Alexander Dubček

Alexander Dubček (November 27, 1921 – November 7, 1992) was a Slovak politician and briefly leader of Czechoslovakia (1968-1969), famous for his attempt to reform the Communist regime (Prague Spring).

Career

An overview of his functions:

1951-1955 and 1960-1968 and 1969-1970: member of/ in 1969 speaker of the federal parliament (National Assembly, since 1969 called Federal Assembly)

1964-1970: member of the Slovak parliament (Slovak National Council)

1955-1968: member of / since 1962 member of the presidium of / since 1963 first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Slovakia

1958-1969: member of / 1960-1962 secretary of / since 1962 member of the presidium of / since 1968 first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia

1969-1970: ambassador to Turkey

1970: expelled from the Communist party

1989-1992: member of the VPN party (later called ODÚ-VPN)

1989-1992: speaker of the federal parliament (Federal Assembly)

1992: leader of the SSDS (Social Democratic Party of Slovakia); after the 1992 election, member of the parliament representing the SSDS

Biography

Dubček was born in Uhrovec, Czechoslovakia (Slovakia), and raised in Soviet Kirghizia (now Kyrgyzstan) as a member of the Esperantist industrial cooperative Interhelpo. His father moved from Cleveland to Czechoslovakia during World War I when he refused to serve in the military for pacifist reasons. During the Great Depression the family moved to the Soviet Union, in part to help build socialism and in part because jobs were scarce in Czechoslovakia. In 1938 the family returned to Czechoslovakia and Dubček joined the Communist Party of Slovakia. During the Nazi occupation, Dubček fought for the underground resistance. He joined the Central Committee of the party in 1955. He was sent to Moscow Political College in 1955, where he graduated in 1958. By 1962, he was a full member of the Central Committee of the Czechoslovak Communist Party.

Prague Spring

Under Communism, the Czechoslovak economy in the 1960s was in serious decline and the imposition of central control from Prague disappointed local Communists while the destalinization program caused further disquiet. In October 1967 a number of reformers, most notably Ota Sik, took action, they challenged First Secretary Antonín Novotný at a Central Committee meeting. Novotný failed to secure support from either his fellow Communists or from Moscow and was forced to resign, Dubček became the new First Secretary on January 5, 1968. The period from March to August 1968 is termed the Prague Spring; during this time, Dubček attempted to liberalise the government and allow "socialism with a human face".

Downfall

Dubček tried to reassure the Soviets that he was still friendly to Moscow, arguing that the reforms were an internal matter. The Prague Spring ended on August 21 1968, when Soviet forces entered Prague. Dubček urged the people not to resist before he and other key reformers were seized and taken to Moscow on a Soviet military transport aircraft (reportedly one of the aircraft used in the Soviet invasion) while chained to the floor of the aircraft. After they were forced to accede to Soviet demands, Dubček and some of the reformers were returned to Prague on August 27 and he retained his post as First Secretary for a while. Following the Czechoslovak Hockey Riots and ensuing crisis, Dubček resigned his Secretaryship in April 1969, and was later made ambassador to Turkey (1969-70) in a hope that he would defect to the West (which he did not), before being expelled from the party in 1970.

Second leadership

During the Velvet Revolution of 1989 he supported the Civic Forum of Václav Havel. Dubček was elected speaker of the Federal Assembly on December 28, 1989, and re-elected in 1990.

At the time of the overthrow of Communist party rule, Dubček described the Velvet Revolution as a victory for his humanistic socialist outlook. In 1990 he received the International Humanist Award from the International Humanist and Ethical Union.

He died on November 7, 1992, as a result of injuries sustained in a car crash several weeks before, and was buried in Slávičie Údolie, in Bratislava, Slovakia.

Dubček was considered a "Czechoslovakist" who for most of his life supported the union of the Czech lands of Bohemia and Moravia with Slovakia in a single, although federal, state. His death deprived the new Slovakia of a politician with international recognition and prestige.

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Career

Biography

Prague Spring

Downfall

Second leadership

See also