Město Zlín v meziválečných letech

Abstract

The topic of the study is the influence of the Baťa Concern on selected areas of everyday life in the town of Zlín. The text aims to describe, explain and interpret how Zlín’s municipal politics and public education in the example of Masaryk’s experimental upper elementary school were influenced by Tomáš Baťa and other representatives of the Concern between 1923 and 1938 (1945). The data were mainly obtained by studying archival documents stored in the State District Archive Zlín. The presented study focuses on municipal politics and elections in which the Baťa electoral list promised to improve and modernize Zlín’s schools. Then, it seeks the circumstances of establishing and developing the experimental public school system in Zlín. The research results show that the election of Tomáš Baťa as mayor of Zlín represented a turning point for Zlín schools. He and other Concern’s officials became direct participants in local public education from their position as councillors. In this way, a private company could legally manage and adapt public schools to its economic interests.