Abstract
The contribution will explore the various ways that representations of war took on in the communist women's press as well as in other sources in interwar Czechoslovakia. Special attention will be paid to the parallel linking of women heroines of the war during foundation of the Soviet Union to the women in Czechoslovakia fighting their war against the social and political system which, as the press said, threatened the very existence of their families.
In this case the representations of war took on a very distinctive appearance: on one hand because they were largely shaped by common stereotypes of femininity as well as the demands of the communist propaganda, but on the other hand also due to the extraordinary battlefield - women's bodies. At that time, the utilization of concepts regarding potential war was rather common in arguments about legalization vs. banning abortion on demand, therefore relevant strategies of argumentation of both proponents and opponents will be presented and analyzed.
Extreme Czech nationalism produced by opinion leaders might be rather striking and that is exactly the point where crucial differences in standpoints between nowadays and back then are revealed.