From Milada Horokova's Visit To Czechoslovakia During The Cold War
That day came on May 9, 1945. Citizens of Prague had already been revolting against the Nazis for several months, with little success, when the Soviet Red Army came through Czechoslovakia and freed them from Nazi control. Unfortunately for the Czech, US General Patton, though as close by as Pilsen, had been ordered to stop there, and allow the Red Army to defend Prague, rather than advancing himself. Had Patton been the one to repel the Nazis, the Czech Republic likely would have taken a far different path going into the Cold War. As it was, the Soviet rescue increased the popularity of the Communist party in Czechoslovakia and established it as part of the Soviet sphere of influence in eastern Europe, which lead to forty years of oppressive communist control, nearly as miserable for the Czech as life under Nazi occupation.
Still, life seemed hopeful after the end of World War II finally came. Though the communist party had gained immense popularity …show more content…
in Czechoslovakia, due to the Red Army’s status as the Czechs’ savior, it was willing to work with the returning government-in-exile from London, mostly to prevent the influence of Germany or the Soviet Union from affecting Czechoslovakia any more. A coalition republic was formed, sharing power between the three most prominent communist parties and the non-communist government officials. Evard Benes, who had been president before the war, continued in his role, and Klement Gottwald became prime minister, as of the May 1946 elections. Despite the initial intent to share power and promote understanding between communist and non-communist political parties, however, popular opinion continued to grow in favor of the communist party. Many Czechoslovakians bitterly remembered the Munich Pact and the failings of the Western world, and increasingly turned to communism in hope that Eastern Europe would be a better ally than the West had been. Over the next several years, communists continued to replace non-communist government officials, until February of 1949, when the communist takeover was complete, and Benes resigned.
The first order of business for the new communist president, Klement Gottwald, was to begin nationalizing private estates, farms, and businesses. By 1952 “all sectors of the economy had been nationalized” and central planning was Czechoslovakia’s chief economic plan. During the communist regime in Czechoslovakia, eight different “5-year plans” were applied, to varying degrees of success. At first, communist Czechoslovakia fared reasonably well; its economy had escaped relatively unscathed from the war, and Czechoslovakia pre-war had one of the strongest economies in Europe. As time passed, however, communism took its toll on the country; shortages became common, of even simple goods. By 1985, the “growth per capita of living standard had fallen to 1.4”, which was far below even similar socialist countries. Also detrimental to Czechoslovakia’s economy was a shift in focus to heavy industry, rather than previous Czechoslovakian interests, such as textiles, mechanical engineering, or agriculture. Such was typical of Soviet communism, and wrought ecological and economic havoc on Czechoslovakia and other eastern European countries.
Life in Czechoslovakia became a dismal affair.
Surveillance was everywhere, even in “private” homes, keeping anyone from being able to speak freely or relax. No one was permitted to leave without express permission, and should someone escape, the family left behind would be severely punished. Under Stalin’s orders, the communist leaders of Czechoslovakia also carried out “purges”, sending people to jail without fair trial, and executing over a hundred people. Notably, the trials of Milada Horokova and Rudolf Slanksy were condemned by world leaders everywhere. Rather than cave into foreign pressure, however, the communist leaders in Czechoslovakia moved up their execution dates, as a slap in the face to the rest of the world. Censorship kept Czech culture, its artists and writers and more, from creating anything overtly “Czech”; art had to reflect Soviet ideals. The media was similarly gagged. A resident of Czechoslovakia during communist occupation described living there as, “[having] a permanent atmosphere of
fear.”
There was little to no political opposition against the communists during this era. Any resistance movements had to be underground, or face the consequences of rebellion, typically imprisonment, dissolution, or sometimes execution. A brief period of reform and “relaxation” came in 1968, known as the “Prague Spring”. Alexander Dubcek came to power, and set about establishing “communism with a human face”, a more relaxed and humane kind of socialism. He allowed greater civil liberties, travel, even a measure of political dissent. Unfortunately, it did not last. Moscow caught wind of Dubcek’s reforms and did not approve; in August of the same year, Soviet troops invaded Czechoslovakia and forced the repeal of Dubcek’s reforms. Then, in April 1969, Dubcek was forced to leave office, and the brief spring was over.
Communism, for all its cruelty and heavy-handedness, could not last forever. In Czechoslovakia, it met its final end in the Velvet Revolution of 1989. Thanks to Mikhail Gorbachev’s new ideas for communism, glasnost and perestroika, the Czechoslovakian communist party clamped down on its population even harder. Glasnost opened government policies for debate and perestroika involved restructuring Soviet economic and political systems. These new policies did away with much of the secrecy and censorship that characterized Stalinian communism, as well as Czechoslovakian communism. The leaders of the communist party disagreed with Gorbachev’s new reforms, and instead became even more conservative, also unwilling to part with the power their authoritarian government provided them. This only served to inspire Czechoslovakians to rebel against the oppressive regime; the stricter the communists tried to be, the harder the Czechoslovakians pushed back.
The actual revolution began somewhat abruptly, and mostly unplanned, with a student march commemorating the 50th anniversary of a Nazi protestor’s death. Quickly, however, the focus turned from memorial to a full-on government protest. Despite the peaceful nature of the protest, over a hundred students had to be hospitalized due to police beatings, which inspired other Czechoslovakians—those in labor unions and civic groups in particular—to organize their own protests for a democratic Czechoslovakia. Protests erupted across the country and the Civic Forum group emerged as the leader and spokesperson for the protests. The future Czechoslovakian president and playwright Vaclav Havel lead the Civic Forum group, as well as the negotiations between the Czech rebels and Communist Party. After a few weeks of haggling, Havel was appointed the president of Czechoslovakia, then reelected in 1990, in the first free elections Czechoslovakia had had in forty years.
Czechoslovakia was not the only country to free itself from the burden of communism in 1989. Yugoslavia, Romania, the Eastern part of Germany, even Soviet Russia were liberated from communism’s heavy influence. Though celebrated at first—and, from a Western point of view, rightly so—there were consequences that came with the end of the powerful reign of communism. Some, such as in the case of Yugoslavia and Romania, were bloody and almost shameful, and others, such as in the case of Czechoslovakia, were more ideological than anything else.
When Soviet Russia fell and the Cold War ended, communism fell with it—in large part due to each communist regime’s dependence on both Soviet Russia and its communist neighbors. Once communist nations began to fall, Czechoslovakia had no market for its industrial products anymore, and the munitions manufacturer Slovakia had become had no buyers for its weapons. Communism cannot survive without other communist nations with which to trade, and to support each other. It was only natural, once Czechoslovakia repelled communism, to return the nation to its pre-World War II economic state, particularly considering its previously phenomenal success.
Still, life seemed hopeful after the end of World War II finally came. Though the communist party had gained immense popularity …show more content…
in Czechoslovakia, due to the Red Army’s status as the Czechs’ savior, it was willing to work with the returning government-in-exile from London, mostly to prevent the influence of Germany or the Soviet Union from affecting Czechoslovakia any more. A coalition republic was formed, sharing power between the three most prominent communist parties and the non-communist government officials. Evard Benes, who had been president before the war, continued in his role, and Klement Gottwald became prime minister, as of the May 1946 elections. Despite the initial intent to share power and promote understanding between communist and non-communist political parties, however, popular opinion continued to grow in favor of the communist party. Many Czechoslovakians bitterly remembered the Munich Pact and the failings of the Western world, and increasingly turned to communism in hope that Eastern Europe would be a better ally than the West had been. Over the next several years, communists continued to replace non-communist government officials, until February of 1949, when the communist takeover was complete, and Benes resigned.
The first order of business for the new communist president, Klement Gottwald, was to begin nationalizing private estates, farms, and businesses. By 1952 “all sectors of the economy had been nationalized” and central planning was Czechoslovakia’s chief economic plan. During the communist regime in Czechoslovakia, eight different “5-year plans” were applied, to varying degrees of success. At first, communist Czechoslovakia fared reasonably well; its economy had escaped relatively unscathed from the war, and Czechoslovakia pre-war had one of the strongest economies in Europe. As time passed, however, communism took its toll on the country; shortages became common, of even simple goods. By 1985, the “growth per capita of living standard had fallen to 1.4”, which was far below even similar socialist countries. Also detrimental to Czechoslovakia’s economy was a shift in focus to heavy industry, rather than previous Czechoslovakian interests, such as textiles, mechanical engineering, or agriculture. Such was typical of Soviet communism, and wrought ecological and economic havoc on Czechoslovakia and other eastern European countries.
Life in Czechoslovakia became a dismal affair.
Surveillance was everywhere, even in “private” homes, keeping anyone from being able to speak freely or relax. No one was permitted to leave without express permission, and should someone escape, the family left behind would be severely punished. Under Stalin’s orders, the communist leaders of Czechoslovakia also carried out “purges”, sending people to jail without fair trial, and executing over a hundred people. Notably, the trials of Milada Horokova and Rudolf Slanksy were condemned by world leaders everywhere. Rather than cave into foreign pressure, however, the communist leaders in Czechoslovakia moved up their execution dates, as a slap in the face to the rest of the world. Censorship kept Czech culture, its artists and writers and more, from creating anything overtly “Czech”; art had to reflect Soviet ideals. The media was similarly gagged. A resident of Czechoslovakia during communist occupation described living there as, “[having] a permanent atmosphere of
fear.”
There was little to no political opposition against the communists during this era. Any resistance movements had to be underground, or face the consequences of rebellion, typically imprisonment, dissolution, or sometimes execution. A brief period of reform and “relaxation” came in 1968, known as the “Prague Spring”. Alexander Dubcek came to power, and set about establishing “communism with a human face”, a more relaxed and humane kind of socialism. He allowed greater civil liberties, travel, even a measure of political dissent. Unfortunately, it did not last. Moscow caught wind of Dubcek’s reforms and did not approve; in August of the same year, Soviet troops invaded Czechoslovakia and forced the repeal of Dubcek’s reforms. Then, in April 1969, Dubcek was forced to leave office, and the brief spring was over.
Communism, for all its cruelty and heavy-handedness, could not last forever. In Czechoslovakia, it met its final end in the Velvet Revolution of 1989. Thanks to Mikhail Gorbachev’s new ideas for communism, glasnost and perestroika, the Czechoslovakian communist party clamped down on its population even harder. Glasnost opened government policies for debate and perestroika involved restructuring Soviet economic and political systems. These new policies did away with much of the secrecy and censorship that characterized Stalinian communism, as well as Czechoslovakian communism. The leaders of the communist party disagreed with Gorbachev’s new reforms, and instead became even more conservative, also unwilling to part with the power their authoritarian government provided them. This only served to inspire Czechoslovakians to rebel against the oppressive regime; the stricter the communists tried to be, the harder the Czechoslovakians pushed back.
The actual revolution began somewhat abruptly, and mostly unplanned, with a student march commemorating the 50th anniversary of a Nazi protestor’s death. Quickly, however, the focus turned from memorial to a full-on government protest. Despite the peaceful nature of the protest, over a hundred students had to be hospitalized due to police beatings, which inspired other Czechoslovakians—those in labor unions and civic groups in particular—to organize their own protests for a democratic Czechoslovakia. Protests erupted across the country and the Civic Forum group emerged as the leader and spokesperson for the protests. The future Czechoslovakian president and playwright Vaclav Havel lead the Civic Forum group, as well as the negotiations between the Czech rebels and Communist Party. After a few weeks of haggling, Havel was appointed the president of Czechoslovakia, then reelected in 1990, in the first free elections Czechoslovakia had had in forty years.
Czechoslovakia was not the only country to free itself from the burden of communism in 1989. Yugoslavia, Romania, the Eastern part of Germany, even Soviet Russia were liberated from communism’s heavy influence. Though celebrated at first—and, from a Western point of view, rightly so—there were consequences that came with the end of the powerful reign of communism. Some, such as in the case of Yugoslavia and Romania, were bloody and almost shameful, and others, such as in the case of Czechoslovakia, were more ideological than anything else.
When Soviet Russia fell and the Cold War ended, communism fell with it—in large part due to each communist regime’s dependence on both Soviet Russia and its communist neighbors. Once communist nations began to fall, Czechoslovakia had no market for its industrial products anymore, and the munitions manufacturer Slovakia had become had no buyers for its weapons. Communism cannot survive without other communist nations with which to trade, and to support each other. It was only natural, once Czechoslovakia repelled communism, to return the nation to its pre-World War II economic state, particularly considering its previously phenomenal success.