World War I; they informed nearly every aspect of interwar Czechoslovakia's political culture and foreign policy efforts. Anyone interested in cultural diplomacy, the failure of interwar European democracies, and relationships between modern media and political power should read Battle for the Castle."--Chad Bryant, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill "Battle for the Castle embodies the finest qualities of intellectual and cultural history as they are practiced today. Offering nuanced insights on the character of inter-war Prague's civil society, Andrea Orzoff takes us behind the scenes in the Castle, in editorial offices, in board rooms, in cafes, and in private homes, to reveal just who created the Masaryk myths, who financed and propagated them, and what critical political functions they served both domestically and internationally."--Pieter M. Judson, Swarthmore College, "Andrea Orzoff is superbly qualified as the author of this book, not only because she has immersed herself inthe relevant primary and secondary literature on the topic but also because of her background in journalism, which was the primary tool for spreading the myth. She also shows that national questions remain an important part of the historical agenda in Central Europe when historical actors define them as important."--American Historical Review"Battle for the Castle is a stimulating and imaginative history of statecraft in interwar Czechoslovakia....[It] is an important, engaging, and lucid study of Czechoslovakia's political culture, and of its struggle for legitimacy....[E]ssential reading for anyone who hopes to understand the vexed history of democracy and nation-making in twentieth-century Europe."--H-Net"[Battle for the Castle] does a great job in tying together the simultaneous use of myth in nation building at home and in promoting the state's image and interests abroad...Andrea Orzoff has taken her place among [an] impressive cohort of English-language historians of Czechoslovakia."--Slavic Review"This well-written and researched study will be essential to anyone interested not only in Czechoslovak interwar history, but also in the impact of various national myths on our recent history."--Zbysek Brezina, History Today Books"Battle for the Castle-the story of a myth-is more broadly a story about what it means to be European-and what it means to be a small East-Central European country coveting the support of the West. The book will be of interest to all those who want to understand more about those peculiarly fascinating years between the two world wars."--Marci Shore, author of Caviar and Ashes: A Warsaw Generation's Life and Death in Marxism, 1918-1968"Propaganda and myth, as Andrea Orzoff shows in this impressively researched and powerfully argued book, not only helped bring Czechoslovakia into existence after World War I; they informed nearly every aspect of interwar Czechoslovakia's political culture and foreign policy efforts. Anyone interested in cultural diplomacy, the failure of interwar European democracies, and relationships between modern media and political power should read Battle for theCastle."--Chad Bryant, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill"Battle for the Castle embodies the finest qualities of intellectual and cultural history as they are practiced today. Offering nuanced insights on the character of inter-war Prague's civil society, Andrea Orzoff takes us behind the scenes in the Castle, in editorial offices, in board rooms, in cafes, and in private homes, to reveal just who created the Masaryk myths, who financed and propagated them, and what critical political functions they servedboth domestically and internationally."--Pieter M. Judson, Swarthmore College

Number of Volumes1 vol.

IllustratedYes

Dewey Decimal943.703/2

Table Of ContentIntroduction The Golden Republic1. One Myth and Wartime2. Two The Castle3. Three Battles of the Legend-Makers4. Four Difficulties Abroad5. A Time of Iron and FireEpilogueAbbreviations and DefinitionsNotesIndex

SynopsisBattle for the Castle powerfully articulates the centrality of propaganda and the mass media to interwar European cultural diplomacy and politics, and the tense, combative atmosphere of European international relations from the beginning of the First World War well past the end of the Second., After World War I, diplomats and leaders at the Paris Peace Talks redrew the map of Europe, carving up ancient empires and transforming Europe's eastern half into new nation-states. Drawing heavily on the past, the leaders of these young countries crafted national mythologies and deployed them at home and abroad. Domestically, myths were a tool for legitimating the new state with fractious electorates. In Great Power capitals, they were used to curry favor and to compete with the mythologies and propaganda of other insecure postwar states. The new postwar state of Czechoslovakia forged a reputation as Europe's democratic outpost in the East, an island of enlightened tolerance amid an increasingly fascist Central and Eastern Europe. In Battle for the Castle , Andrea Orzoff traces the myth of Czechoslovakia as an ideal democracy. The architects of the myth were two academics who had fled Austria-Hungary in the Great War's early years. Tom as Garrigue Masaryk, who became Czechoslovakia's first president, and Edvard Benes, its longtime foreign minister and later president, propagated the idea of the Czechs as a tolerant, prosperous, and cosmopolitan people, devoted to European ideals, and Czechoslovakia as a Western ally capable of containing both German aggression and Bolshevik radicalism. Deeply distrustful of Czech political parties and Parliamentary leaders, Benes and Masaryk created an informal political organization known as the Hrad or "Castle." This powerful coalition of intellectuals, journalists, businessmen, religious leaders, and Great War veterans struggled with Parliamentary leaders to set the country's political agenda and advance the myth. Abroad, the Castle wielded the national myth to claim the attention and defense of the West against its increasingly hungry neighbors. When Hitler occupied the country, the mythic Czechoslovakia gained power as its leaders went into wartime exile. Once Czechoslovakia regained its independence after 1945, the Castle myth reappeared. After the Communist coup of 1948, many Castle politicians went into exile in America, where they wrote the Castle myth of an idealized Czechoslovakia into academic and political discourse. Battle for the Castle demonstrates how this founding myth became enshrined in Czechoslovak and European history. It powerfully articulates the centrality of propaganda and the mass media to interwar European cultural diplomacy and politics, and the tense, combative atmosphere of European international relations from the beginning of the First World War well past the end of the Second., Since 1918, Czechoslovakia has been known as East-Central Europe's most devoted democracy, an outpost of Western values in the East. While the country has had more democratic experience than its neighbors, this book argues that the claim that Czechs are "native democrats, " devoted to liberal ideas, emerged from nationalist myth. Battle for the Castle tells the story of that myth's creation during the First World War, used to persuade the Great Powers to create Czechoslovakia out of pieces of Austria-Hungary. Tomás Masaryk and Edvard Benes, the two academics crafting the myth and employing it for wartime propaganda, became Czechoslovakia's first president and prime minister. They tried to use the myth to outmaneuver political opponents at home and Czechoslovakia's enemies abroad. Those enemies, and the European Great Powers, also conducted their own propaganda campaigns targeting Czechoslovakia as a symbol of the postwar order. At home, while proclaiming themselves the protectors of democracy, Masaryk and Benes played political hardball through their powerful political machine, the "Castle, " and defended their legacy against their detractors. 1938 and Nazi occupation seemed to prove out the Castle myth's claims about pacifist Czechs and aggressive Germans. During the war, Benes remade the myth to reflect changed international circumstances, particularly the Soviet Union's new power. After the war and the 1948 Communist takeover of Czechoslovakia, the myth entered Anglo-American historiography of Czechoslovakia and Eastern Europe. Within academic histories of Czechoslovakia - many of them written by Masaryk's students or Castle colleagues - the myth was transmuted into fact., Since 1918, Czechoslovakia has been known as East-Central Europe's most devoted democracy, an outpost of Western values in the East. While the country has had more democratic experience than its neighbors, this book argues that the claim that Czechs are "native democrats," devoted to liberal ideas, emerged from nationalist myth. Battle for the Castle tells the story of that myth's creation during the First World War, used to persuade the Great Powers to create Czechoslovakia out of pieces of Austria-Hungary. Tomás Masaryk and Edvard Benes, the two academics crafting the myth and employing it for wartime propaganda, became Czechoslovakia's first president and prime minister. They tried to use the myth to outmaneuver political opponents at home and Czechoslovakia's enemies abroad. Those enemies, and the European Great Powers, also conducted their own propaganda campaigns targeting Czechoslovakia as a symbol of the postwar order. At home, while proclaiming themselves the protectors of democracy, Masaryk and Benes played political hardball through their powerful political machine, the "Castle," and defended their legacy against their detractors. 1938 and Nazi occupation seemed to prove out the Castle myth's claims about pacifist Czechs and aggressive Germans. During the war, Benes remade the myth to reflect changed international circumstances, particularly the Soviet Union's new power. After the war and the 1948 Communist takeover of Czechoslovakia, the myth entered Anglo-American historiography of Czechoslovakia and Eastern Europe. Within academic histories of Czechoslovakia - many of them written by Masaryk's students or Castle colleagues - the myth was transmuted into fact., After World War I, diplomats and leaders at the Paris Peace Talks redrew the map of Europe, carving up ancient empires and transforming Europe's eastern half into new nation-states. Drawing heavily on the past, the leaders of these young countries crafted national mythologies and deployed them at home and abroad. Domestically, myths were a tool for legitimating the new state with fractious electorates. In Great Power capitals, they were used to curry favor and to compete with the mythologies and propaganda of other insecure postwar states. The new postwar state of Czechoslovakia forged a reputation as Europe's democratic outpost in the East, an island of enlightened tolerance amid an increasingly fascist Central and Eastern Europe. In Battle for the Castle , Andrea Orzoff traces the myth of Czechoslovakia as an ideal democracy. The architects of the myth were two academics who had fled Austria-Hungary in the Great War's early years. Tomáas Garrigue Masaryk, who became Czechoslovakia's first president, and Edvard Benes, its longtime foreign minister and later president, propagated the idea of the Czechs as a tolerant, prosperous, and cosmopolitan people, devoted to European ideals, and Czechoslovakia as a Western ally capable of containing both German aggression and Bolshevik radicalism. Deeply distrustful of Czech political parties and Parliamentary leaders, Benes and Masaryk created an informal political organization known as the Hrad or "Castle." This powerful coalition of intellectuals, journalists, businessmen, religious leaders, and Great War veterans struggled with Parliamentary leaders to set the country's political agenda and advance the myth. Abroad, the Castle wielded the national myth to claim the attention and defense of the West against its increasingly hungry neighbors. When Hitler occupied the country, the mythic Czechoslovakia gained power as its leaders went into wartime exile. Once Czechoslovakia regained its independence after 1945, the Castle myth reappeared. After the Communist coup of 1948, many Castle politicians went into exile in America, where they wrote the Castle myth of an idealized Czechoslovakia into academic and political discourse. Battle for the Castle demonstrates how this founding myth became enshrined in Czechoslovak and European history. It powerfully articulates the centrality of propaganda and the mass media to interwar European cultural diplomacy and politics, and the tense, combative atmosphere of European international relations from the beginning of the First World War well past the end of the Second.

LC Classification NumberJN2222.Z13P856 2011