The construction of large hydraulic structures in the context of ideas and ideologies
This paper deals with some aspects of the relationship between man and water demonstrated via the example of large hydraulic structures constructed in the Czech lands. Based on this relationship, principles of the practical functioning of ideas and ideologies, including religion, can be presented. It is not just about “pagan” cults, aiming directly at worshipping water as a living being. Christianity also significantly influenced the framework in which water management operated across the centuries and, at the same time, new ideas associated with the Enlightenment and the Industrial Revolution during the 18th and 19th centuries. A key part of the paper is focused on the topic of the construction of large hydraulic structures in the 20th century, which was particularly intensive in its second half. It also mentions political, ideological, and natural changes which were, at the beginning of the 21st century, reflected in man’s relationship with water resources and the possibilities of influencing them.
