From Zionism to Anti-Zionism: The Transformation of Relationship between Czechoslovakia and Israel in the Pages of Rudé právo (1947-1953)

The diploma thesis From Zionism to Anti-Zionism: The Transformation of Relationship between Czechoslovakia and Israel in the Pages of Rudé právo (1947-1953) deals with the period in which the relationship between Israel and Czechoslovakia had transformed. Firstly, our focus is on the material and diplomatic support that Czechoslovakia provided to the emerging State of Israel. It then discusses the events that disrupted relations between the two states and led to mutual alienation. Finally, it describes a period when the countries came into open hostility. Czechoslovakia took a very negative attitude towards Zionism. The work outlines two views of these events from 1947 to 1953. The first represents the view of historians based on facts and period documents, by contrast, the second view describes how the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia interpreted world events through its newspaper Rudé právo. At that time it was the most widely read periodical having a circulation of more than one million. Its main task was to spread propaganda, isolate citizens from "uncomfortable" information, and direct the population in the desired direction - toward the Soviet Union. All in all the output of this diploma thesis is a thorough qualitative analysis of relevant articles from Rudé právo and their subsequent..