Vaclav Houzvicka is a member of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Sociology, and a lecturer at the University in Usti nad Labem.
"Houzvicka sheds light on topics associated with central European
transitional historical periods and developments too often shrouded
in convoluted controversy. . . . The book makes an immense
contribution to the fields of continental history, Slavic studies,
and political science, whose readership should certainly consult
it."-- "Slavic Review"
"The issue reflected in the title of this volume is deeply rooted
in the history of the Czech lands. It became particularly
controversial in the aftermath of WWI, when the German-speaking
population, chiefly resident in the Sudeten lands of the Bohemian
(Czech) territories of the former Habsburg empire, had to choose to
become part of Germany or the new Czechoslovakia. The Nazis
subsequently exploited these tensions and destroyed the new state.
After WWII, Germans were forcibly expelled from the Czech lands.
Following the end of the Cold War, these Germans have made efforts
to recover what they regard as their lost territories. Houzvička
carefully traces these historical and current developments in this
scholarly and relatively dispassionate study (effectively
translated from the Czech original). The author's main focus in the
volume's last chapters is to examine renewed demands from Sudeten
Germans and the challenges these present in Central Europe. His
helpful conclusion identifies, point-by-point, issues and problems.
Well-chosen illustrations, maps, texts of nine categories of
documents, and an excellent bibliography enhance the volume. . . .
Recommended."--P. W. Knoll, University of Southern California
"Choice"
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