Forging Political Compromise

Historians have long claimed Czechoslovakia between the world wars as an island of democracy in a sea of dictatorships. The reasons for the survival of democratic institutions have never been fully explained. Miller pieces together the story of the party and its longtime leader, Antonin Svehla, who had an extraordinary capacity to mediate between political parties, factions, and individual political leaders. Miller shows how Svehla's official and behind-the-scenes activities in the parliament provided the new state with stability and continuity.

Auteur

Daniel E. Miller is an associate professor of history at the University of West Florida in Pensacola, where he has taught since 1990. He is the recipient of fellowships from the American Council of Learned Societies, the International Research and Exchanges Board, and the Hoover Institution. His articles on Slovak and Czech history have appeared in journals and as chapters in The Czech and Slovak Experience, The Economic Future of Central Europe, and Private Agriculture in Eastern Europe: Prospects for the 1990s and the Lessons of Prewar Cooperatives and Land Reforms.