Prague in June 1953

On June 1, 1953, several major Prague industrial enterprises, led by the then mammoth engineering and metallurgical concern ČKD Stalingrad, went on strike. The workers revolted against the social consequences of the announced monetary reform, came out of the gates of the factories and even planned a protest march to Prague Castle. The political consequences of such an act would be immeasurable. The leadership of the Communist Party found itself in a precarious situation, because the revolt had been instigated by the same factories that had actively helped to secure the February coup d'état on the streets of the capital only five years earlier. The legitimacy of the whole system was therefore in danger of being fundamentally shaken. But what really changed in the factories during this period? Surviving documents, including unique photographs, have enabled the author of the book to reconstruct not only these forgotten events of June, but also the more general atmosphere in industry at the time.