Development of prison legislation in post-war Czechoslovakia GUK

About the project

GUK 2026

Development of prison legislation in post-war Czechoslovakia

Number of the project:  UK/1097/2026

Principal Investigator: Mgr. Oliver Lukáč

 

The proposed research project focuses on analyzing the prison system in post-war Czechoslovakia as an important tool of political power, social control, and repression during the period of fundamental social change after 1945. The aim of the project is to examine the development of prison institutions from the immediate post-war period through the advent of the communist regime after February 1948 to the fall of the socialist regime in 1989. The research will focus on the legislative and institutional framework of the prison system. The project will use historical research based on the analysis of archival sources and legal regulations. The ambition of the project is to contribute to a deeper understanding of the mechanisms of post-war criminal repression, continuities and discontinuities in the functioning of state power, and a more nuanced reflection on the post-war history of Czechoslovakia in both a domestic and international context.