Svaz přátel USA a Americký ústav v Československu. Obtížné hledání jejich legitimity v Národní frontě (1945–1950)
The Union of Friends of the USA and the American Institute in Czechoslovakia. Difficult Search For Legitimity Within the National Front (1945–1950)

Summary/Abstract: After the end of World War II, the societies to foster cultural and economic relations to United States of America spread all over the Bohemian Lands. The most important initiatives of this kind were the establishment of the Union of Friends of the USA and restoration of the American Institute in Czechoslovakia. Both societies had difficulties in finding their position within the political system of the National Front in 1945–1950. The first one gradually supressed efforts of the radical members and, since 1946, it accepted the national-socialist interpretation of the Czechoslovak official foreign policy that understood the friendly relation to the USA as a supplement to the basic alliance with the Soviet Union. The program of the Union, therefore, did not intend to reduce the influence of the East by building up the influence of the West; it rather cultivated hopes for peaceful cooperation of both parts. The other society, the American Institute, was defined as a purely cultural organisation from the very beginning. Both organisations were, thus, involved in propagation of American culture in Czechoslovakia. They also participated in keeping a positive image of Czechoslovak popular-democratic regime among the compatriots in the USA. Despite the fact that both societies were apolitical, many of their representatives were persecuted after February 1948, yet both organisations were allowed to carry on in some of their activities. The socialist regime tried, through their mediation, to persuade members of large Czechoslovak community in the USA about the rightness of the Czechoslovak development after February 1948. The Union of Friend of the USA did not use this opportunity, the American Institute, on the other hand, existed until 1950.

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