Healthy mind, in a healthy body, "MASS SPORT VERSUS PROFESSIONAL SPORT in communist Czechoslovakia in the fifties of the 20th Century?

The thesis analyses the changes, their causes and consequences in sport after the commencement of the communist regime in Czechoslovakia in the 50s of the 20th century. The aim is to determine how the Communist Party interventions influenced the sporting environment in Czechoslovakia, the implications of which then went to clubs and athletes, and how the changes reflected in the society. The thesis focuses mainly on the problem of professional and amateur sport, on their development before World War II and how their importance and status changed after the onset of communism in Czechoslovakia. The author examines in detail both the impact of changes on the performance of the athletes and their personal lives as well as the impact on ordinary people for whom sport was one of the alternatives of leisure time activities. The thesis has the merit of provision of a comprehensive perspective on the topic, on which there are very few professional publications in the Czech Republic. The theme of the dissertation falls on the edge of social, cultural and economic history and the methods of these disciplines are primarily used to achieve the results. The author uses archival sources from the National Archives and the Archives of the Czech Physical Education and Sports of the National Museum apart from professional literature and foreign studies.