Limit search to available items
Book Cover
E-book
Author Raska, Jan

Title Czech Refugees in Cold War Canada : 1945-1989
Published Winnipeg : University of Manitoba Press, 2018

Copies

Description 1 online resource (321 pages)
Series Studies in Immigration and Culture Ser. ; v. 15
Studies in Immigration and Culture Ser
Contents Cover; Contents; A Guide to Czech Pronunciation; List of Illustrations; Preface; Introduction; Chapter 1: Interwar Farm Labourers, Wartime Enemy Aliens, and Allied Citizens; Chapter 2: Postwar Relief, Canadian Citizenship, and Ethnic Heritage; Chapter 3: Aftermath of the Communist Takeover: Canada and the 1948ers; Chapter 4: Community Tensions and Ideological Divisions; Chapter 5: Warsaw Pact Invasion: Canada and the 1968ers; Chapter 6: Opposing the Communist Regime; Chapter 7: Creating Ethnocultural Heritage; Conclusion; Acknowledgements; Abbreviations; Notes; Bibliography; Index
Summary During the Cold War, more than 36,000 individuals entering Canada claimed Czechoslovakia as their country of citizenship. A defining characteristic of this migration of predominantly political refugees was the prevalence of anti-communist and democratic values. Diplomats, industrialists, politicians, professionals, workers, and students fled to the West in search of freedom, security, and economic opportunity. Jan Raska's Czech Refugees in Cold War Canada explores how these newcomers joined or formed ethnocultural organizations to help in their attempts to affect developments in Czechoslovakia and Canadian foreign policy towards their homeland. Canadian authorities further legitimized the Czech refugees' anti-communist agenda and increased their influence in Czechoslovak institutions. In turn, these organizations supported Canada's Cold War agenda of securing the state from communist infiltration. Ultimately, an adherence to anti-communism, the promotion of Canadian citizenship, and the cultivation of a Czechoslovak ethnocultural heritage accelerated Czech refugees' socioeconomic and political integration in Cold War Canada. By analyzing oral histories, government files, ethnic newspapers, and community archival records, Raska reveals how Czech refugees secured admission as desirable immigrants and navigated existing social, cultural, and political norms in Cold War Canada
Notes Print version record
Subject Czechs -- Canada -- History -- 20th century
Czechoslovaks -- Canada -- History -- 20th century
Refugees -- Czechoslovakia -- History -- 20th century
Refugees -- Canada -- History -- 20th century
HISTORY / Canada / Post-Confederation (1867-).
Czechoslovaks
Czechs
Refugees
Canada
Czechoslovakia
Genre/Form History
Form Electronic book
ISBN 9780887555725
0887555721