Prague - relics of the Cold War

Guest blogger

Bruce Barclay
History teacher

Cold War history is predicated upon the difference between East and West. To that end the history focuses on Moscow and Washington. Rarely do historians focus upon the satellite countries of the Eastern Bloc and to a lesser extent the Western bloc. Czechoslovakia, now known as the Czech Republic, offers an interesting insight into the Cold War. In 1968, the Prague Spring occurred where the leaders of Czechoslovakia desired to have a say in the manner in which communism was to govern their country. Leonid Brezhnev the Premiere of the USSR brutally crushed the Prague Spring by invading the country with 500,000 troops and 4,500 tanks to crush any questioning of the manner in which Eastern Bloc countries were governed. This was referred to as the Brezhnev Doctrine by which the USSr was able to intervene in Eastern Bloc countries without ramifications from the USA and NATO.

In Western historiography much is made of American propaganda (duck and cover videos) to counteract the growing fear of nuclear holocaust. To that end a number of historians and teachers, e.g. Bruce Dennett have visited nuclear bunkers in North America. This neglects the Eastern Bloc perspective on Cold War relations. The city of Prague is blessed in that it has remained relatively unscathed by development. This has allowed members of the public to investigate and experience what life was like for the local populous. One tourism company in Prague offers a Communism and Nuclear Bunker Tour. The most interesting aspect of the tour is not that you can actually see a nuclear bunker, but that it is such a mundane experience for the location population that most visitors would not know it exists today. 

Train stations and tunnels in Prague double as nuclear shelters. The stations and tunnels can be closed off with the use of lead doors to protect the population. The cavities for these blast doors are clearly visible to the trained eye at the base of the escalators at the entrance to each platform. 

Near the Flora railway station is a large bunker which now houses the Nuclear Bunker Museum. The entrance to the bunker resembles a graffitied, walled basketball court. To the general public it is not immediately obvious or accessible. To gain access the bunker needs to be unlocked by a tour guide. The shelter was designed to protect approx 2,500 people. The blast door to the shelter is nearly 1 metre thick and leads to a double helix staircase - one side for entry and one side for exiting. The staircases go down 16 metres to the bunker proper. 

The bunker complex housed a series of rooms that displayed mannequins and equipment set up like decontamination rooms, air filtration systems and living quarters. There were displays on gas masks, uniforms, badges, propaganda and various photos and newspaper articles. Content included how to cope with biological and nuclear attacks. There were numerous gas masks for troops, the general population and children. The displays demonstrated the evolution of gas mask technology from World War II up to the mid 1980s. There was a strong emphasis on protecting children under the age of 6, and the display showcased a crib with a foot pump mechanism and a full body child bio-suit. There was an emphasis on how families could expect to survival an attack. Displays included children holding weapons. There were displays on the types of medical equipment kept on hand. Special care was taken to ensure that there was no glass or twine of any substantial thickness to allow survivors the opportunity to commit suicide. 

Significantly for the local population with the threat of immediate nuclear war gone shelters that were strategically constructed throughout the city are now historical curiosities and places for underground sub-culture. A prime example of this that part of the structure is utilised as a night club for those who are connected to this sub culture.

Related article:
Soviet ghosts: An empire in decay