Abstract
References to Czech medieval history, especially Hussitism, played an essential role in shaping the identity of the new Czechoslovak state. They became a symbol of defiance and especially of the national emancipation of the new state, even taking into account the confessional issue of the performative departure from the Catholic Church.
During the 20th century, Hussitism was suitable material for state-building and nationalistic and propagandistic instrumentalization. This study aims to trace how Hussitism entered political ideologies and their presentations, how images of Hussitism changed depending on the political constellation, and what transformations the dynamics of their use underwent in the first half of the 20th century.
We understand the contemporary presentation of Hussite history and its main actors as artificial pragmatic constructs that, by their very nature, reduce historical complexity to a final image that fulfills current social and political demands.