The article of a mostly empirical character is drawn from archive data, from the sources of the Centre for Public Opinion Research, and from the first phase of the undertaking of a project of the Grant Agency of the Czech Republic entitled "The Sociological Research of the Historical Consciousness of Inhabitants of the Czech Republic". The theoretical part of the text is based on the concept of collective memory, especially on the idea of the selectivity and changeability of contents saved in the memory. This article also presents quantitative data concerning the perspective held by public opinion on Czech history, and qualitative perspectives on historical consciousness attained through the use of focus groups.