Basic Information

The Department of Economic History was founded in 1958 and concentrated its research efforts on the history of the national economy, the economic development of the world, the major capitalist countries, the socialist and developing countries. Through 1989, the Department held a special position because it was the only center in Czechoslovakia focusing exclusively on economic history. The “founding generation” included Rudolf Olšovský, Pavel Eisler, Hana Gebauerová, Zora Urbanová and now professor emeritus Václav Průcha. After November 1989, the Department was led by Václav Průcha, Daniel Váňa, and František Stellner. Since January 2013, Aleš Skřivan has served as the Chair.

The Department currently offers:

• master’s program Modern Economic History
• master’s program minorModern Economic History 
• master’s program minor History of International Economic Relations
• master’s program minor Modern History of Economic Policy
• Ph.D. program Economic and Economic Policy Development in the 20th and 21st Centuries

Department members lead bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral theses and teach compulsory and optional courses at all levels of study (see the current list with syllabi here).

In their scientific research, the members ofthe Department specialize in the economic and political history of Czechoslovakia and the  Czech Republic, Central and Eastern Europe, Great Britain, USA, and China in the 20th century. They also focus on issues of history of European Integration, social history of Central Europe in the 19th and 20th centuries and the methodology of economic and social history.

Specialization of  members of the Department:

• economic, political and social history of Czechoslovakia and the Czech Republic (Jakubec, Váňa, Drábek, Chalupecký, Strejčková)
• economic and political history of Germany in the 19^th and 20^th centuries (Jakubec, Johnson, Strejčková)
• economic history of the United States of America in the 20^th century (Kovář, Johnson)
• economic and political history of Great Britain in the 20^th century (Kovář, Švejdová)
• economic history of Far East, Japan, China in the 20^th century (Skřivan)
• economic history of the Eastern Bloc countries (Chalupecký, Strejčková)
• history of authoritative and totalitarian countries in the 20^th century (Strejčková)
• history of international relations in the 19^th and 20^th centuries (Johnson)
• history of European integration (Kovář, Švejdová)
• analysis of selected problems of social history in Central Europe during the 19^th and 20^th centuries (Dufek, Chalupecký)
• history of transport and travelling, history of science and technology (Jakubec)
• monetary history and history of financial institutions (Váňa, Chalupecký)
• methodology of economic and social history

The Department participates in  research projects given by the University of Economics (IGA and FIGA, IGS, IRS, IGA/A), Grant Agency of the Czech Republic, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, AKTION Österreich-Tschechische Republik, Leonardo da Vinci, Ministry of Education, FRVŠ, ESF, JPD3, OPPA, IGA/A, and others. The list of these grants and research projects in Czech language is here.

In recent years, there were organized international conferences such as  Deutsch-Russische Beziehungen. Politische, wirtschaftliche kulturelle Aspekte und von der bis zum frühen Neuzeit 20. Jahrhundert; Die wirtschaftlichen und der politischen Auswirkungen Meilensteine ​​1848-1918-1938-1948-1968; Economic, Political and Social Circumstances of Establishment of the Prague University of Economics and Business, conferences  Economic History of the Czech Republic in the early 21^st Century; 5 Years Since Lehman Brothers Fall; 80 Years Since FDR’s Accession of The U.S. Presidency, colloquia Czechoslovakia and East Germany 1945-1989, similarities – differences – mutual relations; On the Selected Aspects of Economic and Political History of the U.S.; The Welfare State in the German-British Perspective of the 20^thcentury; Colloquium on the History of England (Great Britain) and its Empire from the 16^th to 20^thCentury; On the Czechoslovak and World Economic History with the Presentation of the Results of Ministry of Education Grant; The Role of State in the German Economy in the 20^thCentury; Russian-German Relations; The Welfare State in the German-British Perspective of the 20^th Century; Economic History at the Beginning of the 21^stCentury; American-German Economic Relations in the Interwar Period; Status of Economic History at Universities; Multinationale Reiche im 19.- 20. Jahrhundert; Wirtschafts-/politische Geschichte im Mitteleuropas im 20. Jahrhundert; Deutsch-tschechische und bayerisch-böhmische Erinnerungsorte;  Economic and Political Austro-Hungarian Interests in the Far East (China, Japan) from 1900 to 1914; Impact of Political Systems on the Development of Central European Economies after 1945; Changes in High Economic Education in the 1940s and 1950s in Central Europe; History of the University of Eocnomics in Prague at the Turn of 1950s and in the Reform Period of 1960s on the Background of the History of Economic Higher Education in Central Europe; International Economic Relations of Central European Countries in the First Half of the 20th Century; The Role of the State in Crisis Periods in the First Half of the 20th Century; Economic Theory and Practice of National Socialism in Germany; Economic and Political Development of the USA and Its Influence on World Economy Development,“ “Sugar Industry as a Neglected Player in International Trade in the Interwar Period; Economic Theory in Practice; Macroeconomic Planning Problems 1945-1965 through the Current Research Methods in Economic History; Significance of Arms Production and Arming for Economies of Selected Central European Countries in the 1930s.

Selected publications (monographs, collective monographs) published in the last five years:

• ŠTEMBERK, Jan – SKŘIVAN, Aleš ml. a kol., Cestami hospodářských dějin, Praha: Filozofická fakulta UK, Nová tiskárna Pelhřimov, 2020, 524 s., ISBN: 978-80-7308-390-8; 978-80-7415-217-7.
• NIKODYM, Tomáš. Demokracie, vlastnictví a svoboda: k institucionálnímu uspořádání v poválečném Československu (1945-1948). Praha: Oeconomica, nakladatelství VŠE, 2020. 157 s. ISBN 978-80-245-2385-9.
• KOVÁŘ, Martin, Brexit. Drama psané přes průliv. Praha: Havlíček Brain Team 2020, 232 s. ISBN 978-80-87-109-70-0.
• SKŘIVAN, Aleš st. a SKŘIVAN, Aleš ml. Rudí barbaři před branami: první opiová válka 1839-1842. Praha: Epocha, 2019. 280 s. ISBN 978-80-7557-210-3.
• SKŘIVAN, Aleš, TÓTH, Andrej et al. (eds.). History of the Prague University of Economics and Business. (I), The history of economic higher education in the Czech lands. Prague: Oeconomica, nakladatelství VŠE, 2019. 169 s. ISBN 978-80-245-2255-5.
• SKŘIVAN, Aleš ml., TÓTH, Andrej (eds.), Vysoká škola ekonomická v Praze a rok 1968 (The Prague University of Economics and Business and 1968). Praha, 2018.
• DRÁBEK, Jakub, TÓTH, Andrej, SKŘIVAN, Aleš (eds.), Cukrovarnický průmysl jako opomíjený aktér mezinárodního obchodu v meziválečném období (Sugar Industry as a Neglected Player in International Trade in the Interwar Period). České Budějovice, 2017.
• FABIANKOVÁ Klára, Analýza hospodářsko-politických vztahů Německa a Sovětského svazu v letech 1939-1941 (Analysis of Economic and Political Relations of Germany and the Soviet Union 1939-1941). Praha, 2017.
• JOHNSON Zdenka. Hospodářská politika Spojených států amerických a Německa 1933-1939  (Economic Policy of the United States of America and Germany 1933-1939). Praha, 2017.

A list of other publications and research studies in peer-reviewed journals and journals with impact factor is available here.

For selected studies of members of the Department of Economic History click here.

The department cooperates with Czech leading research and education institutions such as Institute of History of the Science Academy of the Czech Republic, Czech-Chinese Company at the Oriental Institute of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Institute for Contemporary History of the Science Academy of the Czech Republic, Department of International Relations, Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University, Institute of Economic and Social History, Faculty of Arts, Charles University, Institute of Slavonic and East European Studies, Faculty of Arts, Charles University, Institute of World History, Faculty of Arts, Charles University, Department of History, Faculty of Sciences, Humanities and Education, Technical University of Liberec, Institute of Historical Sciences, Faculty of Education, University in Hradec Králové, Department of Historical Sciences, University of West Bohemia in Pilsen, CEVRO Liberal Conservative Academy or Department of International Relations, Metropolitan University Prague.

Reflecting the scientific, pedagogic and study activities of its members, the Department of Economic History has cooperated with a wide range of foreign institutions. International cooperation of the Department includes contacts with many foreign institutions, particularly in Slovakia (Institute of History of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, Institute of Science and Research, Univerzita Mateja Bela, Banská Bystrica, Department of Economic Policy, University of Economics in Bratislava), Germany (Lehrstuhl für Geschichte der frühen Neuzeit, Universität Bayreuth, Lehrstuhl für Neueste Geschichte, Universität Bayreuth, Osteuropa-Institut, Freie Universität Berlin, Friedrich-Meinecke-Institut der Freien Universität Berlin, Lehrstuhl für die Geschichte Westeuropas und der transatlantischen Beziehungen, HU Berlin, Historisches Seminar der Universität Hamburg, Bundesarchiv Berlin, Historisches Archiv Krupp, Zentralarchiv der Rheinmetall AG, Deutsche Nationalbibliothek), Austria (Institut für Wirtschafts- und Sozialgeschichte, Wirtschaftsuniversität Wien, Institut für Osteuropäische Geschichte, Universität Wien, Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Österreichisches Staatsarchiv, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek), Spain (Universidad Burgos), United Kingdom (The Faculty of Arts and Social Science, Kingston University, University of Cambridge, The National Archives, Kew, The British Library, London, LSE Library, London), Slovenia (Faculty of Economics, University of Ljubljana), Hungary (Új- és Jelenkori Egyetemes Történeti Tanszék, Bölcsészettudományi Kar, Eötvös Loránd Tudományegyetem), Columbia (Universidad de Antioquia, Medellín, Universidad Libre, Bogotá), Argentina (Institutos de Formación FFAA y FFSS, Buenos Aires) and the United States (School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies,  Arizona State University, Center Austria, University of New Orleans, Harvard University).

Visiting professors

• Dina Sofia des Neves Sebastião (University of Coimbra, Portugal)
• PhDr. Michail Kovalev, Ph.D. (Saratovskij gosudarstvennyj techničeskij universitet, Russia)
• Richard Lein (Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz, Austria)
• Guido Franzinetti (University of Eastern Piedmont, Alessandria, Italy)
• Angela Romano (University Institute Florence, Italy)
• Emmanuel Mourlon-Druol (University of Glasgow, United Kingdom)
• João Paulo Avelãs Nunes (University of Coimbra, Portugal)
• PhDr. Athanasios Sideris, Ph.D. (History and Archeology Department Foundation of the Hellenic World, Athens, Greece)
• Steven Seegel (University of Northern Colorado, USA)
• Sara Lorenzini, Ph.D. (Universitá delgi studi di Trento, Italy)
• José Manuel Serrano Alvarez (Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana – Sede Medellín, Universidad De Antioquia – Udea, Colombia),
• Dr. Günter Bischof (Center Austria, University of New Orleans, USA)
• Dr. Francine-Dominique Liechtenhan (Centre Roland Mousnier, U.M.R. 8596, Université de Paris IV, France)
• Dr. Thomas Wünsch (Universität Passau, Germany)
• Oliver Walton (Navy Records Society, London, United Kingdom)
• Dr. Georg Christoph Berger Waldenegg (Universität Heidelberg, Germany)
• Dr. John R. Davis (Kingston University a Institut of Historical Research, University of London, United Kingdom)

A list of visiting professors visiting in recent years and information about the special courses Chapters in Economic History 5HD381, 5HD382, 5HD383 can be found here.