Captive University - by John Connelly (Paperback)

About the Book

Captive University: The Sovietization of East German, Czech, and Polish Higher Education, 1945-1956

Book Synopsis

This comparative history of the higher education systems in Poland, East Germany, and the Czech lands reveals an unexpected diversity within East European stalinism. With information gleaned from archives in each of these places, John Connelly offers a valuable case study showing how totalitarian states adapt their policies to the contours of the societies they rule.

The Communist dictum that universities be purged of "bourgeois elements" was accomplished most fully in East Germany, where more and more students came from worker and peasant backgrounds. But the Polish Party kept potentially disloyal professors on the job in the futile hope that they would train a new intelligentsia, and Czech stalinists failed to make worker and peasant students a majority at Czech universities.

Connelly accounts for these differences by exploring the prestalinist heritage of these countries, and particularly their experiences in World War II. The failure of Polish and Czech leaders to transform their universities became particularly evident during the crises of 1968 and 1989, when university students spearheaded reform movements. In East Germany, by contrast, universities remained true to the state to the end, and students were notably absent from the revolution of 1989.

Review Quotes

[An] extremely well researched and documented text. . . . A great piece of scholarship.

"Slavic Review"

A landmark of comparative higher-educational history . . . a truly remarkable piece of work.

"History of Education Quarterly"

ÝAn¨ extremely well researched and documented text. . . . A great piece of scholarship.

"Slavic Review"

ÝA¨ superb comparative study.

"German History"

A first-rate, pioneering, and enduring study.

"Central European History"

"A first-rate, pioneering, and enduring study.

"Central European History""

[A] superb comparative study.

"German History"

Well researched and . . . convincing.

"Journal of Modern History"

In his superb book on higher education in postwar Eastern Europe, Connelly explores the dynamics of East European Stalinism as does no other author. The research is stunning; the writing is clear and engaging; the comparative method works beautifully. (Norman M. Naimark, Stanford University)