Stalin Monument (Prague)
Stalin's Monument () was a granite statue honoring Joseph Stalin in Prague, Socialist Republic of Czechoslovakia, Czechoslovakia. It was unveiled on 1 May 1955 after more than years of work, and was the world's largest representation of Stalin. The sculpture was demolished in late 1962. History Background The structure was commissioned after the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia 1948 Czechoslovak coup d'état, seized power in Czechoslovakia in 1948 with Soviet backing. It was designed to showcase Stalinism, Stalinist ideology and was constructed on an elevated site on Letna Hill in Letná Park, overlooking the city centre of Prague.Stalin statue site reveals chilling remains of Prague labour camp The Guardi ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Otakar Švec
Otakar Švec (23 November 1892, in Prague-New Town, Prague, New Town – 3 March 1955, in Prague) was a Czechoslovak sculptor best known for his colossal granite Stalin Monument (Prague), Monument to Stalin in Prague. Career A pupil of Josef Václav Myslbek and Jan Štursa, Švec had produced the important 1924 Futurism (art), Futurist sculpture ''Sunbeam Motorcycle'', now in the National Gallery in Prague, and at least three major public monuments to Tomáš Masaryk, Jan Hus, and Franklin Delano Roosevelt. The first two were destroyed by the Germans during World War II. Švec entered the competition for the Stalin Monument in 1949, not expecting to win. The sculpture was unveiled on International Workers' Day, May Day, 1955. Švec, horrified by his own creation, had killed himself days before it was officially unveiled. [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Joseph Stalin's Cult Of Personality
Joseph Stalin's cult of personality became a prominent feature of Soviet popular culture. Historian Archie Brown sets the celebration of Stalin's 50th birthday on 21 December 1929 as the starting point for his cult of personality. For the rest of Stalin's rule, the Soviet propaganda presented Stalin as an all-powerful, all-knowing leader, with Stalin's name and image displayed all over the country. Stalin's image in propaganda and the mass media The building of the cult of personality around Stalin had to proceed judiciously, as British historian Ian Kershaw explains in his history of Europe in the first half of the 20th century, ''To Hell and Back'': A Stalin cult had to be built carefully. This was not just because the man himself was so physically unprepossessing – diminutive and squat, his face dominated by a big walrus mustache and heavily pitted from smallpox – or that he was a secretive, intensely private individual who spoke in a quiet, undemonstra ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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On The Cult Of Personality And Its Consequences
"On the Cult of Personality and Its Consequences" () was a report by Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev, First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, made to the 20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union on 25 February 1956. Popularly known as the Secret Speech (), this is something of a misnomer, as copies of the speech were read out at thousands of meetings of Communist Party and Komsomol organisations across the country. Khrushchev's speech was sharply critical of the rule of the deceased General Secretary and Premier Joseph Stalin, particularly with respect to the purges which had especially marked the last years of the 1930s. Khrushchev charged Stalin with having fostered a leadership cult of personality despite ostensibly maintaining support for the ideals of communism. The speech was shocking in its day. There are reports that some of those present suffered heart attacks and that the speech even inspired suicides, due to the shock of all o ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Czechoslovak Koruna
The Czechoslovak koruna (in Czech and Slovak: ''koruna československá'', at times ''koruna česko-slovenská''; ''koruna'' means ''crown'') was the currency of Czechoslovakia from 10 April 1919 to 14 March 1939, and from 1 November 1945 to 7 February 1993. For a brief time in 1939 and again in 1993, it was also the currency of both the separate Czech Republic and Slovakia. On 8 February 1993, it was replaced by the Czech koruna and the Slovak koruna, both at par. The (last) ISO 4217 code and the local abbreviations for the koruna were ''CSK'' and ''Kčs''. One koruna equalled 100 ''haléřů'' (Czech, singular: ''haléř'') or ''halierov'' (Slovak, singular: ''halier''). In both languages, the abbreviation ''h'' was used. The abbreviation was placed behind the numeric value. First koruna A currency called the '' krone'' in German and ''koruna'' in Czech was introduced in Austria-Hungary on 11 September 1892, as the first modern gold-based currency in the area. After the c ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Ferrocement
Ferrocement or ferro-cement is a system of construction using reinforced mortar or plaster (lime or cement, sand, and water) applied over an "armature" of metal mesh, woven, expanded metal, or metal-fibers, and closely spaced thin steel rods such as rebar. The metal commonly used is iron or some type of steel, and the mesh is made with wire with a diameter between 0.5 mm and 1 mm. The cement is typically a very rich mix of sand and cement in a 3:1 ratio; when used for making boards, no gravel is used, so that the material is not concrete. Ferrocement is used to construct relatively thin, hard, strong surfaces and structures in many shapes such as hulls for boats, shell roofs, and water tanks. Ferrocement originated in the 1840s in France and the Netherlands and is the precursor to reinforced concrete. It has a wide range of other uses, including sculpture and prefabricated building components. The term "ferrocement" has been applied by extension to other composite ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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1998 Czech Legislative Election
Parliamentary elections were held in the Czech Republic on 19 and 20 June 1998.Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p471 The Czech Social Democratic Party emerged as the largest party, winning 74 of the 200 seats. Voter turnout was 73.9%. Background The Civic Democratic Party (ODS) had won the 1996 parliamentary elections. The party's leader, Václav Klaus, then formed a minority government supported by the Czech Social Democratic Party (ČSSD). The government lasted until 1998, when it resigned during a political crisis that caused the division of ODS and the disintegration of the ruling coalition. Snap elections was called for June 1998. Campaign The ODS was weakened by the creation of a new party, the Freedom Union (US). The US was formed by former members of ODS who had left after a conflict with Václav Klaus. The ODS was polling at around 10%, with the US expected to replace it as the major right-wing party. The ČSSD was expe ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Václav Klaus
Václav Klaus (; born 19 June 1941) is a Czech economist and politician who served as the second president of the Czech Republic from 2003 to 2013. From July 1992 until the dissolution of Czechoslovakia in January 1993, he served as the second and last prime minister of the Czech Republic while it was a federal subject of the Czech and Slovak Federative Republic, and then as the first prime minister of the newly independent Czech Republic from 1993 to 1998. During the Communist era, Klaus worked as a bank clerk and forecaster. After the fall of Communism in November 1989, he became the Minister of Finance in the "government of national unity". In 1991, Klaus was the principal co-founder of the Civic Democratic Party (ODS). He was prime minister from 1992 to 1997, and from January to February 1993 he held certain powers of the Presidency. His government fell in the autumn of 1997; after the elections in the spring of 1998, he became the president of the Chamber of Deputies ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Civic Democratic Party (Czech Republic)
The Civic Democratic Party (, ODS) is a Conservatism, conservative and Economic liberalism, economically liberal List of political parties in the Czech Republic, political party in the Czech Republic. The party sits between centre-right and right-wing on the political spectrum, and holds 34 seats in the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic, Chamber of Deputies, and is the second strongest party by number of seats following the 2021 Czech legislative election, 2021 election. It is the only political party in the Czech Republic that has maintained an uninterrupted representation in the Chamber of Deputies. Founded in 1991 as the pro–free market wing of the Civic Forum by Václav Klaus and modeled on the Conservative Party (UK), British Conservative Party, the ODS won the 1992 Czech legislative election, 1992 legislative election, and has remained in government for most of the Czech Republic's independence. In every legislative election (except for 2013 Czech legislative elect ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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HIStory World Tour
The ''HIS''tory World Tour was the third and final worldwide solo concert tour by American singer and songwriter Michael Jackson, covering Europe, Asia, Oceania, Africa and North America. The tour included a total of 82 concerts spanning the globe with stops in 57 cities, 35 countries on five continents. The tour promoted Jackson's 1995 album '' HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I''. The second leg also promoted the remix album '' Blood on the Dance Floor: HIStory in the Mix''. The tour was attended by over 4.5 million fans and grossed over US $165 million making it the highest-grossing tour of the 1990s by a solo artist. Overview The tour was announced on May 29, 1996, and marked Jackson's first concert tour since the Dangerous World Tour ended in November 1993. Europe, Africa, Asia and Oceania (1996) Jackson's debut concert for the tour, performed at Letná Park in Prague, was one of the largest single attended concerts in his career, with over 125,000 people. On Oc ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Michael Jackson, one of the most culturally significant figures of the 20th century. Over a four-decade career, List of Michael Jackson records and achievements, his music achievements broke Timeline of African-American firsts, racial barriers in America and made him a dominant figure across the world. Through songs, stages, and fashion, he proliferated visual performance for artists in popular music; popularizing street dance moves including the Moonwalk (dance), moonwalk, the Robot (dance), robot, and the anti-gravity lean. Jackson is often deemed the greatest entertainer of all time based on his acclaim and records. The eighth child of the Jackson family, Michael made his public debut in 1964 at age six, as a member of the Jackson 5 (later known as the Jacksons). After signing with Motown ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Prague Metronome
The Prague Metronome () is a functioning metronome in Letná Park, overlooking the Vltava River and the city center of Prague. The kinetic sculpture was erected in 1991, on the plinth left vacant by the late-1962 demolition of an enormous monument to former Soviet leader Joseph Stalin. The silent red metronome was designed by international artist Vratislav Novák, and officially named "Time Machine". It may be the largest metronome in the world, although Geneva (since 1972) and Gdańsk (since 2016) each have a larger pendulum clock. The Prague Metronome is functional, but it is not always in operation. A plaque at the base reads "In time, all things pass..." The inverted pendulum of the motorized metronome has swung at 4 and at 6 beats per minute Beat, beats, or beating may refer to: Common uses * Assault, inflicting physical harm or unwanted physical contact * Battery (crime), a criminal offense involving unlawful physical contact * Battery (tort), a civil wrong i ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |