EAST EUROPEN QUARTERLY
Palacký’s interpretation of history was able to become an important part of the national program because he explained the Czech past truthfully, effectively, and in accord with the needs of contemporary knowledge and culture. The logic of historical development in the first half of the nineteenth century showed that Palacky’s program for a national culture was an integral and major segment of the national political program, developing with increasing clarity. The Czech peoples, demanding for themselves the rights of a free nation, openly manifested their political aspirations and goals during the revolution of 1848. Palacký developed similarly. As a cultural representative and a scholar, he ultimately became one of the leaders of the Czech nation.
Before 1848, František Palacký was already the chief author of the Czech cultural program. He united the pure naiveté and the zealous self-sacrifice of the first period of the Czech National Revival with broad European knowledge and an understanding of the historical trends of his time. Palacký successfully formulated a program expressing the needs of his nation and reflecting the actual tendencies of the contemporary world.
NOTES
1. In general, see: J. Pekař, František Palacký (Prague, 1898); J. Goll, “František Palacký,” Český časopis historický, IV (1898), pp. 211–79; Památník na oslavu 100. narozenin F. Palackého (Prague, 1898); J.F. Zacek, Palacký: The Historian as Scholar and Nationalist (The Hague, 1970).
2. O. Králík, “Palackého božné doby,” in F. Kutnar, ed., Tři studie o F. Palackém (Olomouc, 1948); F. Vodička, Cesty a cíle obrozenské literatury (Prague, 1958).
3. V.J. Nováček, ed., F. Palackého korrespondence a zápisky. (3 vols., Prague, 1898–1911), 11, p. 8.
4. Ibid., p. 50 ff.
5. “Krasověda čili o kráse a umění knihy patery,” Časopis Českehó musea (1827); see also O. Hostinský, “Fr. Palackého estetické studie, 1816–1821,” in Památník (1898), pp. 367–90; L. Čech, “Palacký jako estetik,” Ibid., pp. 391–442. For an analysis of Palacký’s philosophy, see J. Fischer, Myšlenka a dílo F. Palackého (2 vols., Prague, 1926–27).
6. Goll, “František Palacký”; J. Vlček, Dejiny slovenskej literatúry (Turčanský Sv. Martin, 1890).
7. V.J. Nováček, ed., F. Palackého korrespondence a zápisky, 1, p. 51.
8. “Ohlídka ve staročeském místopisu, zvláště krajů již poněmčilých.” Časopis Českého musea, XX (1846), pp. 55–83.
