SUDETEN GERMANS IN THE CZECH PRESS (1995-2010)
SUDETEN GERMANS IN THE CZECH PRESS (1995-2010)

Summary/Abstract: The end of the Second World War was marked by the forced expulsion of the Sudeten Germans from Central and Eastern European countries. The year 1989 and the fall of the Iron Curtain represented a new era of Czechoslovak-German and, after the break-up of Czechoslovakia, of Czech-German relations. This article presents findings based on a both qualitative and quantitative content analysis of the daily press focusing on the four most important events directly or indirectly related to the Sudeten Germans: a) Reconciliation '95 initiative and the consequent Way to Reconciliation in 1996, b) Czech-German declaration signed in Prague in 1997, c) The approval of the unchangeability of Beneš decrees by the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Parliament in 2002, d) the decision made by the Czech President Vaclav Klaus not to sign Lisbon treaty because it could undermine the post-war Benes decrees in 2009. Data presentation is followed by analysis and possible verification of the main assumptions of the text, focusing on the possible shift in values and reflections (if any) in society with regards to the Sudeten German question.

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