ALEXANDER DUBCEK
Name: Alexander Dubcek
Born: 27 November 1921 Uhrovec, Czechoslovakia (present day Slovakia)
Died: 7 November 1992 Prague, Czechoslovakia (present day Czech Republic)
Alexander Dubcek (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). Later, after the overthrow of the
Communist government, he was speaker of the federal Czechoslovak parliament (Federal
Assembly).
Dubcek was born in Uhrovec, Czechoslovakia (Slovakia), and raised in the Kyrgyz
SSR of the Soviet Union (now Kyrgyzstan) as a member of the Esperantist
industrial cooperative Interhelpo. His father, Štefan, moved from Chicago to
Czechoslovakia after World War I, when he refused to serve in the military for
his pacifism. Alexander Dubcek was conceived in Chicago, but born after the
family relocated to Czechoslovakia. There, Štefan became a founding member of
the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSČ). When Alexander Dubcek was three,
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. During World War II, Alexander Dubcek joined the underground
resistance against the wartime pro-German Slovak state headed by Jozef Tiso. In
August 1944, Dubcek fought in the Slovak National Uprising and was wounded. His
brother, Július, was killed. During the war, Alexander Dubcek joined the
Communist Party of Slovakia (KSS), which had been created after the formation of
the Slovak state. After the war, he steadily rose through the ranks of the KSS,
joining the KSS Central Committee in 1955. He was sent to the Moscow Political
College in 1953, where he graduated in 1958. By 1962, he was a full member of
the Central Committee of the KSČ.
In 1963, a power struggle in the leadership of the KSS unseated Karol Bacílek
and Pavol David, hard-line allies of Antonín Novotný, first secretary of the KSČ
and president of Czechoslovakia. In their place, a new generation of Slovak
Communists took control of party and state organs in Slovakia, led by Alexander
Dubcek, who became KSS first secretary. Under Dubcek's leadership, Slovakia
began to evolve toward political liberalization. Because Novotný and his
Stalinist predecessors had denigrated Slovak "bourgeois nationalists", most
notably Gustáv Husák and Vladimír Clementis, in the 1950s, the KSS worked to
promote Slovak identity. This mainly took the form of celebrations and
commemorations, such as the 150th birthdays of nineteenth-century leaders of the
Slovak National Revival Ľudovít Štúr and Jozef Miloslav Hurban, the centennial
of the Matica slovenská in 1963, and the twentieth anniversary of the Slovak
National Uprising. At the same time, the political and intellectual climate in
Slovakia became freer than that in the Czech Lands. This was exemplified by the
rising readership of Kultúrny život, the weekly newspaper of the Union of Slovak
Writers, which published frank discussions of liberalization, federalization and
democratization, written by the most progressive or controversial writers --
both Slovak and Czech. Kultúrny život consequently became the first Slovak
publication to gain a wide following among Czechs.
Name: Alexander Dubcek
Born: 27 November 1921 Uhrovec, Czechoslovakia (present day Slovakia)
Died: 7 November 1992 Prague, Czechoslovakia (present day Czech Republic)
Alexander Dubcek (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). Later, after the overthrow of the
Communist government, he was speaker of the federal Czechoslovak parliament (Federal
Assembly).
Dubcek was born in Uhrovec, Czechoslovakia (Slovakia), and raised in the Kyrgyz
SSR of the Soviet Union (now Kyrgyzstan) as a member of the Esperantist
industrial cooperative Interhelpo. His father, Štefan, moved from Chicago to
Czechoslovakia after World War I, when he refused to serve in the military for
his pacifism. Alexander Dubcek was conceived in Chicago, but born after the
family relocated to Czechoslovakia. There, Štefan became a founding member of
the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSČ). When Alexander Dubcek was three,
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. During World War II, Alexander Dubcek joined the underground
resistance against the wartime pro-German Slovak state headed by Jozef Tiso. In
August 1944, Dubcek fought in the Slovak National Uprising and was wounded. His
brother, Július, was killed. During the war, Alexander Dubcek joined the
Communist Party of Slovakia (KSS), which had been created after the formation of
the Slovak state. After the war, he steadily rose through the ranks of the KSS,
joining the KSS Central Committee in 1955. He was sent to the Moscow Political
College in 1953, where he graduated in 1958. By 1962, he was a full member of
the Central Committee of the KSČ.
In 1963, a power struggle in the leadership of the KSS unseated Karol Bacílek
and Pavol David, hard-line allies of Antonín Novotný, first secretary of the KSČ
and president of Czechoslovakia. In their place, a new generation of Slovak
Communists took control of party and state organs in Slovakia, led by Alexander
Dubcek, who became KSS first secretary. Under Dubcek's leadership, Slovakia
began to evolve toward political liberalization. Because Novotný and his
Stalinist predecessors had denigrated Slovak "bourgeois nationalists", most
notably Gustáv Husák and Vladimír Clementis, in the 1950s, the KSS worked to
promote Slovak identity. This mainly took the form of celebrations and
commemorations, such as the 150th birthdays of nineteenth-century leaders of the
Slovak National Revival Ľudovít Štúr and Jozef Miloslav Hurban, the centennial
of the Matica slovenská in 1963, and the twentieth anniversary of the Slovak
National Uprising. At the same time, the political and intellectual climate in
Slovakia became freer than that in the Czech Lands. This was exemplified by the
rising readership of Kultúrny život, the weekly newspaper of the Union of Slovak
Writers, which published frank discussions of liberalization, federalization and
democratization, written by the most progressive or controversial writers --
both Slovak and Czech. Kultúrny život consequently became the first Slovak
publication to gain a wide following among Czechs.