Book contents
- Streetscapes of War and Revolution
- Studies in the Social and Cultural History of Modern Warfare
- Streetscapes of War and Revolution
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures and Maps
- Acknowledgments
- Note on Language Use
- Introduction
- 1 All Gray
- 2 Black–Yellow Surfaces
- 3 Shades of War
- 4 Black Markets, Green Expeditions
- 5 Not Only Red
- 6 The End of Darkness? Uncertainty and Revolution
- Conclusion
- Select Bibliography
- Index
6 - The End of Darkness? Uncertainty and Revolution
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 30 May 2024
- Streetscapes of War and Revolution
- Studies in the Social and Cultural History of Modern Warfare
- Streetscapes of War and Revolution
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures and Maps
- Acknowledgments
- Note on Language Use
- Introduction
- 1 All Gray
- 2 Black–Yellow Surfaces
- 3 Shades of War
- 4 Black Markets, Green Expeditions
- 5 Not Only Red
- 6 The End of Darkness? Uncertainty and Revolution
- Conclusion
- Select Bibliography
- Index
Summary
The final chapter investigates the nature of the 1918 transition from Empire to Republic. It opens with the lack of street lighting which persisted in the postwar years and symbolized the slow change from war to peace, and from old regime to democracy. The continuity between the two regimes and the continuation of wartime conditions were both visible in urban space. Prague’s unfinished transformation exacerbated the disappointed expectations of reward for war sacrifices and new life in the republic. Social uncertainty prevailed in the postwar city in an atmosphere of diffuse revolutionary spirit. The discourse of revolution, very present at the time, could refer to either the rupture of 1918 or the changes yet to come. Popular interpretations of revolution at the local level shed new light on 1918 as a turning point in twentieth-century Europe beyond its traditional interpretation as either an aftershock of the Bolshevik revolution or a victory of national self-determination.
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- Information
- Streetscapes of War and RevolutionPrague, 1914–1920, pp. 253 - 291Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2024