Príčiny peňažnej (menovej) reformy z jari 1953 v Československu so zreteľom na vojenské súvislosti

Causes of the 1953 Spring Monetary (Currency) Reform in Czechoslovakia with regard to the military context

Autor: LONDÁK Miroslav

LONDÁK, Miroslav: Príčiny peňažnej (menovej) reformy z jari 1953 v Československu so zreteľom na vojenské súvislosti

LONDÁK, Miroslav: Causes of the 1953 Spring Monetary (Currency) Reform in Czechoslovakia with regard to the military context.

Vojenská história, 19, 2, 2015, pp. 73-82.

In his study, the author states that the currency and monetary reform in 1953 was a logical consequence of the Communist coup of February 1948 in its full context: the political overturn was followed by economic collapse in the upcoming years leading to destitution, decline in living standards and isolation from the rest of the world. Furthermore, he states that there were serious concerns how the masses affected by the currency reform would react to it. Analysing the wide-ranging issues, the study deals with the “Machine Gun” action of 30 May 1953. Within this action, full emergency was declared for 50 percent of the total People’sMilitias. Moreover, three fast units of the People’s Militia squadrons were prepared in each county seat, fully armed. This number was even higher in Prague. Also thanks to these measures, the course of the currency reform was trouble-free in the first hours, however, the demonstrations and strikes commenced later, especially in Plzeň and also other places subsequently.

Keywords: Military History. Czechoslovakia. 1950’s. Currency Reform – The “Machine Gun” Action.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.69809/vojhist.2015.19.2.3

Ročník: 19 | Číslo: 2/2015 | Stránky: 73-82