"This Small, Far-away Country in Central Europe..." II : The British Press and the “Czechoslovak Events” in the Years 1945–1948
Abstract
This study deals with views of British journalists on the situation in Czechoslovakia and on the rise of communist movement in 1945–1948. That is why it points out some important episodes, which found strong responses in Fleet Street, for instance expulsion of Czech Germans, parliamentary elections in 1946, Marshall’s Plan and February communist plot; simultaneously it analyzes the key words of this text.
In Great Britain there were great differences between intellectual (or “quality”) and “popular” (or mass-market) newspaper; the other difference was among labour, liberal and conservative press. However, all British newspaper considered the Marshall’s plan a turning point,which demonstrated a dependence of the Czech policy on the Soviet Union.
In February 1948 the British newspapers found out the communist plot was a swift action which was prepared a long time before, and compared this event to the Munich ten years ago.