The Transformation of the Interpretation of the Historical Meaning of a Figure on Example of the Socio-Historical Conflict about the Role of Marshal Konev in the Course of Czechoslovak History

The aim of our thesis is to map the conflict related to the monument to Marshal Konev, which took place between 2015 and 2020. In 2018, the Prague 6 Municipality provided the monument with explanatory plaques because it was repeatedly damaged by unknown people. The plaques were meant as well to commemorate Konev's controversial post-war career. This act provoked a strong reaction from the Russian Embassy, which began to defend historical role of Marshal Konev. It led to a conflict between Czech and Russian politicians and also to a conflict within the Czech political scene. In our analysis we want to clarify the different interpretations of Marshal Konev's historical role provided by Czech and Russian politicians and Czech historians and journalists. We look at the reactions and arguments of politicians, historians and journalists regarding Konev's historical role and his monument. We also examine the differences between the arguments and their transformation during the conflict. In the end, we try to clarify the reasons for particular interpretations of Marshal Konev's historical role. We use the theoretical concepts of the symbolic centre and collective memory. Our sources are mainly Czech news articles on selected websites