TY - BOOK AU - Vladimír Naxera AU - Petr Krčál PY - 2021 CY - Berlin, Germany PB - Peter Lang Verlag SN - 9783631862803 TI - Celebrating Liberation: The Commemoration and Instrumentalisation of the End of the Second World War in Contemporary Czech and Slovak Politics DO - 10.3726/b18742 UR - https://www.peterlang.com/document/1140562 N2 - This book contributes to the discussion about the instrumental use of history. It analyses two examples of public festivities related to the events and legacy of the final stage of World War II. The first of these commemoration events is the Liberation Festival in Pilsen, a public event celebrating the liberation of Pilsen in 1945. The second event is the celebration of the Slovak National Uprising anniversary, held annually in Banská Bystrica. The analysis focuses on the manner in which public commemorations of historical events are used and instrumentalised by contemporary political elites. Prior to the political and social relevance of the analysed events, the narratives they produce are transcending into the cultural and commercial spheres. KW - Banská Bystrica, Czech and Slovak politics, Second World War, Slovak National Uprising, political festivities, politics, use of history LA - English ER -