Allied victory
163-470: History Politics Economy Industry Agriculture Foreign trade Transport Education Demographics Government structure Health and social welfare Mass media Resource base Religion Society The Czechoslovak Socialist Republic , known from 1948 to 1960 as the Czechoslovak Republic , Fourth Czechoslovak Republic , or simply Czechoslovakia ,
326-605: A Ladislav Adamec led communist government, with a cabinet in which the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia held 10 of 21 seats, compared with the 15 of 20 seats they had held in the previous cabinet. The Communist Party continued to hold a strong plurality in government until democratic elections in June 1990 where the Civic Forum claimed victory, and a new government was formed on 27 June by Prime Minister Čalfa which led
489-406: A Communist-dominated government who was sworn in two days later. Although members of the other National Front parties still nominally figured, this was, for all intents and purposes, the start of out-and-out Communist rule in the country. Foreign Minister Jan Masaryk , the only prominent Minister still left who was not either a Communist or fellow traveler , was found dead two weeks later. On 30 May,
652-612: A blacklist. The antireformist coalition could hope to stay in power only with Soviet assistance. KSČ anti-reformists, therefore, made efforts to convince the Soviets that the danger of political instability and "counterrevolution" did indeed exist. They used the Kaspar Report, prepared by the Central Committee's Information Department, headed by Jan Kašpar, to achieve this end. The report provided an extensive review of
815-458: A campaign against " rootless cosmopolitans " which culminated in the conspiracy theory of the alleged Doctors' plot . In Czechoslovakia, the Stalinists also accused their opponents of "conspiracy against the people's democratic order" and "high treason" in order to oust them from positions of power. Many Communists with an "international" background, i.e., those with a wartime connection with
978-630: A fairly small segment of the populace. Even the dissenters saw scant prospect for fundamental reforms. In this sense, the Husák regime was successful in preserving the status quo in " normalized" Czechoslovakia . Prague Offensive Axis : [REDACTED] Germany [REDACTED] Hungary [REDACTED] Slovakia The Prague offensive ( Russian : Пражская стратегическая наступательная операция , romanized : Prazhskaya strategicheskaya nastupatel'naya operatsiya , lit. 'Prague strategic offensive')
1141-579: A goal. The Action Program stipulated that reform must proceed under KSČ direction. In subsequent months, however, popular pressure mounted to implement reforms forthwith. Radical elements found expression: anti-Soviet polemics appeared in the press; the Social Democrats began to form a separate party; new unaffiliated political clubs were created. Party conservatives urged the implementation of repressive measures, but Dubček counselled moderation and reemphasized KSČ leadership. In May he announced that
1304-420: A large arc to the area of Breslau , the 1st Ukrainian Front counted 71 rifle divisions and three cavalry divisions, as well as nine tank and mechanized corps. The bulk of 1st Ukrainian Front's forces were massed north of Dresden for a direct advance on Prague and included the 3rd and 4th Guards Tank Armies. The primary opponent of this thrust would be the 4th Panzer Army. To the east, five combined-arms armies and
1467-465: A letter to the KSČ leadership referring to the manifesto as an "organizational and political platform of counterrevolution." Pact members demanded the reimposition of censorship, the banning of new political parties and clubs, and the repression of "rightist" forces within the party. The Warsaw Pact nations declared the defence of Czechoslovakia's socialist gains to be not only the task of Czechoslovakia but also
1630-413: A major factor in 1980s. Homosexuality was decriminalized in 1962. Religion was oppressed and attacked in communist-era Czechoslovakia. In 1991, 46.4% of Czechoslovaks were Roman Catholics, 29.5% were atheists, 5.3% were Evangelical Lutherans, and 16.7% were n/a, but there were huge differences between the 2 constituent republics – see Czech Republic and Slovakia . After World War II, free health care
1793-660: A medieval military unit. Meanwhile, the name "Slovak" was taken from the Slovaks . During the state's existence, it was simply referred to "Czechoslovakia", or sometimes the "ČSSR" and "ČSR" for short. Before the Prague Offensive in 1945, Edvard Beneš , the Czechoslovak leader, agreed to Soviet leader Joseph Stalin 's demands for unconditional agreement with Soviet foreign policy and the Beneš decrees . While Beneš
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#17327655620251956-689: A mere rubber stamp for KSČ programmes. In 1953, an inner cabinet of the National Assembly, the Presidium, was created. Composed of KSČ leaders, the Presidium served to convey party policies through government channels. Regional, district, and local committees were subordinated to the Ministry of Interior. Slovak autonomy was constrained; the KSS was reunited with the KSČ but retained its own identity. After consolidating power, Klement Gottwald began
2119-614: A military solution. Within the Warsaw Pact, only the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) and Poland were strongly interventionist. Walter Ulbricht and Władysław Gomułka —party leaders of East Germany and Poland, respectively—viewed liberalism as threatening to their own positions. The Soviet Union agreed to bilateral talks with Czechoslovakia to be held in July at Cierna nad Tisou , Slovak-Soviet border. At
2282-562: A number of musicians to sign Charter 77. In the forefront of the struggle for independent music was the Jazz Section of the Union of Musicians. Initially organized to promote jazz, in the late 1970s it became a protector of various kinds of nonconformist music. The widely popular Jazz Section had a membership of approximately 7,000 and received no official funds. It published music and promoted concerts and festivals. The government condemned
2445-743: A protest against the end of the reforms of the Prague Spring following the Soviet invasion. Dubček remained in office only until April 1969. Anti-Soviet demonstrations , following Czechoslovakia's victory over the Soviet team in the World Ice Hockey Championships in March, precipitated Soviet pressures for a KSČ Presidium reorganization. Gustáv Husák , (a centrist and one of the Slovak "bourgeois nationalists" imprisoned by
2608-493: A quick meeting with Stalin in 1948 convinced him otherwise and so he sought to impose the Soviet model on the country as thoroughly as possible. By 1951, Gottwald's health deteriorated and he was suffering from heart disease and syphilis in addition to alcoholism. He made few public appearances in his final year of life. Gottwald died on 14 March 1953 from an aortic aneurysm , a week after attending Stalin's funeral in Moscow . He
2771-421: A resolution declaring a state of emergency and calling for "fraternal assistance." The resolution was never voted on, because the Warsaw Pact troops entered Czechoslovakia that same day (in the night of 20 August-21). KSČ conservatives had misinformed Moscow regarding the strength of the reform movement. The KSČ Presidium met during the night of 20–21 August; it rejected the option of armed resistance and condemned
2934-417: A result consumer goods were lacking in quantity and quality. This resulted in a shortage economy . Economic growth rates lagged well behind Czechoslovakia's western European counterparts. Investments made in industry did not yield the results expected, and consumption of energy and raw materials was excessive. Czechoslovak leaders themselves decried the economy's failure to modernize with sufficient speed. In
3097-559: A rigid formula of socialist realism . Soviet examples were held up for emulation. During the 1970s and 1980s, many of Czechoslovakia's most creative individuals were silenced, imprisoned, or sent into exile. Some found expression for their art through samizdat . Those artists, poets, and writers who were officially sanctioned were, for the most part, undistinguished. The award of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1984 to Jaroslav Seifert —a poet identified with reformism and not favored by
3260-421: A series of mass purges against both political opponents and fellow Communists, numbering in the tens of thousands. Children from blacklisted families were denied access to good jobs and higher education, there was widespread emigration to West Germany and Austria , and the educational system was reformed to give opportunities to working-class students. Although Gottwald originally sought a more independent line,
3423-467: A single list from the National Front , the former governing coalition which was now a broad patriotic organisation under Communist control. Beneš resigned on 2 June, and Gottwald became president twelve days later. Within the next few years, bureaucratic centralism under the direction of KSČ leadership was introduced. So-called "dissident" elements were purged from all levels of society, including
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#17327655620253586-621: A single list of candidates from the National Front, which became an organization dominated by the Communist Party, was elected to the National Assembly. After passage of the Ninth-of-May Constitution on 9 June 1948, the country became a People's Republic until 1960. Although it was not a completely Communist document, it was close enough to the Soviet model that Beneš refused to sign it. He had resigned
3749-495: A small city, and multiple hill ranges which cut across the projected line of advance. Unlike 2nd Ukrainian Front, the 4th lacked direct and major road connections from Olomouc to Prague, a factor almost guaranteed to slow its rate of advance. Soviet allied forces with 4th Ukrainian Front included the Czechoslovak Army Corps of four infantry and one tank brigades. From the region north of Dresden and Görlitz over
3912-436: A speech to the inner circle of the Communist Party in which he stated: "I did not come to take part in the solution of your problems... ...you will surely manage to solve them on your own." On 5 January 1968, the Central Committee elected Dubček to replace Novotný as first secretary of the KSČ. Novotný's fall from KSČ leadership precipitated initiatives to oust Stalinists from all levels of government, from mass associations, e.g.,
4075-492: A strength of seven divisions. To the north, the U.S. VIII Corps was subordinated to the U.S. Ninth Army . Continuing the main attack of the 1st Ukrainian Front, 3rd Guards Army captured Meissen , home of the famous German porcelain . The 13th Army and the 4th Guards Tank Army pushed 45 kilometers further to the south and reached the northern slope of the Ore Mountains. The 3rd Guards Tank Army and 5th Guards Army began
4238-457: A wary alliance of convenience and started moving west. The KONR 2nd Division had already contacted the Americans and started the march west. During the night of 8/9 May, armored units of the 3rd and 4th Guards Tank Armies pushed south some 80 kilometers, entering Prague at daybreak. The armored vanguards were shortly followed by elements of the 13th Army and 3rd Guards Army. With the help of
4401-524: A week before it was finally ratified, and died in September. The Ninth-of-May Constitution confirmed that the KSČ possessed absolute power, as other Communist parties had in the Eastern Bloc . On 11 July 1960, the 1960 Constitution of Czechoslovakia was promulgated, changing the name of the country from the " Czechoslovak Republic " to the " Czechoslovak Socialist Republic ". In 20–21 August 1968
4564-492: The 13th , 3rd Guards , and 5th Guards combined-arms armies. This group of five armies was Konev's main attack and pushed south from the area around Riesa . Facing Konev's thrust were troops of the German 4th Panzer Army. The attack opened with a reconnaissance-in-force in the morning, followed by a brief but powerful artillery barrage. 13th, 3rd Guards, and both tank armies (as well as two other tank corps) attacked southward in
4727-433: The 1st Panzer Army was deployed, including a salient that jutted eastward around Olomouc. 1st Panzer Army was outsized with six Panzer or motorized divisions in addition to 19 others organized into five corps; five divisions were directly under control of the army headquarters. In southern Moravia, Army Group Ostmark's 8th Army was deployed on a front leading to the southwest into Austria where its right flank met up with
4890-618: The 20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union . In Czechoslovakia that April, at the Second Writers' Congress, several authors criticized acts of political repression and attempted to gain control of the writers' congress. The writers' rebellion was suppressed, however, and the conservatives retained control. Students in Prague and Bratislava demonstrated on May Day of 1956, demanding freedom of speech and access to
5053-428: The 7th Army (formerly part of Army Group G ) had been pushed east by operations of the U.S. Sixth Army Group and had become a subordinate command of Army Group Centre. 7th Army was deployed roughly along a north–south axis in western Czechoslovakia. Besides one Panzer division and one Volksgrenadier division, 7th Army had only four other "divisions", two of which were named battle groups ( Schulze and Benicke ) while
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5216-494: The Battle of Bautzen , damaging the Soviet 52nd and Polish 2nd Armies. To 4th Panzer Army's right (eastern) flank was 17th Army . The 17th counted 11 divisions, including one Panzer and one motorized division. These were organized into three corps and deployed in an arc that began about 40 kilometers SW of Breslau and which led to the southeast in the vicinity of Ostrava . From here the front ran southeast to Olomouc , where
5379-582: The Cold War . In 1969, the country became a federative republic comprising the Czech Socialist Republic and Slovak Socialist Republic . Under the federation , social and economic inequities between the Czech and Slovak halves of the country were largely eliminated. Several ministries, such as Education, were formally transferred to the two republics. The centralized political control of
5542-489: The Communist Party 's strength and Beneš's loyalty, unlike in other Central and Eastern European countries, USSR did not require Eastern Bloc politics or "reliable" cadres in Czechoslovak power positions, and the executive and legislative branches retained their traditional structures. The Communists were the big winners in the 1946 elections , taking a total of 114 seats (they ran a separate list in Slovakia). Thereafter,
5705-570: The Czech endonym Češi via Polish , from the archaic Czech Čechové , originally the name of the West Slavic tribe whose Přemyslid dynasty subdued its neighbors in Bohemia around AD 900. Its further etymology is disputed. The traditional etymology derives it from an eponymous leader Čech who led the tribe into Bohemia . Modern theories consider it an obscure derivative, e.g. from četa ,
5868-679: The Czech National Council and the Slovak National Council (i.e., national parliaments). The Gustáv Husák regime amended the law in January 1971 so that, while federalism was retained in form, central authority was effectively restored. In the meantime, a Slovak parliament and government had been created, including all ministries except for defence and foreign affairs. Besides, a so-called no-majorisation principle requiring consensus between Czechia and Slovakia at
6031-541: The Iron Curtain . The 1993 Act on Lawlessness of the Communist Regime and on Resistance Against It determined that the communist government was illegal and that the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia was a criminal organisation . On 25 February 1948, President Edvard Beneš gave in to the demands of Communist Prime Minister Klement Gottwald and appointed a Cabinet dominated by Communists. While it
6194-540: The Old Town Square , one of the centers of uprising, but later were pushed back. The buildings of Town Hall , despite being severely damaged, remained in the hands of insurgents for the duration of the uprising. The overwhelming pressure on the uprising and the civilian population continued. On 7 May, Jodl signed the surrender of all German forces at SHAEF . The surrender was to become effective at 0001 hours on 9 May. In western Czechoslovakia, upon receipt of
6357-466: The Ore Mountains to advance on Prague from the area north of Dresden and Bautzen. The other significant military terrain obstacle was urban areas, the two largest of which to surmount were Dresden and Prague itself. With Soviet and U.S. forces pressing in from all sides, Army Group Centre's deployment resembled a horseshoe straddling the historical regions of Bohemia and Moravia . To the west,
6520-538: The Warsaw Pact in 1955. The attainment of Soviet-style "socialism" became the government's avowed policy. Although in theory Czechoslovakia remained a multi-party state, in reality the Communists had complete control of the country. Political participation became subject to KSČ approval. The KSČ also prescribed percentage representation for non-Marxist parties. The National Assembly, purged of dissidents, became
6683-628: The autonomous regions of Slovakia and Subcarpathian Ruthenia. Annexed by Hungary (1939–1945). ČSR; declared a "people's democracy" (without a formal name change) under the Ninth-of-May Constitution following the 1948 coup . ČSSR; from 1969, after the Prague Spring , consisted of the Czech Socialist Republic (ČSR) and Slovak Socialist Republic (SSR). Oblast of the Ukrainian SSR . Oblast of Ukraine . History of Czechoslovakia (1948%E2%80%931989) From
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6846-405: The nationalisation of all commercial and industrial enterprises having more than fifty employees. The non-agricultural private sector was nearly eliminated. Private ownership of land was limited to fifty hectares. The remnants of private enterprise and independent farming were permitted to carry on only as a temporary concession to the petite bourgeoisie and the peasantry. The Czechoslovak economy
7009-416: The 1950s, Czechoslovakia experienced high economic growth (averaging 7% per year), which allowed for a substantial increase in wages and living standards, thus promoting the stability of the regime. After World War II, the country was short on energy, relying on imported crude oil and natural gas from the Soviet Union, domestic brown coal , and nuclear and hydroelectric energy . Energy constraints were
7172-409: The 1968 Fourteenth Party Congress had been abrogated, that "normalization" had been "completed" and that all the party needed to do was consolidate its gains. Husák's policy was to maintain a rigid status quo; for the next fifteen years, key personnel of the party and government remained the same. In 1975, Husák added the position of president to his post as party chief. He and other party leaders faced
7335-503: The 1st Ukrainian Front long enough for the other field armies of the army group to fall back to the west. The orders from Stalin on 1 May to the three fronts called for the offensive to commence on 7 May. On 4 May, Marshal Konev provided detailed orders to his army commanders for three thrusts by the 1st Ukrainian Front. A main thrust would occur on the right (western) wing with three combined-arms armies, two tank armies (3rd and 4th Guards Tank Armies) and five artillery divisions, following
7498-466: The 3rd Army). VIII Corps numbered one armored and three infantry divisions while V Corps was made up of one armored division and two infantry divisions. An additional infantry division under control of 3rd Army Headquarters was also in V Corps' sector, and a second armored division would be subordinated to V Corps before VE Day . XII Corps commanded two armored divisions and two infantry divisions. Exerting some pressure on German 7th Army, these corps of
7661-423: The 6th SS Panzer Army in the area north and west of Vienna . 8th Army could call on a Panzer division and a motorized division, as well as six other divisions. Facing part of the German 1st Panzer and 8th Armies in the region of Brno , the Soviet 2nd Ukrainian Front numbered 37 rifle divisions, six cavalry divisions, and four tank or mechanized corps. The 2nd Ukrainian Front was expected to advance northwest over
7824-569: The Action Programme during the Prague Spring that was actually achieved was the federalization of the country. Although it was mostly a formality during the normalization period, Czechoslovakia had been federalized under the Constitutional Law of Federation of 27 October 1968. The newly created Federal Assembly (i.e., federal parliament), which replaced the National Assembly, was intended to work in close cooperation with
7987-502: The American lines to see Schörner. Meyer-Detring told Schörner that the formal capitulation of Germany meant that any withdrawal as a large formation by troops of Army Group Centre was out of the question, and that the German troops should attempt to make their way west and surrender to U.S. forces. Schörner was skeptical that such was possible. On his return Meyer-Detring reported that Schörner had ordered his operational command to observe
8150-476: The Bratislava Declaration. The declaration affirmed unshakable fidelity to Marxism-Leninism and proletarian internationalism and declared an implacable struggle against "bourgeois" ideology and all "antisocialist" forces. The Soviet Union expressed its intention to intervene in a Warsaw Pact country if a "bourgeois" system—a pluralist system of several political parties—was ever established. After
8313-587: The Bratislava conference, Soviet troops left Czechoslovak territory but remained along Czechoslovak borders. Dubček did not attempt to mobilize the Czechoslovak army to resist an invasion. The KSČ party congress remained scheduled for 9 September. In the week following the Bratislava conference, it became an open secret in Prague that most of Dubček's opponents would be removed from the Central Committee. The Prague municipal party organization prepared and circulated
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#17327655620258476-618: The Catholic Church. The ideological principles of Marxism-Leninism and pervaded cultural and intellectual life. The entire education system was submitted to state control. With the elimination of private ownership of means of production, a planned economy was introduced. Czechoslovakia became a satellite state of the Soviet Union ; it was a founding member of the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (Comecon) in 1949 and of
8639-703: The Charter. The text was never published in the official media. Signatories were arrested and interrogated; dismissal from employment often followed. The Czechoslovak press launched vicious attacks against the Charter. The public was mobilized to sign either individual condemnations or various forms of "anti-Charters." Closely associated with Charter 77, the Committee for the Defense of the Unjustly Persecuted (Výbor na obranu nespravedlivě stíhaných— VONS )
8802-640: The Communist coup d'état in February 1948 to the Velvet Revolution in 1989, Czechoslovakia was ruled by the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia ( Czech : Komunistická strana Československa , KSČ ). The country belonged to the Eastern Bloc and was a member of the Warsaw Pact and of Comecon . During the era of Communist Party rule , thousands of Czechoslovaks faced political persecution for various offences, such as trying to emigrate across
8965-484: The Communist Party severely limited the effects of federalization . The 1970s saw the rise of the dissident movement in Czechoslovakia , represented (among others) by Václav Havel . The movement sought greater political participation and expression in the face of official disapproval, making itself felt by limits on work activities (up to a ban on any professional employment and refusal of higher education to
9128-402: The Czech population, Prague was freed of German troops around 10:00 hours. The Red Army casualties were only ten men killed, in what was described as their "easiest victory" of the war. In any event, German troops in and around Prague were anxious to flee to the west, although Soviet columns, Czech partisans , and an angry Czech populace made the journey to U.S. lines anything but certain. In
9291-505: The Czech primate, adopted a more independent stand. In 1984 he invited the Pope to come to Czechoslovakia for the 1,100th anniversary of the death of Saint Methodius , the missionary to the Slavs . The pope accepted, but the trip was blocked by the government. The cardinal 's invitation and the pope's acceptance were widely circulated in samizdat. A petition requesting the government to permit
9454-525: The Czechoslovak Socialist Republic was jointly invaded by the Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact . The invasion stopped Alexander Dubček 's Prague Spring liberalisation reforms and strengthened the authoritarian wing of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSČ). Except the Prague Spring in the late-1960s, Czechoslovakia was characterized by the absence of democracy and competitiveness of its Western European counterparts as part of
9617-432: The Czechoslovak military was further integrated into the Warsaw Pact. In the 1980s, approximately 50% of Czechoslovakia's foreign trade was with the Soviet Union, and almost 80% was with communist countries. There were constant exhortations about further cooperation and integration between the Soviet Union and Czechoslovakia in industry, science, technology, consumer goods, and agriculture. Deriving its legitimacy from Moscow,
9780-651: The Federal Assembly in Prague was enacted. But due to the fact that neither governments nor parliaments made political decisions under the regime, it remained just a formality. Decisions were taken "by the politburo of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. There was one communist party and it was situated in Prague". Deciding about Slovak affairs in Slovakia was not allowed to happen. At the official Fourteenth Party Congress in May 1971, party chief Husák announced
9943-718: The Federal Assembly, which, according to the Constitution of 1960, is the highest legislative organization. The Helsinki Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe's Final Act (also known as the Helsinki Accords ), signed by Czechoslovakia in 1975, also included guarantees of human rights . The first organized opposition emerged under the umbrella of Charter 77 . On 6 January 1977, a manifesto called Charter 77 appeared in West German newspapers. The document
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#173276556202510106-615: The Fourteenth Party Congress would convene in an early session on 9 September. The congress would incorporate the Action Program into the party statutes, draft a federalization law, and elect a new (presumably more liberal) Central Committee. On 27 June, Ludvík Vaculík , a lifelong communist and a candidate member of the Central Committee, published a manifesto entitled the " Two Thousand Words ". The manifesto expressed concern about conservative elements within
10269-555: The German forces to avoid being captured by Russia and facilitate separate negotiation with Western Allies. The German remnant forces continued to resist the USSR 4th and 1st Ukrainian Fronts while only accepting an armistice on the Western Front. The Nazi regime considered Czechoslovakia and neighboring areas as their last bastion in the event that Berlin fell. Therefore, in 1945 they concentrated many powerful military units in
10432-532: The German occupation forces. Fighting in desperate circumstances, the Czechs gained control of a radio station and, besides calling on Czechs to join the uprising, also broadcast on 5 May an appeal in Russian and English for air support to hold off German armored units. These developments prompted Stalin to hasten the start of the Soviet offensive and it was ordered to commence one day earlier, on 6 May. Adding to
10595-434: The German troops there finally surrendered. The terrain over which the Soviets had to advance was varied, but in the main mountainous and forested. The routes of march of the 1st and 4th Ukrainian Fronts were perpendicular to the orientation of the ridges while the 2nd Ukrainian Front was able to move along a less arduous route in regions of lower elevation that led to Prague. In particular, the 1st Ukrainian Front had to cross
10758-415: The Husák regime remained a slavish imitator of political, cultural, and economic trends emanating from Moscow. Through the 1970s and 1980s, the government's emphasis on obedience, conformity, and the preservation of the status quo was challenged by individuals and organized groups aspiring to independent thinking and activity. Although only a few such activities could be deemed political by Western standards,
10921-411: The Husák regime—was a bright spot in an otherwise bleak cultural scene. In addition to applying repression, Husák also tried to obtain acquiescence to his rule by providing an improved standard of living. He returned Czechoslovakia to an orthodox command economy with a heavy emphasis on central planning and continued to extend industrialization. For a while, the policy seemed successful because, despite
11084-421: The Jazz Section for spreading "unacceptable views" among the youth and moved against its leadership. In March 1985, the Jazz Section was dissolved under a 1968 statute banning " counterrevolutionary activities." The Jazz Section continued to operate, however, and in 1986 the government arrested the members of its steering committee. Because religion offered possibilities for thought and activities independent of
11247-439: The KSČ and "foreign" forces as well. (Warsaw Pact maneuvers were held in Czechoslovakia in late June.) It called on the "people" to take the initiative in implementing the reform program. Dubček, the party Presidium, the National Front, and the cabinet sharply denounced the manifesto. The Soviet leadership was alarmed. In mid-July a Warsaw Pact conference was held without Czechoslovak participation. The Warsaw Pact nations drafted
11410-421: The KSČ in the 1950s), was named first secretary (title changed to general secretary in 1971). Only centrists and the hardliners led by Vasil Bilak continued in the Presidium. A program of " normalization "—the restoration of continuity with the prereform period—was initiated. Normalization entailed thoroughgoing political repression and the return to ideological conformity One of the few changes proposed by
11573-553: The National Assembly adopted the Unified Agricultural Cooperatives Act. Cooperatives were to be founded on a voluntary basis; formal title to land was left vested in the original owners. The imposition of high compulsory quotas, however, forced peasants to collectivise in order to increase efficiency and facilitate mechanisation. Discriminatory policies were employed to bring about the ruin of recalcitrant kulaks (wealthy peasants). Collectivisation
11736-571: The Polish 2nd Army made up the left (eastern) wing of the front, the advance of which would pressure mainly the German 17th Army. Facing the main 1st Ukrainian Front advance were the Ore Mountains , as well as the urban areas of Dresden and Bautzen. The main axes of late-war Soviet offensives were marked on the one hand by tank armies and by the presence of Reserve of the Supreme High Command ( Stavka Reserve) artillery divisions on
11899-554: The Presidium. Kolder and Indra viewed the Kašpar Report with alarm and, some observers think, communicated their conclusions to the Soviet ambassador, Stepan Chervonenko . These actions are thought to have precipitated the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia. As the KSČ Presidium convened on 20 August, the anti-reformists planned to make a bid for power, pointing to the imminent danger of counterrevolution. Kolder and Indra presented
12062-675: The Revolutionary Trade Union Movement and the Czechoslovak Union Youth, and from local party organs. On 22 March 1968, Novotný resigned from the presidency and was succeeded by General Ludvík Svoboda . Dubček carried the reform movement a step further in the direction of liberalism. After Novotný's fall, censorship was lifted. The media—press, radio, and television—were mobilized for reformist propaganda purposes. The movement to democratize socialism in Czechoslovakia, formerly confined largely to
12225-542: The Soviet Union was disappointed that the government failed to eliminate "bourgeois" influence in the army, expropriate industrialists and large landowners and eliminate parties outside of the "National Front". Hope in Moscow was waning for a Communist victory in the 1948 elections following a May 1947 Kremlin report concluding that "reactionary elements" praising Western democracy had strengthened. Following Czechoslovakia's brief consideration of taking Marshall Plan funds, and
12388-464: The Soviet Union. Germany's capital, Berlin, was on the verge of capitulation in the face of a massive Soviet attack and the great bulk of Germany had been conquered. However, in southeastern Germany, parts of Austria and Czechoslovakia, there were still large bodies of active German troops of Army Group Centre and the remnants of Army Group Ostmark . On 2 May 1945, Generaloberst Alfred Jodl , Chief of Staff of Oberkommando der Wehrmacht , ordered
12551-502: The Soviet action. In compliance with Svoboda's caution against acts that might provoke violence, they avoided mass demonstrations and strikes but observed a symbolic one-hour general work stoppage on 23 August. Popular opposition was expressed in numerous spontaneous acts of nonviolent resistance , also called civil resistance . In Prague and other cities throughout the republic, Czechs and Slovaks greeted Warsaw Pact soldiers with arguments and reproaches. Every form of assistance, including
12714-646: The Soviet military objectives of the offensive had been met. The bulk of German troops in Army Group Centre were taken prisoner by the Soviets in the two days following the liberation of Prague, while elements of the 1st and 2nd Ukrainian Fronts pushed west to the Chemnitz-Karlovy Vary-Plzen demarcation line with U.S. forces. Fearing their treatment at the hands of the locals or Soviet Army troops, remnant formations of Army Group Centre continued their resistance until 10/11 May, and in
12877-420: The Soviet position. Frequent contacts between the Soviet and Czechoslovak communist parties and governments made certain that the Soviet position on any issue was both understood and followed. The Soviets continued to exert control over Czechoslovak internal affairs, including oversight over the police and security apparatus. Five Soviet ground divisions and two air divisions had become a permanent fixture, while
13040-428: The U.S. Army did not advance on Prague although their presence in western Bohemia stimulated Czech resistance to the German occupation, indirectly influencing the Prague uprising . By agreement with the Soviets, the U.S. forces did not advance in strength eastward of an irregular demarcation line that at points touched Leipzig, Karlovy Vary, and Plzen. Realizing that the Soviets would attack Army Group Centre following
13203-438: The USSR alone would destroy local German forces as soon as possible. At that point, events external to formal military planning erupted. By 5 May, the lead units of the U.S. V Corps had reached Plzen, with word of the American advance reaching the residents of Prague and playing a part in the decision of the city's Czech citizens to rise up against the German occupation. The uprising in Prague came into immediate conflict with
13366-547: The Warsaw Pact and promised to curb "antisocialist" tendencies, prevent the revival of the Czechoslovak Social Democratic Party, and control the press more effectively. The Soviets agreed to withdraw their troops (stationed in Czechoslovakia since the June maneuvers) and permit the 9 September party congress. On 3 August, representatives from the Soviet Union, East Germany, Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, and Czechoslovakia met in Bratislava and signed
13529-895: The West, veterans of the Spanish Civil War, Jews, and Slovak " bourgeois nationalists ", were arrested and executed in show trials (e.g., Heliodor Píka , Milada Horáková ). Most spectacular was the Slánský trial against KSČ first secretary Rudolf Slánský and thirteen other prominent Communist personalities in November and December 1952. Slánský and ten other defendants were executed , while three were sentenced to life imprisonment . The KSČ rank-and-file membership, approximately 2.5 million in March 1948, began to be subjected to careful scrutiny. By 1960, KSČ membership had been reduced to 1.4 million. The Ninth-of-May Constitution provided for
13692-629: The Western press. The Novotný regime condemned these activities and introduced a policy of neo-Stalinism . After the Hungarian Revolution of October 1956 had been suppressed by Russian tanks and troops, many Czechs lost courage. The 1958 KSČ Party Congress (XI. Congress, 18 June − 21 June) formalized the continuation of Stalinism . In the early 1960s, the Economy of Czechoslovakia became severely stagnated. The industrial growth rate
13855-580: The advancing Soviets and were completely routed. The Czech partisans resumed hostilities against the fleeing German troops regardless of their intentions or nationality, in what the veterans of the 20th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Estonian) who had laid their weapons down in May 1945 recalled as the Czech Hell . The last shots were fired close to the Slivice settlement, 4 kilometers southeast of
14018-473: The afternoon, with the 13th Army and the 4th Guards Tank Army pushing forward some 23 kilometers. By evening, 5th Guards Army had joined the attack with the objective of capturing Dresden. Ending a separate 1st Ukrainian Front operation, 40,000 German troops in Breslau surrendered to the Soviet 6th Army after a two-month-long siege . On 6 May, 4th Ukrainian Front attacked to the west, intent upon capturing
14181-413: The aid of modern publishing equipment. Publication and distribution were also dangerous. Mere possession of samizdat materials could be the basis for harassment, loss of employment, and arrest and imprisonment. Independent activity also extended to music. The state was particularly concerned about the impact of Western popular music on Czechoslovak youth. The persecution of rock musicians and their fans led
14344-426: The battle to capture Dresden. The 2nd Polish Army thrust to the southwest in support of the operations against Dresden. Farther to the east, the second attack of the front developed as the 28th and 52nd Armies attacked to the south. Following a 30-minute artillery barrage, the 7th Guards Army and the 6th Guards Tank Army led an attack to the northwest, opening the offensive of the 2nd Ukrainian Front. Adding to
14507-639: The cases of some small units, later into May 1945. The left flank of the 2nd Ukrainian Front met with troops of the U.S. Third Army ( George Patton ) in the regions of České Budějovice and Písek . Later, 1st and 2nd Ukrainian Fronts met with Americans in the regions of Karlovy Vary and Klatovy . With these unit movements, the Prague Offensive concluded three days after Victory in Europe Day . German soldiers, ethnic German civilians, and ethnic Czech collaborators fleeing Prague were surprised by
14670-414: The central government in program planning and assume responsibility for program implementation in Slovakia. The regional, district, and local national committees were to be permitted a degree of autonomy. The KSČ agreed to refrain from superseding the authority of economic and social organizations. Party control in cultural policy, however, was reaffirmed. January 1967 was the date for full implementation of
14833-417: The city of Olomouc. Defending against the Soviet attack in front of Olomouc was the 1st Panzer Army. In the west, the U.S. V and XII Corps attacked into western Czechoslovakia against the defenses of the German 7th Army. Elements of the 16th Armored Division captured Plzen while a combat command of the 4th Armored Division captured Strakonice . In all, the two corps advanced into Czechoslovakia with
14996-604: The city while the KONR 2nd Division took up positions south of the city. Ostensibly allied with the Germans, the allegiance of the KONR forces would prove to vary depending on the situation they faced. On the Allied side, both Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin saw Prague as a particularly important prize, the capture of which could significantly influence the political makeup of postwar Czechoslovakia. On 1 May 1945, before Berlin
15159-613: The confusion in Prague but providing useful assistance to the Czechs, the 1st Division of the Russian Liberation Army (ROA) under General Bunyachenko moved into Prague and engaged in combat with their erstwhile German allies. By 7 May, the 1st Division had occupied the airport and the radio station. The Czech National Council however denounced the ROA. The Soviet government labelled all ROA soldiers as traitors, and their members were sentenced to detention in prison camps. On
15322-405: The difficulties of the defending German 8th Army, the Soviet 9th Guards Army and 46th Army reinforced the attack on its left (southern) wing. By the end of the day, the front had pushed 12 kilometers into the German lines along an advance 25 kilometers in breadth. Between the 2nd and 1st Ukrainian Fronts, the 4th Ukrainian Front continued its advance on Olomouc. In Prague, German troops reached
15485-542: The dissident's children), police harassment and even prison time. In late 1989, the country became a democracy again through the Velvet Revolution . In 1992, the Federal Assembly decided it would break up the country into the Czech Republic and Slovakia on 1 January 1993. The Czechoslovak Socialist Republic was bounded on the west by West Germany and East Germany , on the north by Poland, on
15648-515: The early spring of 1968, the Soviet leadership adopted a wait-and-see attitude. By midsummer, however, two camps had formed: advocates and opponents of military intervention. The pro-interventionist coalition viewed the situation in Czechoslovakia as "counterrevolutionary" and favoured the defeat of Dubček and his supporters. This coalition was headed by the Ukrainian party leader Petro Shelest and included communist bureaucrats from Belarus and from
15811-424: The east by the Soviet Union (via the Ukrainian SSR ) and on the south by Hungary and Austria. The Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSČ) led initially by First Secretary Klement Gottwald , held a monopoly on politics. Following the 1948 Tito–Stalin split , increased party purges occurred throughout the Eastern Bloc , including a purge of 550,000 party members of the KSČ, 30% of its members. The evolution of
15974-429: The electoral system were to be democratized, and Czechoslovakia was to be federalized. Freedom of assembly and expression would be guaranteed in constitutional law. The New Economic Model was to be implemented. The Action Program also reaffirmed the Czechoslovak alliance with the Soviet Union and other socialist states. The reform movement, which rejected Stalinism as the road to communism, remained committed to communism as
16137-584: The establishment of free contact with Western culture. The Novotný regime responded with repressive measures. At the 30–31 October 1967 meeting of the KSČ Central Committee, Alexander Dubček , a Slovak reformer who had studied in the Soviet Union, challenged Novotný and was accused of nationalism. As university students in Prague demonstrated in support of the liberals, Novotný appealed to Moscow for assistance. On 8 December, Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev arrived in Prague but did not support Novotný, giving
16300-407: The general political situation in Czechoslovakia as it might relate to the forthcoming party congress. It predicted that a stable Central Committee and a firm leadership could not necessarily be expected as the outcome of the congress. The party Presidium received the report on 12 August. Two Presidium members, Kolder and Alois Indra , were instructed to evaluate the report for the 20 August meeting of
16463-621: The government until its end. The official name of the country was the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic . The name also means "Land of the Czechs and Slovaks " while Latinised from the country's original name – "the Czechoslovak Nation" – upon independence in 1918, from the Czech endonym Češi – via its Polish orthography The name "Czech" derives from
16626-497: The implementation of the 1960 Constitution of Czechoslovakia as a symbol of the "final victory of socialism " in the country. In April 1990, shortly after the Velvet Revolution of November 1989 , the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic was renamed to the Czech and Slovak Federative Republic . On 10 December 1989, the National Government of Understanding was established with Marián Čalfa as Prime Minister, replacing
16789-413: The invasion. Two-thirds of the KSČ Central Committee opposed the Soviet intervention. A KSČ party congress, convened secretly on 22 August, passed a resolution affirming its loyalty to Dubček's Action Program and denouncing the Soviet aggression. President Svoboda repeatedly resisted Soviet pressure to form a new government under Indra. The Czechoslovak population was virtually unanimous in its repudiation of
16952-528: The lack of investment in new technologies, there was an increase in industrial output. The government encouraged consumerism and materialism and took a tolerant attitude toward a slack work ethic and a growing black market second economy: Another feature of Husák's rule was a continued dependence on the Soviet Union. As of the mid-1980s, Husák had not yet achieved a balance between what could be perceived as Czechoslovak national interest and Soviet dictate. In foreign policy, Czechoslovakia parroted every utterance of
17115-400: The late hours of the day (after midnight), units from 4th and 2nd Ukrainian Fronts also reached Prague, including the armored brigade of the Czechoslovak Army Corps . The arrival of the other fronts meant the bulk of Army Group Centre was cut off and forced into a pocket to the east, northeast, and south of Prague. With Soviet units in Prague and pushing further west and south into Bohemia,
17278-419: The less mountainous country to Prague and would lead its advance with the 6th Guards Tank Army . Soviet allied forces with 2nd Ukrainian Front were the 1st and 4th Romanian Armies, totaling 12 infantry divisions and three cavalry divisions. Confronting primarily the 1st Panzer Army, the 4th Ukrainian Front commanded 34 rifle divisions and one tank corps. 4th Ukrainian Front faced the obstacles of Olomouc,
17441-420: The mass media was generally forbidden, although churches and other organizations published small periodicals and newspapers. Even with this informational monopoly in the hands of organizations under KSČ control, all publications were reviewed by the government's Office for Press and Information. ČSR; boundaries and government established by the 1920 constitution . Annexed by Nazi Germany . ČSR; included
17604-419: The mechanisms designed to protect them; and to act as intermediary in situations of conflict. The Charter had over 800 signatures by the end of 1977, including workers and youth; by 1985 nearly 1,200 Czechoslovaks had signed the Charter. The Husák regime, which claimed that all rights derive from the state and that international covenants are subject to the internal jurisdiction of the state, responded with fury to
17767-445: The meeting, Dubček defended the program of the reformist wing of the KSČ while pledging commitment to the Warsaw Pact and Comecon. The KSČ leadership, however, was divided. Vigorous reformers—Josef Smrkovský, Oldřich Černík , and František Kriegel —supported Dubček. Conservatives—Vasil Biľak, Drahomír Kolder, and Oldřich Švestka—adopted an anti-reformist stance. Brezhnev decided on compromise. The KSČ delegates reaffirmed their loyalty to
17930-423: The mid-1980s, several samizdat publishing houses were in operation. The best known was Edice Petlice (Padlock Editions), which had published more than 250 volumes. There were a number of clandestine religious publishing houses that published journals in photocopy or printed form. The production and distribution of underground literature was difficult. In most cases, manuscripts had to be typed and retyped without
18093-412: The morning of May 9, the first Soviet tanks arrived in Prague, the first tanks of the 1st Czechoslovak Tank Brigade arrived in the city on May 10. By May 11, the troops were clearing the area of hidden remaining German troops. The Soviet offensive commenced on 6 May and concluded on 11 May. Konev's 1st Ukrainian Front opened the Prague Offensive with an attack by the 3rd and 4th Guard Tank Armies and
18256-412: The mutual task of all Warsaw Pact countries. The KSČ rejected the Warsaw Pact ultimatum, and Dubček requested bilateral talks with the Soviet Union. Soviet leader Brezhnev hesitated to intervene militarily in Czechoslovakia. Dubček's Action Program proposed a "new model of socialism"—"democratic" and "national." Significantly, however, Dubček did not challenge Czechoslovak commitment to the Warsaw Pact. In
18419-403: The news of the surrender, U.S. forces ceased offensive operations and assumed a defensive posture. U.S. V Corps took Karlovy Vary on the day of the surrender. OKW had last heard from Schörner on 2 May when he reported his intention to fight his way west and surrender his army group to the Americans. On 8 May Colonel Wilhelm Meyer-Detring, a German liaison officer from OKW , was escorted through
18582-494: The next day in civilian clothes. Nine days later, he was detained in Austria by German troops who handed him over to the Americans. By the evening of 8 May, Dresden fell to 3rd Guards Tank Army and the 5th Guards Army. On the same day, the 4th Ukrainian Front pushed the Germans out of Olomouc. The Soviets broadcast a demand that the remaining German forces in the field were to lay down their arms by 23:00 hours that day. No reply
18745-542: The non-Russian national republics of the western part of the Soviet Union (the Baltic republics). The coalition members feared the awakening of nationalism within their respective republics and the influence of the Ukrainian minority in Czechoslovakia on Ukrainians in the Soviet Union. Bureaucrats responsible for political stability in Soviet cities and for the ideological supervision of the intellectual community also favoured
18908-433: The other. In May 1945, the 1st Ukrainian Front counted six artillery divisions and one rocket launcher division (as well as one Polish artillery division), the 4th Ukrainian Front had two artillery divisions, and the 2nd Ukrainian Front commanded four artillery divisions and one rocket launcher division. Facing the German 7th Army to the west were the U.S. VIII Corps (of the 9th Army), V Corps , and XII Corps (both of
19071-491: The papal visit had 17,000 signatories. The Catholic Church did have a massive commemoration of the 1,100th anniversary in 1985. At Velehrad (allegedly the site of Methodius's tomb) more than 150,000 pilgrims attended a commemorative mass, and another 100,000 came to a ceremony at Levoca (in eastern Slovakia). Unlike in Poland , dissent , opposition to the government, and independent activity were limited in Czechoslovakia to
19234-698: The party approved the New Economic Model, which had been drafted under the direction of economist and theoretician Ota Šik . The program called for a second, intensive stage of economic development, emphasizing technological and managerial improvements. Central planning would be limited to overall production and investment indexes as well as price and wage guidelines. Management personnel would be involved in decision-making. Production would be market oriented and geared toward profitability. Prices would respond to supply and demand. Wage differentials would be introduced. The KSČ "Theses" of December 1965 presented
19397-513: The party considered to be trustworthy enough to secure a nomenklatura post were compiled on the cadre list. General Secretary as First Secretary 1969–1971 as General Secretary 1971–1987 Communist-controlled Czechoslovakia was an active participant in the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance ( Comecon ), Warsaw Pact , the UN and its specialized agencies, and Non-Aligned Movement ; it
19560-483: The party intelligentsia, acquired a new, popular dynamism in the spring of 1968. In April the KSČ Presidium adopted the Action Programme that had been drafted by a coalition headed by Dubček and made up of reformers, moderates, centrists, and conservatives. The program proposed a "new model of socialism," profoundly "democratic" and "national," that is, adapted to Czechoslovak conditions. The National Front and
19723-400: The party response to the call for political reform. Democratic centralism was redefined, placing a stronger emphasis on democracy. The leading role of the KSČ was reaffirmed but limited. In consequence, the National Assembly was promised increased legislative responsibility. The Slovak executive (Board of Commissioners) and legislature (Slovak National Council) were assured that they could assist
19886-561: The protection of civil and human rights. It denied oppositional intent and based its defense of rights on legally binding international documents signed by the Czechoslovak government and on guarantees of civil rights contained in the Czechoslovak Constitution. The Charter 77 group declared its objectives to be the following: to draw attention to individual cases of human rights infringements; to suggest remedies; to make general proposals to strengthen rights and freedoms and
20049-446: The provision of food and water, was denied the invaders. Signs, placards, and graffiti drawn on walls and pavements denounced the invaders, the Soviet leaders, and suspected collaborators. Pictures of Dubček and Svoboda appeared everywhere. The generalized resistance caused the Soviet Union to abandon its original plan to oust Dubček. Dubček, who had been arrested on the night of 20 August, was taken to Moscow for negotiations. The outcome
20212-513: The radio in Prague that he would drown any uprising in a "sea of blood". Frank was also a general of the Waffen-SS . The situation in Prague was unstable. Frank knew that several Soviet Army fronts were advancing towards Prague. More immediately, he was faced with a city population ready to be liberated. At the same time, two divisions of the Russian Liberation Army (KONR) arrived in the vicinity of Prague. The KONR 1st Division encamped north of
20375-445: The reality of Communist power through an addition that declared Czechoslovakia a people's republic – a preliminary step towards socialism and, ultimately, communism – ruled by the dictatorship of the proletariat , and also gave the Communist Party the leading role in the state. For these reasons, Beneš refused to sign the so-called Ninth-of-May Constitution . Nevertheless, elections were held on 30 May, and voters were presented with
20538-415: The reform program. Novotný and his supporters hesitated, introducing amendments to reinforce central control. Pressure from the reformists was stepped up. Slovaks pressed for federalization. Economists called for complete enterprise autonomy and economic responsiveness to the market mechanism. The Fourth Writers' Congress adopted a resolution calling for rehabilitation of the Czechoslovak literary tradition and
20701-431: The region, including elements of 6th SS Panzer Army , 1st and 4th Panzer Armies, and 7th , 8th and 17th Combined Armies. Jodl had ordered the local Nazi regime to prepare numerous fortified buildings which could serve as offices for the new Nazi government and German High Command. From 30 April to 1 May 1945, SS Senior Group Leader ( Obergruppenführer ) and General of Police Karl Hermann Frank announced over
20864-418: The remaining two were replacement army formations mobilized for combat and filled out with military school staffs and trainees. To the northeast of Prague and just north of Dresden and Bautzen, the 4th Panzer Army defended along a front running slightly southeast. 4th Panzer Army had five Panzer or mechanized divisions, as well as 13 other divisions or battle groups. Furthermore, 4th Panzer Army had just won
21027-412: The resulting harshness of purges in Czechoslovakia, like much of its history after 1948, was a function of the late takeover by the communists, with many of the purges focusing on the sizable numbers of party members with prior memberships in other parties. The purges accompanied various show trials , including those of Rudolf Slánský , Vladimír Clementis , Ladislav Novomeský and Gustáv Husák (Clementis
21190-443: The right to work, leisure, health care, and education), with less emphasis on civil rights. The judiciary was combined with the prosecuting branch; all judges were committed to the protection of the socialist state and the education of citizens in loyalty to the cause of socialism. De-Stalinization had a late start in Czechoslovakia. The KSČ leadership virtually ignored the Soviet law announced by Nikita Khrushchev 25 February 1956 at
21353-613: The state viewed any independent action, no matter how innocuous, as a defiance of the party's control over all aspects of Czechoslovak life. The government's response to such activity was harassment, persecution, and, in some instances, imprisonment. In the context of international detente, Czechoslovakia had signed the United Nations Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights and the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in 1968. In 1975 these were ratified by
21516-530: The state, it too was severely restricted and controlled. Clergymen were required to be licensed. In attempting to manipulate the number and kind of clergy, the state even sponsored a pro-government organization of Catholic priests, the Association of Catholic Clergy Pacem in Terris . Nevertheless, there was religious opposition, including a lively Catholic samizdat . In the 1980s, Cardinal František Tomášek ,
21679-537: The subsequent scolding of Communist parties by the Cominform at Szklarska Poręba in September 1947, Rudolf Slánský returned to Prague with a plan for the final seizure of power. Thereafter, Soviet Ambassador Valerian Zorin arranged a communist coup d'état , followed by the occupation of non-Communist ministers' ministries, while the army was confined to barracks. On 25 February 1948, Beneš, fearful of civil war and Soviet intervention, capitulated and appointed
21842-418: The suppression of the kulak, the most experienced and productive farmer; and the peasantry's opposition to collectivisation, which resulted in sabotage. The 1960 Constitution of Czechoslovakia declared the victory of "socialism" and proclaimed the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic . The ambiguous precept of " democratic centralism " – power emanating from the people but bound by the authority of higher organs –
22005-505: The surrender but could not guarantee he would be obeyed everywhere. Pushing forward another 40 kilometers, the main thrust of the 1st Ukrainian Front broke through German resistance in the Ore Mountains and approached to within 70-80 kilometers of Prague. The advance of the 4th Guards Tank Army came upon the headquarters of Army Group Centre, capturing or killing the headquarters personnel, but not Schörner, who, deserting his command, made his way to Podbořany , from where he flew to Bavaria
22168-400: The surrender of Berlin, on 5 May Field Marshal Schörner devised a plan ( Blumen-Operation ) in which the units of Army Group Centre would attempt a fighting withdrawal to the west where they would be in a position to surrender to U.S. forces versus those of the Soviet Union. Schörner envisioned withdrawal phase lines (given the names of flowers) and intended for the 4th Panzer Army to hold off
22331-451: The task of rebuilding general party membership after the purges of 1969–71. By 1983, membership had returned to 1.6 million, about the same as in 1960. In preserving the status quo, the Husák regime required conformity and obedience in all aspects of life. Czech and Slovak culture suffered greatly from the limitations on independent thought, as did the humanities , social sciences , and ultimately even natural sciences . Art had to adhere to
22494-439: The tens of thousands, surrendered to U.S. forces in western Czechoslovakia and Austria, although numbers of these were later turned over to the Soviet Union. Czechoslovakia was free of the German occupation regime for the first time since late 1938. The country's prewar borders, however, would not be completely restored as the Soviets engineered the cession of Carpathian Ruthenia to the USSR in July 1945. Western Czechoslovakia
22657-409: The town of Příbram . The Prague Offensive destroyed Army Group Centre and parts of Army Group Ostmark. These army groups were the last large intact military formations of Germany, and following the offensive, all surviving German soldiers became prisoners of war or fugitives. The number of German prisoners taken by the Soviet Union reached almost 900,000 and other Axis soldiers, numbering at least in
22820-574: The umbrella of National Front of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic. Human rights activists and religious activists were severely repressed. In terms of political appointments, the KSČ maintained cadre and nomenklatura lists, with the latter containing every post that was important to the smooth application of party policy, including military posts, administrative positions, directors of local enterprises, social organization administrators, newspapers, etc. The KSČ's nomenklatura lists were thought to contain 100,000 post listings. The names of those that
22983-475: The valleys of the Elbe and Vltava Rivers. A secondary thrust by the 28th and 52nd Armies was to advance on an axis from Zittau to Prague, and a final thrust by the Polish 2nd Army was to cut off the southeastern approaches to Dresden. Dresden itself was to be taken by the 5th Guards Army as part of the main thrust. Suggesting to General Antonov that a U.S. advance to Prague was now feasible, General Eisenhower
23146-417: The wake of the overall German surrender, came to an agreement with the Germans in which the German troops were to leave Prague under conditions of ceasefire. Some SS units, however, continued their attacks against the Czech insurgents in Prague. The 1st KONR Division, its relations with the ČNR broken down and realizing no quarter could be expected from Soviet forces, joined the SS and other German troops in
23309-470: Was a signatory of conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe . The CSSR's economy was a centrally planned command economy with links controlled by the communist party, similar to the Soviet Union . It had a large metallurgical industry , but was dependent on imports for iron and nonferrous ores. Like the rest of the Eastern Bloc, producer goods were favored over consumer goods , and as
23472-410: Was available to all citizens. National health planning emphasized preventive medicine; factory and local health-care centers supplemented hospitals and other inpatient institutions. Substantial improvement in rural health care occurred in the 1960s and 1970s. The mass media in Czechoslovakia was controlled by the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSČ). Private ownership of any publication or agency of
23635-515: Was determined by five-year plans. Following the Soviet example, Czechoslovakia began emphasising the rapid development of heavy industry. The industrial sector was reorganised with an emphasis on metallurgy , heavy machinery , and coal mining . Production was concentrated in larger units; the more than 350,000 units of the pre-war period were reduced to about 1,700 units by 1958. Industrial output reportedly increased 233% between 1948–59 and employment in industry by 44%. The speed of industrialisation
23798-403: Was drafted in massive numbers. Labour productivity, however, was not significantly increased; nor were production costs reduced. Czechoslovak products were characterised by poor quality. During the early years of Communist rule, many political prisoners were sentenced to penal labour . The Ninth-of-May Constitution declared the government's intention to collectivise agriculture. In February 1949,
23961-527: Was formed in 1978 with the specific goal of documenting individual cases of government persecution and human rights violations. Between 1978 and 1984, VONS issued 409 communiques concerning individuals prosecuted or harassed. On a larger scale, independent activity was expressed through underground writing and publishing. Because of the decentralized nature of underground writing, it is difficult to estimate its extent or impact. Hundreds of books, journals, essays, and short stories were published and distributed. In
24124-479: Was immediately translated and reprinted throughout the world. The original manifesto reportedly was signed by 243 people; among them were artists, former public officials, and other prominent figures, such as Zdeněk Mlynář , secretary of the KSČ Central Committee in 1968; Václav Slavík , a Central Committee member in 1968; and Ludvík Vaculík , author of " Two Thousand Words ." Charter 77 defined itself as "a loose, informal, and open community of people" concerned with
24287-447: Was informed that such was not desired by the Soviets. During the meeting with Marshal Ivan Konev on 5 May, General Omar Bradley also proposed the same offer. However, Marshal Konev – while he appreciated the good will of the American commander – refused the offer because Bradley's proposal violated the negotiated borderline between Soviet and Anglo-American forces; therefore, Konev had no authority to accept it. Konev also promised that
24450-680: Was later executed). Slánský and eleven others were convicted together of being "Trotskyist-zionist-titoist-bourgeois-nationalist traitors" in one series of show trials , after which they were executed and their ashes were mixed with material being used to fill roads on the outskirts of Prague. Antonín Novotný served as First Secretary of the KSČ from 1953 to 1968. Gustáv Husák was elected first secretary of KSČ in 1969 (changed to General Secretary in 1971) and president of Czechoslovakia in 1975. Other parties and organizations existed but functioned in subordinate roles to KSČ. All political parties, as well as numerous mass organizations, were grouped under
24613-488: Was made a formal part of constitutional law. The President, the Cabinet, the Slovak National Council , and the local governments were made responsible to the National Assembly. The National Assembly, however, continued its rubber-stamp approval of KSČ policies. All private enterprises using hired labour were abolished. Comprehensive economic planning was reaffirmed. The Bill of Rights emphasised economic and social rights, (e.g
24776-536: Was near completion by 1960. 16% of all farmland (obtained from collaborators and kulaks) had been turned into state-run farms. Despite the elimination of poor land from cultivation and a tremendous increase in the use of fertilisers and tractors, agricultural production declined seriously. By 1959, pre-war production levels still had not been met. Major causes of the decline were the diversion of labour from agriculture to industry (in 1948 an estimated 2.2 million workers were employed in agriculture; by 1960, only 1.5 million);
24939-482: Was nominally still a coalition, the "non-Communists" in the cabinet were mostly fellow travelers . This gave legal sanction to the KSČ coup, and marked the onset of undisguised Communist rule in Czechoslovakia. On 9 May, the National Assembly, purged of dissidents, passed a new constitution. It was not a completely Communist document; since a special committee prepared it in the 1945–48 period, it contained many liberal and democratic provisions. It reflected, however,
25102-474: Was not a Moscow cadre and several domestic reforms of other Eastern Bloc countries were not part of Beneš's plan, Stalin did not object because the plan included property expropriation and he was satisfied with the relative strength of communists in Czechoslovakia compared to other Eastern Bloc countries. In April 1945, the Third Republic was formed, led by a National Front of six parties. Because of
25265-648: Was particularly accelerated in Slovakia, where production increased 347% and employment by 70%. Although Czechoslovakia's industrial growth of 170% between 1948–57 was huge, it was far exceeded by that of Japan ( who increased by 300%) and West Germany (almost 300 percent) and more than equalled by Austria and Greece. For the 1954–59 period, France and Italy equalled Czechoslovak industrial growth. Industrial growth in Czechoslovakia required substantial additional labour. Czechoslovaks were subjected to long hours and long working weeks to meet production quotas . Part-time, volunteer labour – students and white-collar workers –
25428-503: Was received. Without a functioning army group headquarters and leaderless, the component armies of Army Group Centre had been left to their own devices. Schörner's plans for an orderly withdrawal notwithstanding, the bulk of Army Group Centre's troops were destined to be captured by the Soviet Army. The Czech National Council (ČNR), lacking significant supplies to support the uprising, fearing large-scale destruction of Prague, and in
25591-520: Was subdued, Stalin issued orders directing the 1st Belorussian Front to relieve the 1st Ukrainian Front in the Berlin area so that the latter could regroup to the south along the Mulde River and drive on Prague. The 2nd Ukrainian Front also received orders on 2 May to drive on Prague from the southeast. Stalin was determined to have the Soviet Army present in force in western Czechoslovakia when
25754-408: Was succeeded by Antonín Zápotocký as President and by Antonín Novotný as head of the KSČ. Novotný became President in 1957 when Zápotocký died. Czechoslovak interests were subordinated to the interests of the Soviet Union. Joseph Stalin became particularly concerned about controlling and integrating the socialist bloc in the wake of Tito's challenge to his authority. Stalin's paranoia resulted in
25917-689: Was the Czechoslovak state from 1948 until 1989, when the country was under communist rule , and was regarded as a satellite state in the Soviet sphere of interest . Following the coup d'état of February 1948 , when the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia seized power with the support of the Soviet Union, the country was declared a socialist republic when the Ninth-of-May Constitution became effective. The traditional name Československá republika ( Czechoslovak Republic ), along with several other state symbols, were changed on 11 July 1960 following
26080-468: Was the Brezhnev Doctrine of limited sovereignty, which provided for the strengthening of the KSČ, strict party control of the media, and the suppression of the Czechoslovak Social Democratic Party. It was agreed that Dubček would remain in office and that a program of moderate reform would continue. On 19 January 1969, student Jan Palach set himself on fire in Prague's Wenceslas Square as
26243-505: Was the last major military operation of World War II in Europe. The offensive was fought on the Eastern Front from 6 May to 11 May 1945. Fought concurrently with the Prague uprising , the offensive significantly helped the liberation of Czechoslovakia in 1945 . The offensive was one of the last engagements of World War II in Europe and continued after Nazi Germany 's unconditional capitulation on 8/9 May. The city of Prague
26406-835: Was the lowest in Eastern Europe. Food imports strained the balance of payments. Pressures both from Moscow and from within the party precipitated a reform movement. In 1963 reform-minded Communist intellectuals produced a proliferation of critical articles. Criticism of economic planning merged with more generalized protests against KSČ bureaucratic control and ideological conformity . The KSČ leadership responded. The purge trials of 1949–54 were reviewed, for example, and some of those purged were rehabilitated. Some hardliners were removed from top levels of government and replaced by younger, more liberal communists. Jozef Lenart replaced Prime Minister Viliam Široký in September 1963. The KSČ organized committees to review economic policy. In 1965,
26569-526: Was ultimately liberated by the USSR during the Prague offensive. All of the German troops of Army Group Centre ( Heeresgruppe Mitte ) and many of Army Group Ostmark (formerly known as Army Group South) were killed or captured, or fell into the hands of the Allies after the capitulation. By the beginning of May 1945, Germany had been decisively defeated by the coalition of the Western Allies and
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