CZECHOSLOVAKIA AND ITS PEOPLE

[Music] [Applause] [Music] foreign [Music] czechoslovakia was created by the league of nations after the first world war the new country was a democratic republic in 1939 hitler using the excuse that germans lived there occupied czechoslovakia and she became part of nazi germany after the defeat of germany in world war ii the czechoslovakian boundaries were reformed soviet russia became her most powerful neighbor and largely controlled her post-war development czechoslovakia is divided into three main regions bohemia moravia and slovakia bohemia and moravia are principally plains surrounded by mountains the sudeten mountains along the german frontier and the carpathians to the east slovakia is primarily mountainous each region has its own character each region has its own capital prague verno bratislava prague the capital of both bohemia and the nation suffered little damage in world war ii the old buildings show her long history medieval represented by the old powder house which was part of the original city wall [Music] the houses of the merchants of the later middle ages and the palace showing the strong influence of the austrian habsburgs who ruled here before world war one the czechs became christians early in their history later built splendid cathedrals to their faith under the influence of john huss some were to become protestant but the majority of the nation remained catholic the present communist regime discourages the practice of all religions prague is on the river vlatava it is rapidly becoming a modern city inheriting the industrial skills from the old austro-hungarian empire prague has always been the center of industry czechoslovakia has in fact more industry than any other central european nation it manufactures its own buses cars and motorcycles however the standard of living is not yet so high that many people can afford to own cars and parking meters are rarely a necessity the fortunate few who do own cars keep them carefully under wraps from an early date the czechs have built mechanical things the town clock a marvel of its time is still admired by all visitors to prague as they await its chimes having inherited the technical skills and having their own coal and iron the czechs are making the name skoda mean to central europe but the early automobile industry meant to an industrial america great plains of czechoslovakia have remained the crossroads of central europe until railroads form an essential link in the transportation systems between east and west czechoslovakia trades with both although now more predominantly with the soviet union although czechoslovakia has been developing industry on a large scale it is her farming her natural resources and the variety of her small industry that are the present basis of a growing prosperity in northern bohemia we find people manufacturing glassware of all kinds this is an industry with a long tradition and a world market glass is made from sand or silica small local quarry supply the raw material to a large central factory where it is made into glass rods the nearby smaller factories produce the articles all industry in czechoslovakia is now state-owned so that although the craftsmen continue to work at their traditional jobs they are now state employed and their products must conform to state needs however as a practical fact the government cannot concern itself with small activities so that local committees or even the plant manager will decide what color should be used what design should be copied and what article should be made here they are making glass bees first stamping them from the molten glass and polishing them by rolling them about in barrels near the factory are many individual households all involved in glassmaking this particular district specializes in glass beads every member of the family is likely to be occupied this household industry grew up because the raw materials were available and the surrounding woodland provided the fuel for their furnaces today they use oil and coal but the black smoke from the little chimneys show that they are still busy this particular family the copals have been glassmakers for generations father mother and daughter are at present home employed however the government is discouraging household work and making the craftsmen go instead to the new factories as they are built the older people dislike this but there is little they can do as at any time the government could cut off their glass supplies the younger people seem to prefer working away from home perhaps because they get paid by the factory and not by dad who might not always remember payday in the foothills of northern bohemia many of the towns are involved in the glass industry to the check the name jablonich means only one thing glass [Music] [Applause] here is a glass school here is a sign to a glass exhibition here is a glassblowing factory [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] the glass school is nationally famous here youngsters from all over czechoslovakia learn the various glass making skills they do not have to come from the traditional glass families but these naturally have preference in the past a child would have learned a particular glass making skill simply and easily at home today this is no longer so but at the school the youngsters learn many skills and also study under the best designers and autism [Music] the state-owned diablo next company coordinates all the glass-making activity of the region and supervises the exporting of the [Music] glassware the middle region of czechoslovakia is moravia its capital is bruno renault almost centrally located in czechoslovakia is on the old north-south trade route across the moravian plain today it is still the city of trade fairs and merchants from all over the world arrive daily to transact their business the town is dominated by the old cathedral but palaces have become offices and the city is becoming a bustling commercial center glass is sold along with other regional products radios and television sets automotive accessories textiles and shoes at the city market private trading is permitted the many vegetable stalls show that the surrounding country is still largely agricultural in czechoslovakia the land is now almost completely nationalized the wheat and the barley the poppies the flax the hemp and the tobacco are no longer to be seen in small patches but over large areas cultivated by the state and cooperative farms in the southern moravian village of prashanki for example some things continue as they always have getting water from the village pump going to school or posting a letter [Applause] but because of rising prosperity and the availability of brick cement and lumber most of the villagers are rebuilding or modernizing their homes although the moravian character of the house is still in some degree [Music] retained with the nationalization of the land the state farm headquarters controls the main activities of the villages their work on the land more tractors and mechanical equipment are now becoming available all nationally made how much work shall be done and when and where has now decided in committee and the whole village is committed to the plans [Music] prushanky is a wine growing village and nearby has a sub village of a type to be found only in moravia this is a small group of one-roomed cottages in which the villagers live for the summer months while they tend the vines and press the grapes beside each cottage is a storehouse half underground where the wine barrels are kept cool the cottages are built and decorated in the old moravian style in czechoslovakia the older houses are characteristic of the region and checks know exactly where they are just by looking at them [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] in the fall the grapes are pressed the juice is fermented in barrels and from time to time is checked for quality [Music] the wine made by the villagers is taken finally to the nearby town of haudenin here at the plant it is aged barreled and bottled the wine of each village is very individual and the plant will pay only according to quality so that although the village is essentially a cooperative its product must compete with that of its neighbors the wine is then distributed to the local cafes and restaurants the third region is slovakia while most of slovakia is mountainous its capital bratislava lies in the valley of the danube the river links it with vienna nearby and with other more distant foreign cities making bratislava a cosmopolitan shipping port so close by on a tributary of the danube is the village of modra there is a good supply of clay for making bricks and pots and dishes like bratislava moja reflects a strong habsburg and catholic influence in southern slovakian villages the houses are all joined together slovakia unlike relatively industrialized bohemia has a long tradition of folk art the people considerably poorer than the bohemians have made their pots and brooms and other household utensils by hand today slovakia is building new plants and modernizing her older factories with the growing availability of power the kick wheel gives way to the electric potter's wheel and the old wood-burning furnace to the modern kiln [Music] my [Music] my [Music] northern slovakia is mountainous two of its main assets are lumber and sheep its villages nestle on the hillside here in the north the houses are built separately largely of wood czechoslovakia is one-third forest the trees are felled in the forest and taken by rail and road down into the valley some trees are cut into short lengths and the bark peeled off preparing the logs for the making of paper some lumber is also taken into the villages that lie in the valleys here the houses are also separate but although they have wooden roofs they have plaster walls wood carving is an old craft now updated with modern machinery many items are mass-produced on a small scale but there is still need for individual carving and orders come from all over europe for religious figures and even modern artifacts the standard of living of the people is going up but under communism the price of running water and electricity has been paid for by the loss of personal freedom and the folk arts have lost their originality the young people may be school trained but they will never know the joy of the carvers of the ancient fuyaras the long pipes so prized by the shepherds to dispel their loneliness while tending their flocks um [Applause] [Music] the sheep are still there but the new factories being built in the slovakian mountains offer a different background of sight and sound end of transfer