Commentary
Politics
EU Should Enlarge, Even Out of Despair – COMMENTARY
3 October 2024
A genealogist reflects on a new book about the ordinary people who lived under the communist regime in Czechoslovakia.
If you came of age during the Cold War, wanting to know what living was like behind the Iron Curtain, the book Czechoslovakia: Behind the Iron Curtain is for you. I might argue that this may be the first book that can succinctly, clearly and completely explain how Czechoslovakia aimed to create a perfect society and its ever-lasting impact on the people of Czechoslovakia.
Plenty of books have been written on communism and politics but this book discusses the impact the regime had on day-to-day living.
In theory, communism was all about creating a classless society, where all people were equal. To achieve that end, the government used fear and total social control of the people. The authors called this an “experiment” which just never succeeded.