Study of civil-military relations in crises of Czechoslavak history

Abstract

This thesis examines civil-military relations during the critical moments of the Czechoslovak history, particularly during the deep political and societal crises in 1938, 1948, 1968, and 1989. Such a method offers an opportunity to analyze civilian control of the military under a situation when the civil-military relations are in deep crisis. By concluding that even under such conditions there were stable civil-military relations in former Czechoslovakia, this thesis affirms the theory of military professionalism as a crucial factor in civil-military relations, as presented by Samuel P. Huntington. Thus, the study of civil-military relations in crises of the Czechoslovak history provides an exceptional opportunity to test the Huntington's model of the equilibrium of objective civilian control in the circumstances of profound societal disturbances. In accordance with the Huntington's theory of stable civil-military relations, this thesis attests that a strong military professionalism, typified by the bonds of traditions, obedience, and patriotic loyalty, plays crucial role in determining stability of civil-military relations, i.e. an objective civilian control of the military. Subsequently, by following this reasoning this thesis also justifies assumption of permanently stable civil-military relations in Czechia, because it intentionally concentrates only on the continuum of the Czechoslovak and the Czech civil-military relations.