Andreas Helmedach, Robert Maier (eds): Zweierlei 1968? Die Umbruchjahre 1968 und 1989 in deutschen und tschechischen Geschichtsschulbüchern

The jacket blurb reads: ‘While the interpretation spectrum for the epoch year “1968” in Germany with its student revolts ranges from a “second foundation” of West German democracy through to reproach of leftist fascism, from the Czech point of view the cesura is clear-cut: The Warsaw Pact tank invasion sharply separated the “golden 60s” and the “Prague Spring” from the era of “normalization” that meant direct repression for nearly 2 million Czechs and Slovaks.’

The authors ask if there weren't still trans-block and trans-national phenomena such as a protest culture, new symbol systems and forms of expression; commonalities that bridged the gap between the epoch years of 1968 and 1989. The representations of these years in the instructional media of both countries is the question at the center of the analyses.

Table of contents [PDF]

Full text [PDF]