Catholicism Meets Liberalism in Eastern Europe: The Ideological Formation of Christian Democratic Parties in Czechoslovakia (1945–1948)

2025/10/21 by Krystof Dolezal · 1 voice
Social Sciences · #Central European national history #Eastern European Communism and Reforms #Italian Fascism and Post-war Society

paper · pdf · doi:10.1080/09668136.2025.2568216

openalex publication_date 2025/10/21 · openalex created_date 2025/11/04 · openalex updated_date 2026/06/14

Abstract

Comparative politics considers the Western European model of Christian democracy to be absent in Eastern Europe. Hence, little is known about the ideological and institutional specificity of the local Christian democracies. I revise and complement this scholarship through a historical analysis exploring the formation of Christian democratic parties in the Third Czechoslovak Republic (1945–1948). I unearth this legacy’s origins and document how the newly organised Christian democratic parties transmitted and localised conceptual innovations developed by their Western counterparts. Besides redescribing the boundaries of the Christian democratic party family, the findings complicate regional generalisations on the nexus between liberalism, nationalism, and religion.

Discussions

• New article by Krystof Dolezal: “Catholicism Meets Liberalism in Eastern Europe” explores how postwar Czechoslovak Christian democrats blended faith, liberalism & nationalism. Read here 👉 doi.org/10. [bsky, 0 points, 0 comments]

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