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89-673: The Czechoslovak Socialist Youth Union (SSM) was a mass organization which served as the youth wing of the Communist Party in the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic from 1970 to 1990. It existed alongside the Pioneer Organization , which was geared towards younger children who were expected to join the SSM in their teens. Membership stood at 1.6 million in 1982. It was created as a successor to

178-544: A Švejkian response to the lack of political and economic autonomy. It was also a reflection of the purge's targets. Those expelled were often the ideologically motivated, the ones for whom developing socialism with a human face represented a significant goal; those who were simply opportunistic survived the purges more easily. Chairman First Czechoslovak Republic The First Czechoslovak Republic ( Czech : První československá republika ; Slovak : Prvá československá republika ), often colloquially referred to as

267-769: A criminal organisation in the Czech Republic by the 1993 Act on Illegality of the Communist Regime and on Resistance Against It . The Communist Party of Czechoslovakia was founded at the congress of the Czechoslovak Social-Democratic Party (Left), held in Prague May 14–16, 1921. Rudé právo , previously the organ of the Left Social-Democrats, became the main organ of the new party. As a first chairman

356-506: A few aristocratic landowners—mostly Germans (or Germanized Czechs – e.g. Kinsky , Czernin or Kaunitz ) and Hungarians —and the Roman Catholic Church. Half of all holdings were under 20,000 m . The Land Control Act of April 1919 called for the expropriation of all estates exceeding 1.5 square kilometres of arable land or 2.5 square kilometres of land in general (5 square kilometres to be the absolute maximum). Land reform

445-556: A general department). In most instances the party departments paralleled agencies and ministries of the government and supervised their activities to ensure conformity with KSČ norms and programmes. Also under CC supervision were two party training centres: the Advanced School of Politics and the Institute of Marxism–Leninism (see below). Down on republic level party structure deviated from the government organisation in that

534-432: A leading secretary, a number of secretaries and a regional Supervisory and Auditing Commission. Regional units were broken down into a total of 114 district-level (Czech: okresní ) organisations. District conferences were held simultaneously every two to three years, at which time each conference selected a district committee that subsequently selected a secretariat to be headed by a district secretary. At local level, KSČ

623-417: A membership of "almost 1,200,000" was claimed in the spring of 1971 for a country with an estimated population of approx. 14.5 million — still one of the highest Communist party membership rates in the world on a percentage basis at that time. Owing to this membership decline, accelerated recruitment efforts were targeted at youth and factory workers for the rest of the 1970s. The party's membership efforts in

712-607: A moderate or pragmatic, he was pressed by hardliners, most notably Vasil Biľak . An important Slovak Communist Party functionary from 1943 to 1950, Husák was arrested in 1951 and sentenced to three years, later increased to life imprisonment, for "bourgeois nationalism" during the Stalinist purges of the era. Released in 1960 and rehabilitated in 1963, Husák refused any political position in Antonín Novotný 's régime but after Novotný's fall he became deputy prime minister during

801-516: A particular salience. KSČ was often reticent with precise details about its members, and the question of how many in the party actually belonged to the revolutionary proletariat proper became a delicate one. Official statements appeared to overstate the percentage of workers within the party's ranks. Nonetheless, a number of trends were clear. The proportion of workers in KSČ was at its highest (approximately 60% of total membership) after World War II but before

890-456: A party named Communist Party of Czechoslovakia was registered as a political party in the Czech Republic and on the 22 April 1995 Miroslav Štěpán was elected its General Secretary. The party claimed to be the heir to KSČ and rejected the claims of KSČM on the basis of their revisionist positions. The majority of remaining communists rejected their claim to represent the old party and continued their political career as members of KSČM. In 1999

979-606: A population of over 13.5 million. It had inherited 70 to 80% of all the industry of the Austro-Hungarian Empire , including the porcelain and glass industries and the sugar refineries; more than 40% of all its distilleries and breweries; the Škoda Works of Plzeň , which produced armaments, locomotives , automobiles, and machinery ; and the chemical industry of northern Bohemia . Seventeen percent of all Hungarian industry that had developed in Slovakia during

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1068-700: A result, the Czechs had to be posted to the more backward Slovakia to take up the administrative and professional posts. The position of the Jewish community, especially in Slovakia, was ambiguous and, increasingly, a significant part looked towards Zionism . Furthermore, most of Czechoslovakia's industry was as well located in Bohemia and Moravia and there mainly in the German speaking Borderlands, while most of Slovakia's economy came from agriculture. In Carpatho-Ukraine,

1157-633: A separate communist party unit existed in the Slovak Socialist Republic (see Communist Party of Slovakia ) but not in the Czech Socialist Republic. KSS emerged from World War II as a party distinct from KSČ, but the two were united after the communist takeover in 1948. The reformer movement of the 1960s advocated a return to a system of autonomous parties for the two republics. Bureau for the Conduct of Party Work in

1246-581: A tractor factory in the opening days of the Soviet occupation, this congress denounced the invasion, and was later declared illegal, its proceedings stricken from party records, and a second, "legal" 14th Party Congress held in May 1971. Subsequent numbered congresses were held in April 1976, April 1981 and March 1986. Party congress theoretically was responsible for making basic policy decisions; in practice, however, it

1335-426: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Communist Party of Czechoslovakia The KSČ was committed to the pursuit of communism , and after Joseph Stalin 's rise to power Marxism–Leninism became formalized as the party's guiding ideology and would remain so throughout the rest of its existence. Consequently, party organisation was based on Bolshevik -like democratic centralism ; its highest body

1424-627: Is still regarded as the symbol of Czechoslovak democracy for the Czechs and Slovaks today. The Constitution of 1920 approved the provisional constitution of 1918 in its basic features. The Czechoslovak state was conceived as a parliamentary democracy , guided primarily by the National Assembly , consisting of the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies , whose members were to be elected on the basis of universal suffrage . The National Assembly

1513-754: The Communist International . As of 1928 the party was the second-largest section of the International, with an estimated membership of around 138,000, more than twice the membership of the French Communist Party and nearly five times the membership of the Chinese Communist Party at the time. In 1929 Klement Gottwald became party Secretary-General after the purging from it of various oppositional elements some of whom allied themselves to Trotsky and

1602-570: The First Republic ( Czech : První republika ; Slovak : Prvá republika ), was the first Czechoslovak state that existed from 1918 to 1938, a union of ethnic Czechs and Slovaks . The country was commonly called Czechoslovakia ( Czech and Slovak : Československo ), a compound of Czech and Slovak ; which gradually became the most widely used name for its successor states. It was composed of former territories of Austria-Hungary , inheriting different systems of administration from

1691-737: The Little Entente (an alliance with Yugoslavia and Romania ) in 1921 to counter Hungarian revanchism and Habsburg restoration. He concluded a separate alliance with France . Beneš's Western policy received a serious blow as early as 1925. The Locarno Pact , which paved the way for Germany 's admission to the League of Nations , guaranteed Germany 's western border but provided no such promise for its eastern frontier, which meant that it would remain subject to negotiation. When Adolf Hitler came to power in 1933, fear of German aggression became widespread in eastern Central Europe. Beneš ignored

1780-512: The Prague Spring . After Dubček's resignation Husák was named KSČ First Secretary in April 1969 and president of the republic in July 1975. Above all, Husák was a survivor who learned to accommodate the powerful political forces surrounding him and he denounced Dubček after 1969. Other prominent moderates/pragmatics who were still in power by 1987 included: These leaders generally supported

1869-521: The Sudeten German vote. As a consequence, diplomatic relations between the Germans and the Czechs deteriorated further. ČSR; boundaries and government established by the 1920 constitution . Annexed by Nazi Germany . ČSR; included the autonomous regions of Slovakia and Subcarpathian Ruthenia. Annexed by Hungary (1939–1945). ČSR; declared a "people's democracy" (without

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1958-677: The Sudeten German Party led by Konrad Henlein and the Hlinka's Slovak People's Party led by Andrej Hlinka . The German minority living in the Sudetenland demanded autonomy from the Czechoslovak government, claiming they were suppressed and repressed. In the 1935 Parliamentary elections, the newly founded Sudeten German Party, led by Konrad Henlein and mostly financed by Nazi German money, received over two-thirds of

2047-562: The Sudetenland . Their incorporation into Nazi Germany would leave the rest of Czechoslovakia powerless to resist subsequent occupation. To a large extent, Czechoslovak democracy was held together by the country's first president, Tomáš Masaryk . As the principal founding father of the republic, Masaryk was regarded similar to the way George Washington is regarded in the United States . Such universal respect enabled Masaryk to overcome seemingly irresolvable political problems. Masaryk

2136-523: The Velvet Revolution in 1989. In November, Jakeš and the entire Presidium resigned. Jakeš was succeeded by Karel Urbanek , who only held power for about a month before the party formally abandoned power in December. Later that month, Husák, who retained the presidency after standing down as general secretary, was forced to swear in the country's first non-Communist government in 41 years. At

2225-407: The Velvet Revolution . The false story that a student named Martin Šmíd was killed by the state police was likely aided by the demonstrators confusing memories of him with a dead body of a student, because he was accidentally struck by his colleagues and blacked out. After Štěpán died in 2014 and was replaced as General Secretary by Jiří Vábr, the party had another split. Vojtěch Mišičák accused

2314-467: The " Pětka " ( pron. pyetka ) (The Five). The Pětka was headed by Antonín Švehla , who held the office of prime minister for most of the 1920s and designed a pattern of coalition politics that survived until 1938. The coalition's policy was expressed in the slogan "We have agreed that we will agree." German parties also participated in the government in the beginning of 1926. Hungarian parties, influenced by irredentist propaganda from Hungary, never joined

2403-538: The 18th party congress held November 3–4, 1990, the party was rebaptized as KSČS and became a federation of two parties: the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia (KSČM) and the Communist Party of Slovakia (KSS). Pavol Kanis served as the chairman of the Federal Council of KSČS. However, the two constituent organizations of the federal party were moving in different directions politically and there

2492-587: The 1980s focused on recruiting politically and professionally qualified people willing to exercise greater activism in implementing the party's program. Party leaders at the 17th Party Congress (1986) urged recruitment of more workers, young people, and women. In 1981 it had 1,538,179 members (10% of the population) KSČ membership was contingent upon completion of a one-year period as a candidate member. Candidate members could not vote or be elected to party committees. In addition to candidates for party membership, there were also candidates for party leadership groups from

2581-609: The Central Supervisory and Auditing Commission, as well as discussion and approval of their reports. Between congresses, KSČ's Central Committee (CC) was responsible for directing party activities and implementing general policy decisions. Party statutes also provided that CC functioned as the primary arm of KSČ control over the organs of federal government and the republics, National Front, and all cultural and professional organizations. Party members holding leading positions in these bodies were responsible directly to CC for

2670-758: The Comintern ordered the party to oppose the protests, which they blamed on "chauvinist elements". During World War II many KSČ leaders sought refuge in the Soviet Union, where they prepared to broaden the party's power base once the war ended. In the early postwar period the Soviet-supported Czechoslovak communists launched a sustained drive that culminated in their seizure of power in 1948. Once in control, KSČ developed an organizational structure and mode of rule patterned closely after those of CPSU . The Communist Party of Czechoslovakia

2759-738: The Czech Lands was created as a counterpart to KSS, but it was suppressed after the 1968 invasion and by 1971 had been stricken from party records. KSČ had ten regional subdivisions (seven in the Czech lands, three in Slovakia) identical to kraje , the ten major governmental administrative divisions. In addition, however, the Prague and Bratislava municipal party organs, because of their size, were given regional status within KSČ. Regional conferences selected regional committees, which in turn selected

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2848-477: The Czechoslovak Union of Youth, which ceased to exist in the wake of the invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968. It provided both physical and ideological education to the youth of Czechoslovakia, and membership was highly encouraged for career-minded young people. Recruitment was intense, especially in educational institutions, to the point that many of the organization's members were unenthusiastic about

2937-413: The Czechoslovak government but were not openly hostile: Edvard Beneš , Czechoslovak foreign minister from 1918 to 1935, created the system of alliances that determined the republic's international stance until 1938. A democratic statesman of Western orientation, Beneš relied heavily on the League of Nations as guarantor of the post war status quo and the security of newly formed states. He negotiated

3026-647: The Democratic Left ( Federácie KSČM a SDĽ ). KSČM unsuccessfully appealed to two Slovak communist splinter parties, the Communist Party of Slovakia – 91 (KSS '91) and the Union of Communists of Slovakia (ZKS), to join the Federation. At the first SDL congress in December 1991, SDL formally withdrew from the Federation with the KSČM. The Federation was formally declared dissolved in April 1992. On 10 March 1995

3115-813: The International Left Opposition. In 1929 parliamentary election the party gained 753,220 votes (10.2%, 4th place) and 30 seats. In 1935 parliamentary election the party held its 30 seats with 849,495 votes (10.32%, 4th place). The party was banned on 20 October 1938 during the Second Republic , but continued to exist as an underground organisation. Following the signing of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact , anti-German protests broke out in Prague in October 1939. In response,

3204-607: The KSČ. A dispute broke out between Gottwald and the second most-powerful man in the country, party General Secretary Rudolf Slánský , over the extent to which Czechoslovakia should conform with the Soviet model. In 1951, Slánský and several other senior Communists were arrested and charged with participating in a " Trotskyite – Titoite – Zionist conspiracy". They were subjected to a show trial in 1952 (the Prague Trials ) and Slánský and 10 other defendants were executed. In

3293-504: The Soviet justification for the invasion would become known as the Brezhnev Doctrine . In April 1969, Dubček was removed as party General Secretary (replaced by Gustáv Husák ) and expelled in 1970. During the period of normalization that followed, the party was dominated by two factions: moderates and hardliners. Moderates and pragmatists were represented by Gustáv Husák who led the neo-stalinist wing of KSČ leadership. As

3382-550: The communist cause, leading some to complain that even beatniks were allowed to join its ranks. The SSM was organized on national, regional, and local levels and operated a large number of educational, art, and sporting facilities. The SSM was dissolved at its final congress in January 1990, following the Velvet Revolution and the fall of communism in Czechoslovakia. This communist youth movement -related article

3471-459: The communist world (11 percent of the entire population). The membership roll was often alleged by party ideologues to contain a large component of inactive, opportunistic, and "counterrevolutionary" elements. These charges were used on two occasions, between 1948 and 1950 and again from 1969 to 1971, as a pretext to conduct massive purges of the membership. In the first case, during the great Stalinist purges, nearly one million members were removed; in

3560-441: The early 1960s, Czechoslovakia underwent an economic downturn, and in 1968, the KSČ was taken over by reformers led by Alexander Dubček . He started a period of liberalization known as the Prague Spring in which he attempted to implement " socialism with a human face ". The Soviet Union believed the process of liberalization would end state socialism in the country and on 21 August 1968, Warsaw Pact forces invaded . Subsequently,

3649-498: The establishment of Czechoslovakia towards the world, because otherwise the statistical majority of the Czechs as compared to Germans would have been rather weak, and there were more Germans in the state than Slovaks . National minorities were assured special protection; in districts where they constituted 20% of the population, members of minority groups were granted full freedom to use their language in everyday life, in schools, and in matters dealing with authorities. The operation of

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3738-624: The first round and 10 154 in the second. KSČ organization was based on the Leninist concept of democratic centralism , which provided for the election of party leaders at all levels but required that each level be fully subject to the control of the next higher unit. Accordingly, party programs and policies were directed from the top, and resolutions of higher organs were unconditionally binding on all lower organs and individual party members. In theory, policy matters were freely and openly discussed at congresses, conferences, membership meetings, and in

3827-466: The formerly Austrian ( Bohemia , Moravia , a small part of Silesia ) and Hungarian territories (mostly Upper Hungary and Carpathian Ruthenia ). After 1933, Czechoslovakia remained the only de facto functioning democracy in Central Europe , organized as a parliamentary republic . Under pressure from its Sudeten German minority , supported by neighbouring Nazi Germany , Czechoslovakia

3916-501: The implementation of KSČ policies. In addition, CC screened nominations for all important government and party positions and selected the editor-in-chief of Rudé právo , the principal party newspaper. CC generally met in full session at least twice a year. In 1976, CC had 115 members and 45 candidates; in 1986, these figures were 135 and 62, respectively. In terms of composition, CC normally included leading party and government officials, military officials, and some celebrities. CC, like

4005-510: The late 19th century also fell to the republic. Czechoslovakia was one of the world's 10 most industrialized states. The Czech lands were far more industrialized than Slovakia. In Bohemia , Moravia , and Silesia , 39% of the population was employed in industry and 31% in agriculture and forestry . Most light and heavy industry was located in the Sudetenland and was owned by Germans and controlled by German-owned banks. Czechs controlled only 20 to 30% of all industry. In Slovakia, 17.1% of

4094-597: The local levels to the Presidium. These candidates, already party members, were considered interns training for the future assumption of particular leadership responsibilities. Indoctrination and training of party members was one of the basic responsibilities of regional and district organizations, and party training was mostly conducted on these levels. Regional and district units worked with local party organizations in setting up training programs and determining which members would be enrolled in particular courses of study. On

4183-406: The monthly membership meeting, attendance at which was a basic duty of every member. Each group selected its own leadership, consisting of a chairman and one or more secretaries. It also named delegates to the conference of the next higher unit, be it at municipal (like in case of larger cities) or district level. Since assuming power in 1948, KSČ had one of the largest per capita membership rolls in

4272-578: The nations we wish to see safeguarded and assured, should be accorded the freest opportunity to autonomous development." The full boundaries of the country and the organization of its government was finally established in the Czechoslovak Constitution of 1920 . Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk had been recognized by World War I Allies as the leader of the Provisional Czechoslovak Government, and in 1920 he

4361-603: The new Czechoslovak government was distinguished by stability. Largely responsible for this were the well-organized political parties that emerged as the real centers of power. Excluding the period from March 1926 to November 1929, when the coalition did not hold, a coalition of five Czechoslovak parties constituted the backbone of the government: Republican Party of Agricultural and Smallholder People, Czechoslovak Social Democratic Party, Czechoslovak National Social Party, Czechoslovak People's Party, and Czechoslovak National Democratic Party. The leaders of these parties became known as

4450-611: The old Austrian empire or expropriations of big estates did not support the coherence within the state. Nevertheless still in 1929, for example, in the Carlsbad district, a mainly Bavarian speaking area, 46% still voted for Socialists and Communists. This is especially interesting, because the German Speaking community of the Bohemian Countries is often and from many side blamed for being nationalist and fascist. But

4539-440: The overall proportion of workers did not decrease. Average age of party members showed a comparable trend. In the late 1960s, fewer than 30% of party members were under 35 years of age, nearly 20% were over 60, and roughly half were 45 or older. The quip in 1971, a half-century after the party's founding in Czechoslovakia, was "After fifty years, a party of fifty-year-olds." There was a determined effort to attract younger members to

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4628-472: The party also had 18 departments (agitation and propaganda; agriculture, food industry, forestry and water management; Comecon cooperation; culture; economic administration; economics; education and science; elected state organs; external economic relations; fuels and energy; industry; transport and communications; international affairs; mass media; political organisation; science and technology; social organisations and national committees; state administration; and

4717-579: The party and government apparatus. Under Husák, composition of the Secretariat, like that of the Presidium, remained rather constant. Many secretaries were also members of the Presidium. The Central Supervisory and Auditing Commission played a dual role, overseeing party discipline and supervising party finances, but it did not control anything. As an organ for enforcement of party standards, Central Supervisory and Auditing Commission frequently wielded its power to suspend or expel "deviant" party members. It

4806-483: The party changed its name to The Party of Czech Communists (SČK) . Their official page is http://www.ksc.cz/ and still uses the old acronym. In 2001 the party underwent its first split, when a part of it split off to form the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia – Czechoslovak Labour Party (KSČ-ČSSP) led by Ludvík Zifčák, a former member of the National Police , who infiltrated the student protesters during

4895-488: The party congress, rarely acted as more than a rubber stamp of policy decisions made by KSČ's Presidium, except when factional infighting developed within the Presidium in 1968 and CC assumed crucial importance in resolving the dispute to oust First Secretary Novotný in favour of Dubček. Generally, decisions on which CC voted were reached beforehand so that votes taken at the sessions were unanimous. The Presidium, which conducted party work between full committee sessions, formally

4984-473: The party in the middle to late 1970s; one strategy was to recruit children of parents who were KSČ members. The party sent letters to the youngsters' schools and their parents' employers, encouraging the children to join. By early 1980 approximately one-third of KSČ members were 35 years of age or younger. In 1983, average age of the "leading cadre" was still estimated at 50. Throughout the 1970s and 80s, government media denounced party members' lack of devotion to

5073-401: The party leadership bowed to popular pressure during the Velvet Revolution and agreed to call the first contested election since 1946, leading to the victory of the centre-based Civic Forum in the 1990 election and the KSČ stepping down. That November, the party became a federation of the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia and the Communist Party of Slovakia . It was then declared to be

5162-588: The party of passivity and broke off a new group called the Czech Communist Party 21 (KSČ21), whose current general secretary is Zdeněk Klímek. None of these parties ever had any electoral successes on the rare occasion they even ran candidates. Štěpán was a candidate in the 1996 and 1998 Czech Senate election for Bruntál . In 1996 he came fifth with 627 votes and the KSČM candidate Rostislav Harazin came 3rd with 5 294 votes. In 1998 he came seventh with 716 votes and Harazin won with 7 852 votes in

5251-465: The party press. In practice, however, these discussions merely reflected decisions made by a small contingent of top party officials. The supreme KSČ organ was the party congress, which normally convened every five years for a session lasting less than one week. An exception was made with respect to the 14th Party Congress, which was held in August 1968 under Dubček 's leadership. Held in semi-secrecy in

5340-453: The party took power in 1948. After that time, percentage of workers fell steadily to a low of an estimated one-quarter of the membership in 1970. In the early 1970s, government media decried the "grave imbalance", noting that "[the] present class and social structure of party membership is not in conformity with the party's role as a vanguard for the working class." In highly industrialized central Bohemia, for example, only 1 in every 35 workers

5429-423: The point of living in the or one of the most industrialized areas of Europe also brings a big support for Communist and Socialist Parties, which from another point of view may also be explained by heavy and long lasting traditions of mining industries in the area. Still, nationalism arose amongst the non-Czech nationalities, and several parties and movements were formed with the aim of broader political autonomy, as

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5518-479: The population was employed in industry, and 60.4% worked in agriculture and forestry. Only 5% of all industry in Slovakia was in Slovak hands. Carpathian Ruthenia was essentially without industry. In the agricultural sector, a program of reform introduced soon after the establishment of the republic was intended to rectify the unequal distribution of land. One-third of all agricultural land and forests belonged to

5607-596: The possibility of a stronger Central European alliance system, remaining faithful to his Western policy. He did, however, seek the participation of the Soviet Union in an alliance to include France. (Beneš's earlier attitude towards the Soviet regime had been one of caution.) In 1935, the Soviet Union signed treaties with France and Czechoslovakia. In essence, the treaties provided that the Soviet Union would come to Czechoslovakia's aid only if French assistance came first. In 1935, when Beneš succeeded Masaryk as president,

5696-769: The prime minister Milan Hodža took over the Ministry of Foreign Affairs . Hodža's efforts to strengthen alliances in Central Europe came too late. In February 1936, the foreign ministry came under the direction of Kamil Krofta , an adherent of Beneš's line. The Czechoslovak Republic sold armament to Bolivia during the Chaco War (1932–35) and sent, close to the end of the war, an unofficial training mission, to support Bolivia in its Chaco war with Paraguay and advance Czechoslovak interest in Bolivia. The new nation had

5785-428: The pursuit of KSČ policies and goals. Complaints ranged from members' refusal to display flags from their apartment windows on festive occasions to their failure to show up for party work brigades, attend meetings, or pay dues; a significant minority of members tended to underreport their incomes (the basis for assessing dues). In 1970, after a purge of approximately one-third of the membership, an average of less than half

5874-440: The reforms instituted under Dubček during the late 1960s but successfully made the transition to orthodox party rule following the invasion and Dubček's decline from power. Subsequently, they adopted a more flexible stance regarding economic reform and dissident activity. Key members of this faction included: These hardliners opposed economic and political reforms and took a harsh stand on dissent. The party's hegemony ended with

5963-484: The remaining members attended meetings. Perhaps one-third of members were consistently recalcitrant in participating in KSČ activities. In 1983, one primary party branch in the Prague-West district was so unmoved by admonishments that it had to be disbanded and its members dispersed among other organizations. In part, this was a measure of disaffection with Czechoslovakia's thoroughgoing subservience to Soviet hegemony,

6052-713: The rest of Czechoslovakia in March 1939. The independence of Czechoslovakia was proclaimed on 28 October 1918 by the Czechoslovak National Council in Prague . Several ethnic groups and territories with different historical, political, and economic traditions were obliged to be blended into a new state structure. The origin of the First Republic lies in Point 9 of Woodrow Wilson 's Fourteen Points : "The peoples of Austria-Hungary, whose place among

6141-477: The same time. In 1968, party leader Alexander Dubček proposed reforms that included a democratic process and initiated the Prague Spring , leading to the invasion of Czechoslovakia by the Soviet Union. Under pressure from the Kremlin , all reforms were repealed, party leadership became taken over by its more authoritarian wing, and a massive non-bloody purge of party members was conducted. In 1989, however,

6230-562: The situation was even worse, with basically no industry at all. Therefore the Borderlands were also more heavily hit by the world economic crisis. This fact, and the fact that the central government did little to help out and even supported more the Czech companies led to the fact, that unemployment among the German community was the double, than it was among the Czech. Further steps like the loss of jobs for German speaking state employees, who did not speak Czech, which were employed earlier in

6319-462: The strong presidencies of Masaryk and his successor, Beneš. The constitution of 1920 provided for the central government to have a high degree of control over local government. From 1928 to 1940, Czechoslovakia was divided into the four "lands" ( Czech : "země" , Slovak : "krajiny" ): Bohemia , Moravia - Silesia , Slovakia , and Carpathian Ruthenia . Although in 1927 assemblies were provided for Bohemia, Slovakia, and Ruthenia, their jurisdiction

6408-519: The wake of the Prague Spring and subsequent invasion, about half that number either resigned or were purged from KSČ. Purges following the 1968 invasion hit especially the Czechs, the youth and the blue-collar workers, as well as the intelligentsia within the party membership. By the end of 1970, KSČ had lost approx. 27.8% of its members compared to January 1968 figures as a result of forced removal or voluntary resignation. Despite this attrition,

6497-551: The whole, the system of party schooling changed little since it was established in 1949. A district or city organization provided weekly classes in the fundamentals of Marxism-Leninism , history of communism, socialist economics, and current party position on domestic and international affairs. Members training for positions as party functionaries attended seminars at schools for Marxism–Leninism set up in local areas or at more advanced institutes for Marxism–Leninism found in Prague, Brno and Bratislava. The highest level of party training

6586-497: Was elected Václav Šturc, first vice-chairman was Bohumír Šmeral and second vice-chairman was Vaclav Bolen. The party was one of some twenty political parties that competed within the democratic framework of the First Czechoslovak Republic , but it was never in government. In 1925 parliamentary election the party gained 934,223 votes (13.2%, 2nd place) and 41 seats. The party was the Czechoslovak section of

6675-487: Was elected by the CC; in reality, top party leaders determined its composition. In 1986, there were 11 full members and 6 candidate members. CC's Secretariat acted as the party's highest administrative authority and as the nerve centre of the party's extensive control mechanism. The Secretariat supervised implementation of decisions made in the Presidium, controlled any movement up and down the party ladder, and directed work within

6764-609: Was elected the country's first president. He was re-elected in 1925 and 1929, serving as President until 14 December 1935 when he resigned due to poor health. He was succeeded by Edvard Beneš . Following the Anschluss of Austria by Germany in March 1938, the Nazi leader Adolf Hitler 's next target for annexation was Czechoslovakia . His pretext was the privations suffered by ethnic German populations living in Czechoslovakia's northern and western border regions, known collectively as

6853-756: Was forced to cede its Sudetenland region to Germany on 1 October 1938 as part of the Munich Agreement . It also ceded southern parts of Slovakia and Carpathian Ruthenia to Hungary and the Trans-Olza region in Silesia to Poland . This, in effect, ended the First Czechoslovak Republic. It was replaced by the Second Czechoslovak Republic , which lasted less than half a year before Germany occupied

6942-567: Was formally held by the National Front , a coalition in which the KSČ held two-thirds of the seats while the remaining one-third were shared among five other political parties. However, KSČ held a de facto absolute monopoly on political power, and the other parties within the National Front were little more than auxiliaries. Even the governmental structure of Czechoslovakia existed primarily to implement policy decisions made within

7031-563: Was great tension between them. KSS, the Slovak constituent party of KSČS, was renamed as Party of the Democratic Left (SDL) on January 26, 1991. Whilst no longer a communist party per se, SDL formally remained as the Slovak constituent party of KSČS. In August 1991, upon the request of SDL, the party mutated into the Federation of the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia and the Party of

7120-542: Was in a coalition government from 1945 to 1948. After the war the party grew rapidly, reaching one million members by the time of the 1946 elections : at these elections it became the largest party in Parliament, and party chairman Klement Gottwald became prime minister in a free election. Following the Communist coup d'état of 1948 , when free elections and other political freedoms were effectively abolished, power

7209-418: Was limited to adjusting laws and regulations of the central government to local needs. The central government appointed one third of the members of these assemblies. The constitution identified the "Czechoslovak nation" as the creator and principal constituent of the Czechoslovak state and established Czech and Slovak as official languages . The concept of the Czechoslovak nation was necessary in order to justify

7298-514: Was offered at the Advanced School of Politics in Prague. Designed to train the top echelon of party leadership, the three-year curriculum had the official status of a university program and was said to be one of the best programs in political science in Eastern Europe. These institutions were under the direction of KSČ Central Committee. Because of KSČ's mandate to be a workers' party, questions about social background of party members took on

7387-444: Was party member, while 1 in every 5 administrators was. In 1976, after intensive efforts to recruit workers, number of workers rose to one-third of the KSČ membership, i.e., approx. its 1962 level. In the 1980s, driven by a need for "intensive" economic development, the party relaxed its rigid rule about young workers' priority in admissions and allowed district and regional committees to be flexible in their recruitment policy, as long as

7476-475: Was responsible for legislative initiative and was given supervisory control over the executive and judiciary as well. Every seven years it elected the president and confirmed the cabinet appointed by him. Executive power was to be shared by the president and the cabinet; the latter, responsible to the National Assembly, was to prevail. The reality differed somewhat from this ideal, however, during

7565-405: Was structured according to what it called "territorial and production principle"; basic party units were organised in work sites and residences where there are at least five KSČ members. In enterprises or communities where party membership was more numerous, smaller units functioned under larger city-, village- or factory-wide committees. Highest authority of the local organisation was, theoretically,

7654-690: Was the Party Congress, which convened every five years. When the Congress was not in session, the Central Committee was the highest body. Because the Central Committee met twice a year, most day-to-day duties and responsibilities were vested in the Politburo. The party leader was the head of government and held the office of either General Secretary, Premier or head of state, or some of the three offices concurrently, but never all three at

7743-466: Was the Presidium of the Central Committee that held the decision-making and policy-making responsibilities. The congress merely endorsed the reports and directives of the top party leadership. The statutory duties assigned the party congress included determination of the party's domestic and foreign policies; approval of the party program and statutes; and election of the Central Committee and

7832-562: Was this commission that directed the massive purges in party membership during the early and late 1970s. Members were elected at each party congress (45 members in 1986). These members then elected from among themselves a chairman, deputy chairmen, and a small presidium. Sub-units of the commission existed at the republic, regional and district levels of the party structure. Other KSČ commissions in 1987 included People's Supervisory Commission, Agriculture and Food Commission, Economic Commission, Ideological Commission, and Youth Commission. In 1987

7921-590: Was to proceed on a gradual basis; owners would continue in possession in the interim, and compensation was offered. 1921 ethnonational census National disputes arose due to the fact that the more numerous Czechs dominated the central government and other national institutions, all of which had their seats in the Bohemian capital Prague. The Slovak middle class had been extremely small in 1919 because Hungarians, Germans and Jews had previously filled most administrative, professional and commercial positions in, and as

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