Upcoming events

The year 2016 marked the 80th anniversary of the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War. In historical narratives, this conflict is often seen as a tragic prelude to the Second World War. Although it originally began as an internal conflict within a single country, it soon became an international affair. In addition to material support flowing to both sides despite an international embargo, several states sent their troops to Spain. Opposing the forces dispatched by Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany in support of the Nationalists were international units organized by the Comintern, known as the International Brigades. Many well-known figures fought in these units, including George Orwell and Ernest Hemingway. The war also had a profound impact on the cultural and artistic environment of the time.

What were the causes of this bloody conflict? What motivated the international volunteers known as interbrigadists? How is the conflict interpreted by modern historiography? These and other questions were explored as part of our programme. The event also included an exhibition of posters titled Witnesses to an Uprising and a Tragedy, drawn from the collections of the National Archives of the Czech Republic.

Lectures:

• 15:30 / The Long Road to Franco’s Victory in the Spanish Civil War | Prof. Josef Opatrný (Centre for Ibero-American Studies, Faculty of Arts, Charles University)
• 16:20 / The Spanish Civil War through the Eyes of Contemporary Historians | Assoc. Prof. Jiří Chalupa (Department of Romance Studies, Faculty of Arts, Palacký University Olomouc)tiky FF UPOL)
• 17:10 / he Spanish Civil War and Interwar Culture in Czechoslovakia | Mgr. Lukáš Holeček, PhD (Institute of Czech Literature and Comparative Studies, Faculty of Arts, Charles University)
• 18:10 / Opening Remarks to the Exhibition Witnesses to an Uprising and a Tragedy
• 19:00 / Panel Discussion on Internationalism in the Interwar Period. Guests: Radek Buben, PhD (Centre for Ibero-American Studies, Faculty of Arts, Charles University), Zdenko Maršálek, PhD (Institute of Contemporary History, Czech Academy of Sciences), Ondřej Vojtěchovský, PhD (Institute of World History, Faculty of Arts, Charles University)