Historical Research of National Movements and the Concept of Socialist Patriotism in Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Central-Eastern Europe in the Years 1956 - 1970

The central axis of the essay represents the tricky relationship between the politically promoted and ideologically driven concept of ‘socialist patriotism' and the Marxist historical studies of nation-building in East- Central Europe. It starts with a short overview of the ambiguous relationship of radical socialist movements and communist parties in the region to national or nationality question until the end of WWII that foreshadowed the even more complicated development during the communist parties‘ dictatorial rule. The bulk of the essay concentrates on the period between 1956 and 1970. Even though the arguments involved are drawn from the broader geographical area of East Central Europe, in detail the story concentrates primarily on the examples of Czechoslovakia and Hungary. It shows that a direct connection between the concept of ‘socialist patriotism' and the reconsideration of national history and identity that was supposed to prepare a way for a new stage of historical nation-building has been explicitly discussed only in Hungary. The Czechoslovak example, nevertheless, demonstrates that the same potential connection has been tacitly tested by critical Marxist historians, philosophers, and revisionist intellectuals also elsewhere.