ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the ways in which interwar Czechoslovak feminists took advantage of these favorable circumstances, gained public support for their agenda, and instituted a range of political rights for women, especially in the public arena. While across much of Central-Eastern Europe and Eurasia, economic devastation, social upheaval, and an eventual slide to authoritarianism marked the interwar period, Czechoslovakia’s First Republic (1918–1938) stood out as an exception regarding feminist organizing. For most of the period, the republic enjoyed prosperity while exemplifying parliamentary democracy and progressive values, including women’s political rights. With a relatively stable economy and pro-democratic leadership sympathetic to the agenda of women’s rights, interwar Czechoslovakia availed itself as a favorable ground for feminist activism. But we also point out some limitations to the interwar Czechoslovak feminist efforts. Specifically, opposition to the feminists’ struggle to correct the gender-imbalanced family law proved insurmountable, and further progress on this front had to wait until the communist period. The interwar Czech feminists laid ground for further progress under communism, showing elements of continuity in women’s mobilization.
