KOPČÁNI, Silvia: Peasant riots in the context of the collectivization crisis in Czechoslovakia. Operation August

Administrative and directive management of the economy and a state-planned economy were supposed to lead the socialist society in Czechoslovakia to the promised prosperity and prevent economic difficulties. On the contrary, the five-year economic plan overestimated the economic capabilities of the state, and by the early 1950s, serious problems had led to a deep crisis not only in the economy but also in the communist regime in Czechoslovakia, which had to slow down the pace of collectivization. Delivery quotas were reduced, the purchase prices of some agricultural products were increased, retail prices for seeds were reduced, and farmers and cooperatives were granted more favorable loans. Action K was also suspended, discriminatory kulak lists were abolished, and criminal prosecution of farmers was relaxed. Farmers saw an opportunity to break free from the dysfunctional cooperative economy and gained the courage to resist the regime. Peasant unrest, which began with people leaving the JRD and continued with armed peasant uprisings against security forces, was concentrated mainly in the Prešov region. Operation August was aimed at suppressing such a rebellion by JRD members in the village of Kelča in the district of Stropkov. Despite its failure and the arrest of its main initiators, it was an expression of solidarity and courage on the part of the inhabitants of Kelča to resist the violence perpetrated by the totalitarian regime.