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Course, academic year 2023/2024
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Splendor and Misery of Détente - JTM257
Title: Splendor and Misery of Détente
Guaranteed by: Department of North American Studies (23-KAS)
Faculty: Faculty of Social Sciences
Actual: from 2023
Semester: winter
E-Credits: 6
Examination process: winter s.:
Hours per week, examination: winter s.:2/0, Ex [HT]
Capacity: 30 / unknown (24)
Min. number of students: unlimited
4EU+: no
Virtual mobility / capacity: no
Key competences: critical thinking
State of the course: taught
Language: English
Teaching methods: full-time
Teaching methods: full-time
Note: course can be enrolled in outside the study plan
enabled for web enrollment
priority enrollment if the course is part of the study plan
Guarantor: PhDr. Vít Fojtek, Dr., Ph.D.
Teacher(s): PhDr. Vít Fojtek, Dr., Ph.D.
Class: Courses for incoming students
Incompatibility : JMM283
Annotation -
Last update: PhDr. Vít Fojtek, Dr., Ph.D. (28.08.2023)
This lecture in English concentrates on East-West relations during the Cold War period of détente. Close attention is devoted to the Eastern European (and Czechoslovak) perspective of this phase of the East-West conflict. In terms of time, the course focuses on 1960s and 1970s. A broader perspective of the preceding and following period is, however, also included. It involves e.g. issues like the incorporation of Eastern Europe into the Soviet sphere of influence, Western and Soviet approaches towards several Eastern Bloc crises as well as their stands during the “surprise” of annus mirabilis of 1989.

Where are the origins of détente? What formed US-Soviet relations during and after WW2 with regard to the situation in the Eastern Europe? What were Soviet intentions and how did the West come to terms with them throughout the period? How did the Soviet Union and the United States view Eastern Europe? What formed the positions of the key politicians of the West? What were the specifics of French “Détente”, West German “Ostpolitik” or US “Bridge-building” and why? Was Leonid Brezhnev a true fan of détente? How did the 1968 Soviet Invasion of Czechoslovakia influence détente and how was this event reflected throughout the West? What can we learn from the past situation in the context of current relations between the West and Russia? These are some of the issues that will be discussed.

Aim of the course -
Last update: PhDr. Vít Fojtek, Dr., Ph.D. (28.08.2023)

Aim of the course is to provide students with a knowledge and understanding of causes, development and consequences of the détente process. Participant of the course will learn what was happening internally within the countries of the Eastern Bloc and how these events did (or did not) influence the situation within the West or did (or did not) influence the East - West relations during the Cold War. An optional screening (depending on the actuall covid situation) of several films, representing the Czechoslovak New Wawe, will provide a possibility to get to know through the film sources of the period more indept understanding of the context situation in Czechoslovakia in the 1960s' short period of liberalisation with its ups and downs - the 1968 Prague Spring and the following Soviet led invasion of Czechoslovakia.

Course completion requirements -
Last update: PhDr. Vít Fojtek, Dr., Ph.D. (05.10.2023)

Course Requirements: course completion requirements reflects Dean´s provisions (https://www.fsv.cuni.cz/opatreni-dekanky-c-172018aj) using assessment A-F (A = 91% and more; B = 81-90%; C = 71-80%; D = 61-70%; E = 51-60%; F = 0-50%).

1. Book Review 50%, 1-2 pages (including footnotes, 1 page=1800 characters) Book: Pipes, Richard: Vixi. Memoirs of a Non-Belonger, Yale University Press, 2006. Deadline January 29th, 2024

2. Home-written paper 50%, 3-5 pages (including footnotes, 1 page=1800 characters, on the topic based upon the issues discussed in the course and obligatory literature; detailed instruction on Guidelines etc. at: http://stuter.fsv.cuni.cz/index.php/stuter/about/submissions#authorGuidelines. Deadline January 29th, 2024

Selected topics for a home-written paper:

1. Origins of US-Soviet "Bilateral Cooperation."

2. The West and 1968 Soviet-led Invasion of Czechoslovakia.

3. NATO in the Aftermath of the 1968 Warsaw Pact Invasion of Czechoslovakia.

4. US - Czechoslovak Relations 1943-1968.

5. US- Soviet Relations under Johnson.

6. Yom Kippur War of 1973.

7. Cyprus Crisis of 1974.

8. Soviet -Chinese Relations in 1960s/1970s.

9. US- Chinese Relations under Nixon.

10. US- Soviet Relations under Nixon.

11. Charles de Gaulle and Détente, Entente et Coopération.

12. Willy Brandt's Ostpolitik.

13. Leonid Brezhnev and Détente.

14. 1979 Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan.

15. R. Reagan and his Soviet policy.

16. The West and 1989 changes in Eastern Europe. 

Other topics also possible in accordance with the lecturer.

Grading is based on the Dean's Measure no. 20/2019: https://fsv.cuni.cz/deans-measure-no-20/2019 and https://fsv.cuni.cz/sites/default/files/uploads/files/S_SO_002_001_Organization_of_examination_dates%2C_assessment_of_study%2C_and_the_use_of_A–F_grading_scale_at_FSV_UK_2.pdf

  • 91% and more   => A
  • 81-90%             => B
  • 71-80%             => C
  • 61-70%             => D
  • 51-60%             => E
  • 0-50%               => F
Literature -
Last update: PhDr. Vít Fojtek, Dr., Ph.D. (28.08.2023)

Literature obligatory (is available in electronic form in SIS)

Pipes, Richard: Vixi. Memoirs of a Non-Belonger. Yale University Press, 2006.

Lukeš, Igor. On the Edge of the Cold War: American Diplomats and Spies in Postwar Prague. New York, 2012.

Kramer, Mark - Smetana Vít (eds.). Imposing, maintaining, and tearing open the Iron Curtain : the Cold War and East-Central Europe, 1945-1989, Lanham, MD, 2014 (topic relevant parts of the book only).

Fojtek, Vít. "Exercising Restraint": Washington’s Reaction to the 1968 Czechoslovak Crisis. In DAVID, Zdenek V.; RASKA, JR, Karel F.(ed.) Contributions of Czechs and Slovaks to Science and Technology in the 21 st Century. Selected Papers from Twenty-Fifth Congress of the Czechoslovak Society of Arts and Sciences, Tabor, Czech Republic, June 27-July 3, 2010: The Publishing House of the Czechoslovak Society of Arts and Sciences, New York, N.Y., 2011, s. 48-55.

Blanton, Tom - Savranskaya Svetlana. NATO Expansion: What Gorbachev Heardhttps://nsarchive.gwu.edu/briefing-book/russia-programs/2017-12-12/nato-expansion-what-gorbachev-heard-western-leaders-early

and one more thing…:) R. Reagan tells Soviet jokes: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mN3z3eSVG7A 

 

Literature recommended:

Akten zur Auswaertigen Politik Bundesrepublik Deutschland (AAPD)http://www.oldenbourg-verlag.de/wissenschaftsverlag/akten-zur-auswaertigen-politik-bundesrepublik-deutschland?page=1, reachable at Jinonice Library.

Brandt W.: Erinnerungen, Berlin 2000.

Bange, Oliver.: "Ostpolitik as a source of intra-bloc tensions", Mannheim University (Project "Ostpolitik and Détente"), http://www.ostpolitik.net/ostpolitik/publications/download/article11.pdf

Cold War International History Project (CWIHP), on line at: http://legacy.wilsoncenter.org/coldwarfiles/index-31840.html

Dobrynin A.: In Confidence: Moscow´s Ambassador to America´s Six Cold War Presidents, New York 1995. KLEMENTINUM (further KLEM)

Fojtek, V. "US Foreign Policy towards Czechoslovakia in 1968 in the Context of the Vietnam War." Acta Universitatis Carolinae: Studia territorialia, XII/ 2008, pp. 33-56.

Fojtek, V. "West European Security in the Aftermath of the 1968 Soviet Invasion of Czechoslovakia," Acta Universitatis Carolinae: Studia territorialia, V/ 2003, pp. 17-47.

Fojtek V. Bonn’s Complex Relations with Washington as a Background  for West German Policy towards Czechoslovakia in 1968. Kosmas: Journal of Czechoslovak and Central European Studies. Vol. 20, no. 2 (Spring 2007), pp. 46-67.

Foreign Relations of the United States (FRUS), on line at: http://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments 

Garton Ash. T.: In Europes Name: Germany and the Divided Continent, New York 1993. JIN, only in German.

Johnson L.B.: The Vantage Point: Perspectives of the Presidency, 1963-1969, New York 1971. KLEM

Kissinger H.: White House Years, Boston 1979. JIN

Kovrig B.: Of Walls and Bridges: The United States and Eastern Europe, New York 1992; ibid.: The Myth of Liberation, Washington 1973. KLEM

Lacouture J.: De Gaulle: 3. Le souverain 1959-1970, Paris 1986. KLEM

LaFeber W.: America, Russia, and the Cold War 1945-1992, New York 1991. JIN

Lukeš, Igor. On the Edge of the Cold War: American Diplomats and Spies in Postwar Prague. New York, 2012.

Faure J.: Americký přítel Československo ve hře americké diplomacie 1943-1968, Praha 2006 Library FSV JINONICE (further JIN). Original in French: Faure, Justine. L'ami américain : La Tchécoslovaquie, enjeu de la diplomatie américaine, 1943-1968. Paris, 2004, 543 p. PL-6086b.

Durman K.: Útěk od praporů: Kreml a krize impéria 1964-1991, Praha 1998. JIN DJ-562b.

Durman, Karel. Popely ještě žhavé. Velká politika 1938-1991. Díl I. Válka a nukleární mír. Praha 2004. JIN  222/1a.

Durman, Karel. Popely ještě žhavé. Velká politika 1938-1991. Díl II. Konce dobrodružství. Praha 2009. (k tématu relevantní pasáže) JIN  222/2b.

Fojtek, V. "Zdrženlivost doporučena". Reakce Washingtonu na okupaci Československa v roce 1968 [Exercise Restraint. Washington´s Reaction to the 1968 Czechoslovak Crisis]. Český časopis historický [The Czech Historical Review], vol. 106, 3/2008, pp. 562-597.

Fojtek, V. Přes zátěž minulosti k nové východní politice: Vztahy mezi SRN a Československem v 60. letech jako příklad vymezování Bonnu vůči Washingtonu [From Past Historical Burdens to a New Ostpolitik: Relations between the Federal Republic of Germany and Czechoslovakia in the 1960s as an Example of Bonn´s Adjustment vis-a-vis Washington]. Soudobé dějiny, vol. 15, 1/2008, pp. 105-128.

Fojtek, V. "NATO po invazi vojsk Varšavské smlouvy do Československa" [NATO in the Aftermath of the 1968 Soviet Invasion of Czechoslovakia], Mezinárodní politika, 9/ 2001, pp. 13-15.

Luňák P.: Západ: Spojené státy a Západní Evropa ve studené válce, Praha 1997 JIN 

Johnson P.: Dějiny 20. století, Praha 1991. JIN

Kissinger H.: Umění diplomacie: Od Richelieua k pádu Berlínské zdi, Praha 1999. JIN 

Teaching methods -
Last update: PhDr. Vít Fojtek, Dr., Ph.D. (28.08.2023)

Lecture and discussion. Taught full-time, in class (not online, or hybrid). Lecture includes a power point presentation (with samples of the film and photo sources of the period). Plus the above-mentioned optional screening of the films of the Czechoslovak new wave to increase understanding of the atmosphere of the discussed time period.

Syllabus -
Last update: PhDr. Vít Fojtek, Dr., Ph.D. (28.08.2023)

 

Splendor and Misery of Détente

PhDr. Vít Fojtek, Ph.D.

Email: vfojtek@yahoo.com

Consultation Hours: via Email or after appointment on Thursday 16:50 -17:35, Room For External Teachers, U Kříže 8

 

Lecture 1. Origins of Détente.Bilateral cooperation during WW2 and its impact upon later US-Soviet relations.“Good uncle Joe (Stalin)” phenomena vs. Stalin’s real policy and strategic plans with (Eastern) Europe.  

Lecture 2. Stalin’s goals and tactic towards the West after WW2 end. Kennan’s critique of FDR’s policy towards USSR. Position of Eastern Europe (viewed from the East and the West). Containment and its impact upon Eastern Europe.

Lecture 3. US Soviet policy after 1948 communist coup in Czechoslovakia. Stalin’s plans to invade Yugoslavia and Korean War influence.

Lecture 4. US 1952 presidential campaign and the Eastern Europe. 1953 death of Stalin and its impact. Beria and his USSR reforms. Upheavals in Eastern Europe in 1953.

Lecture 5.  Successor fights in the USSR after Stalin.Khrushchev vs. Malenkov and nomenclature. Eisenhower’s Eastern European policy after death of Stalin. Kennedy and Eastern Europe. Liberalization vs. liberation. From “peaceful engagement” to “bridge-building” and its limits.

Lecture 6. Soviet military 1960s build-up and its impact. Czechoslovakia 1968 “Prague Spring“  and Soviet-led invasion.

Lecture 7. Projection of a 1967 Miloš Forman film "Firemen's Ball" and discussion about the film, the time it was made and  allegories of the communist regime within the film.

Lecture 8. US concerns over 1968 “Prague Spring”. Soviet approach and the reaction of the West. 1968 moods in the West. The West, Brezhnev Doctrine and reality.

Lecture 9. Détente after 1968 Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia. Unrest in Poland 1969/70, the West and Soviet response.

Lecture 10. 1980/81 Polish events and the West. Soviet policy of R. Reagan.

Lecture 11. Reagan, Western Europeans and Détente & corresponding problems relating to their relations towards the Soviet Union.

Lecture 12. The West and “annus mirabilis” of 1989. G. Bush vs. Gorbachev and Yeltsin

 

Course Requirements:

1. Book Review 50%, 1-2 pages (including footnotes, 1 page=1800 characters) Book: Pipes, Richard: Vixi. Memoirs of a Non-Belonger, Yale University Press, 2006. Deadline February 5th, 2024

2. Home-written paper 50%, 3-5 pages (including footnotes, 1 page=1800 characters, on the topic based upon the issues discussed in the course and obligatory literature; detailed instruction on Guidelines etc. at: http://stuter.fsv.cuni.cz/index.php/stuter/about/submissions#authorGuidelines. Deadline February 5th, 2024

Selected topics for a home-written paper:1. Origins of US-Soviet "Bilateral Cooperation." 2. The West and 1968 Soviet-led Invasion of Czechoslovakia. 3. NATO in the Aftermath of the 1968 Warsaw Pact Invasion of Czechoslovakia. 4. US - Czechoslovak Relations 1943-1968. 5. US- Soviet Relations under Johnson. 6. Yom Kippur War of 1973. 7. Cyprus Crisis of 1974. 8. Soviet -Chinese Relations in 1960s/1970s. 9. US- Chinese Relations under Nixon. 10. US- Soviet Relations under Nixon. 11. Charles de Gaulle and Détente, Entente et Coopération. 12. Willy Brandt's Ostpolitik. 13. Leonid Brezhnev and Détente. 14. 1979 Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan. 15. R. Reagan and his Soviet policy. 16. The West and 1989 changes in Eastern Europe. Other topics also possible in accordance with the lecturer.

Information about the films (film screening optional, if there is a mood):

Adelheid (https://eea.nfa.cz/en/films/adelheid/)
Atentát/The Assassination (https://www.filmovyprehled.cz/en/film/396609/the-assassination)
Obchod na korze/Shop on the Main Street (https://www.filmovyprehled.cz/en/film/396649/shop-on-main-street)
Žert/The Joke (https://www.kviff.com/en/programme/film/256941-the-joke/)
Intimní osvětlení
/Intimate Lighting (https://www.kviff.com/en/programme/film/4621074-intimate-lighting/)

 

  • 1. „Tmavomodrý svět“/“Dark Blue World“ (2002) 
  • Dir. Jan Svěrák
  • Time period it describes: WW2, Czechoslovak pilots in Great Britain, 1950s communism
  • Review: http://www.bbc.co.uk/films/2002/04/11/dark_blue_world_2002_review.shtml
  • „Hoří, má panenko“/„Firemen’s Ball“ (1967), Dir. Miloš Forman, comedy
  • Time period it describes: 1960s Czechoslovakia, liberalization, Détente, communist régime allegory
  • Representative of the 1960s Czechoslovak Film New Wave, 
  • Review: https://milosforman.com/en/movies/the-firemens-ball
  • „Kawasakiho růže“/ „Kawasaki’s Rose“ (2009) 
  • Dir. Jan Hřebejk
  • Time period it describes: „normalisation“ after the 1968 Soviet Invasion of Czechoslovakia, 1970s, communist secret police practices, dissidents
  • Review: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/kawasakis-rose-film-review-29798
  • http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/24/movies/24kawa.html

https://fsv.cuni.cz/en/academics/exchange-and-visiting-students/change-of-grading

 

CHANGE OF GRADING SYSTEM AT FSV UK

Due to modifications of the internal regulations the Faculty of Social Sciences has changed the system of classification from 1-4 grading scale to internationally recognized A-F grading system, often referred to as ECTS grading. For easier understanding we offer an explanation of the individual grades:

  • A – Excellent. The student has shown excellent performance, originality and displayed an exceptional grasp of the subject.
  • B – Very Good. The student understands the subject well and has shown some originality of thought. Above the average performance, but with some errors.
  • C – Good. Generally sound work with a number of notable errors.
  • D – Satisfactory. The student has shown some understanding of the subject matter, but has not succeeded in translating this understanding into consistently original work. Overall good performance with a number of significant errors.
  • E – Sufficient. Acceptable performance with significant drawbacks. Performance meets the minimum requirements.
  • F – Fail. The student has not succeeded in mastering the subject matter of the course.
  • Z – Pass/Credit. Where a course is completed by a study requirement other than examination, it is not graded, but is recorded as “Zápočet (Z).” This is in effect a Pass in a two-tier Pass/Fail grading system.

The recommendation for using the A-F classification is as follows: To evaluate the student's performance in percentage (0-100 %) and providing the evaluation accordingly

0-50 % = F,

51-60 % = E,

61-70 % = D,

71-80 % = C,

81-90 % = B,

91% and more = A.

We hope that you will accept this change positively because of its undeniable advantages:

  1. Simplified recognition of courses studied abroad (most European universities use the conversion scale A-F, the conversion from 1-4 grading scale was not quite accurate).
  2. Refinement of the grading scale (6-degree scale gives the teacher the opportunity to more distinguish student performance than with the 4-degree scale).
  3. Intelligibility for incoming/exchange students or international students studying at FSV UK (percentage or A-F grade scale is the most widespread).
 
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