Czech state law on „soft paper“: reality, myth and their symbolic meaning in the Czech political culture

Abstract

The article deals with the revoking of the so-called „fundamental articles“ (attempt at Czech-Austrian settlement, 1871) and with the reaction of the Czech general public to this step which contradicted the previously given „Emperor’s word“. On the example of a specific symbolic revolt of the public, the author shows which factors shaped the modern Czech political culture and its relation to the monarchy and the Habsburg dynasty.