Political Exile from Central and Eastern Europe

Motives, Strategies, Activities and Perception in the East and the West 1945 – 1989

The international scientific conference aims to examine political exile organisations from countries of the former Soviet bloc. The conference will discuss such questions as the importance of actions of anti-communist exile organisations in the struggle against communist regimes in Central and Eastern Europe. The range of their anti-communist activities was extremely wide. From directly supporting homeland’s anti-communist movement with ideas, books, journals and other means, to informing governments and the public in democratic states about what life is like behind the Iron Curtain and spreading anti-communist propaganda through Eastern Europe and worldwide. Exile groups have tried to agitate and even fight against the communist regimes using various resources and methods. One of the aims of the conference is a comparative view of the exile groups from different countries, finding the commonalities among their activities, but also their various political ideas and backgrounds, which also cause differences between them. There were also several different political conceptions among the exile groups directed by strong personalities, often working side by side and sometimes against one another. In addition, however, there was a common goal among the exile groups, especially in terms of political orientation, to overcome the communist regimes and strive for freedom and democracy. That common goal played an important role in the view on political exile. For some groups it was very important also to struggle for an independent state (for example, Slovaks, Ukrainians, Latvians, Estonians and Lithuanians), which often went hand in hand with the engagement against communism.

Veranstaltungsprogramm

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