Burning Lights in England: Story of the Perception Which Helped to Pave Czechoslovakia's Road Eastwards
Abstract
The death of the world-famous Czech writer Karel Čapek in December 1938 was the last stroke of the annus horribilis for what once was an island of democracy in Central Europe. His close friend and one of the most influential journalists of the time, Ferdinand Peroutka, linked Čapek's deep sadness about the West's retreat from the region to his 'faith that people here [in Czechoslovakia] as well as in the West were willing to die for the same things, faith in the burning lights in France and England'.
The recollection of the private conversation of two leading Czechoslovak intellectuals perfectly captures the perception of the Western allies which dominated media discourse during the months preceding the infamous Munich conference. The paper outlines the main features of the Czechoslovak image of Britain as one of interwar guardians of its safety.
It explains how instrumentally the reflections of the then British affairs were used to serve the Czech cause. It also claims that its colporteurs were not necessarily aware of it.
The bitter disappointment in Britain and France, which emerged after 30 September 1938 and is well recorded in the period press, transformed into a reorientation of the country's foreign policy towards the Soviet Union in the next decade. The paper, thus, sheds light on a relation which contours used to be obscured by dreamt up worlds of the Czechoslovak elites.
To be able to recognize media delusions of today we need to understand those of the past.