Resistance
“This is only the beginning of the reckoning. This is only the first sip, the first foretaste of a bitter cup .”
World War II
On March 15 1939 Hitler ordered his armies to occupy the rest of the Czech lands. The policy of Appeasement was dead. As the Nazis occupied Prague, the British and French Governments only now sought to strengthen their alliance with Poland – the likely next victim. By the end of September that was too little too late and the might of the German army faced Westwards and the World War the appeasers had hoped to put off became a reality.
1945
“When the Tories talk of freedom they mean the freedom for some to make large fortunes while ex-servicemen have the freedom to sell boxes of matches in the gutter. The real wealth of the Nation is not gold in the banks but the brain and muscle of the people. People who do not want to go back to the world of 1939..the Tories would not do the planning necessary for improvements.”
1989
In November 1989, a month after the fall of the Berlin wall, it was the turn of Czechoslovakia. After years of monitoring the repression of the Czech Communist Government by Charter 77 and the constant imprisoning of it’s leaders – the emergence of the reforming Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, was to give a green light to Czech anti-communist aspirations.
Bridgwater Today
Bridgwater and the world may have changed many times over in the 70 years since 1938 while at the same time… many things haven’t…
Czech Links
On June 18th 1992 Bridgwater became the first British town to formally twin with a Czech town (Uherske Hradiste) after the Velvet Revolution.
New Europe
Following the collapse of the Post war communist system in East Europe after 1989, all the former Warsaw Pact states that the Soviets liberated became pro-western capitalist democracies. Most of them have joined the European Union and NATO.
Fascism Today
This page shows the history of the British Far Right, British Fascism, it’s offshoots, it’s legacy, it’s heirs and pretenders and the fact that IT’S NEVER GONE AWAY.
And?
Summary, acknowledgements and conclusions.
Sheep Worrying
In 1988, Bridgwater’s Sheep Worrying Theatre Group performed a play about the 1938 Bridgwater by-election called ‘The Vernon Bartlett Show’. It was premiered at the Bridgwater Arts Centre, written by Brian Smedley and directed by Glen Burrows.