Michal Kopeček Historical Studies of Nation-Building and the Concept of Socialist Patriotism in East-Central Europe 1956–1970 The notion of ‘socialist patriotism’ represents one point of departure of this essay. Through- out the majority of the reign of the communist parties in Eastern Europe, the concept ser- ved as a ready-made propaganda tool to fight and subdue political opponents, drawing on various patriotic and nationalist feelings and attitudes. 1 However, despite the reservations the notion begets among the current students of the period I am convinced that in a certain time-period the notion of ‘socialist patriotism’ stood for more than mere political propagan- da. As a part of an ambitious project of socialist nation-building its prospects did not always seem as dismal as we tend to think today. The first half of the 1960s was probably the most optimistic time in Soviet history, the era of bold Khrushchevist integration projects that – in the upcoming modernisation leap driven by the scientific-technological revolution, overall progress, sweeping urbanisation, and cultural blossoming – should have led to a new stage of economic, social, and political unification and national blending, a ‘new historical com- munity of people’. As some scholars argue, it was to be a decisive step in the creation of the Soviet nation as a mixture of all constituent nations and ethnicities under the leadership of Russians. 2 The possible early creation of such a nation was understood as a utopian project and challenged even in the USSR, especially in its western parts. Yet, some of the optimism spilled over to the satellite countries of East-Central Europe, where it found rather incom- patible but not altogether hostile conditions. The complicated relationship between the politically promoted and ideologically driven concept of socialist patriotism and the historical studies of nation-building in East- Central Europe is at the centre of the present essay. It starts with a short overview of the ambi- guous relationship of radical socialist movements and communist parties in the region to national or nationality question until the end of WWII that foreshadowed the even more complicated development during the communist parties‘ dictatorial rule. The majority of the essay concentrates on the period between 1956 and 1970. Even though the arguments involved are drawn from the broader geographical area of East-Central Europe, in detail the story concentrates primarily on the examples of Czechoslovakia and Hungary. The coun- tries‘ diverging configurations of the official communist politics and the developing Marxist historical nation-building studies at that time provide interesting material for comparison. The direct connection between the concept of socialist patriotism and the reconsideration 1 Cf. Martin Mevius, Agents of Moscow: The Hungarian Communist Party and the Origins of Socialist Patriotism 1941–1953, Oxford 2005. 2 Roman Szporluk, Russia, Ukraine and the Breakup of the Soviet Union, Stanford, CA 2000. Cf. Yitzhak M. Brudny, Reinventing Russia: Russian Nationalism and the Soviet State, 1953–1991, Cambridge, Mass/London 1998.