Fórum o totalitarismu v českých dějinách. Několik slov úvodem

In this introduction to the block of essays in the international discussion that follows, Milan Drápala explains that the ‘Forum on Totalitarianism in Czech History’ is a project that was jointly initiated by the editors of the Munich-based periodical Bohemia and the Prague-based Soudobé dějiny . The results of this project are now being published in parallel in the latest issues of these two periodicals. The aim is to inspire a constructive discussion on the natures and contexts of the régimes and the historical continuities from the end of the first Czechoslovak Republic in 1938 onwards, and the usefulness of the totalitarianism concept for the interpretation of this period of Czech history. Miloš Havelka’s article serves as the starting point.