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IDEA Talks: Štěpán Jurajda on the legacy of the liberation of the Sudetenland

15 June, 2022

A new study co-authored by Štěpán Jurajda and Jakub Grossman published by the think-tank IDEA discusses the long-term legacy of the liberation of the Sudetenland by the Red and US Armies.

This analysis reveals how and to what degree the manner and extent of the post-war expulsion of the German population from the Sudetenland influenced the country’s long-term social development. 

The results of free parliamentary elections after 1993 consistently show higher voter supportfor the Communist Party (KSČM) in the parts of the Sudetenland liberated by the US army. Today, for every ten non-displaced anti-fascists, there are an additional 3-4 votes for the KSČM. The support of other contemporary parties, including the centre-left Social Democrats (ČSSD), does not showa similar effect. From municipal election data between 1994-2018, we find that in parts of the Sudetenland with a higher proportion of anti-fascists, the likelihood of an active KSČM cell in a municipality is 12% greater.

More respondents living in parts of the Sudetenland liberated by the US army were (or had relatives who were) members of the Communist Party before 1989. We observe a greater emphasis on leftist values (support for redistribution,central planning, and support for an authoritarian system) among residents in these municipalities.

Click here to read the complete study (in Czech, with an English summary).

New edition of IDEA Talks with Štěpán Jurajda (in Czech) 
This video was produced with the support of the Czech Academy of Sciences programme Strategie AV21.