Communist Party of Czechoslovakia
Komunistická strana Československa |
|
---|---|
General Secretary |
Bohumil Jílek (first) Ladislav Adamec (last) |
Founded | May 16, 1921 |
Dissolved | November 28, 1990 |
Split from | Czechoslovak Social Democratic Workers' Party |
Succeeded by |
Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia (Czech Republic) Communist Party of Slovakia (Slovakia) |
Headquarters | Prague, Czechoslovakia |
Newspaper | Rudé právo |
Youth wing |
Young Communist League of Czechoslovakia (1921-1936), Czechoslovak Union of Youth (1949–1968), Socialist Youth Union (1970–1989) |
Paramilitary wing | Ľudové milície |
Ideology |
Communism Marxism–Leninism |
Political position | Far-left |
International affiliation |
Comintern (1921–1943) Cominform (1947–1956) |
Colours | Red |
Party flag | |
The Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (Czech and Slovak: Komunistická strana Československa, KSČ) was a Communist and Marxist–Leninist political party in Czechoslovakia that existed between 1921 and 1992. It was a member of the Comintern. Between 1929 and 1953 it was led by Klement Gottwald. After its election victory in 1946 it seized power in the 1948 Czechoslovak coup d'état and established a one-party state allied with the Soviet Union. Nationalization of virtually all private enterprises followed.
In 1968, party leader Alexander Dubček proposed reforms that included a democratic process and this led 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 Under pressure from the Kremlin, all reforms were repealed, party leadership became taken over by its more authoritarian wing and a massive non-bloody purge of party members was conducted.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 the party leadership bowed to popular pressure during the Velvet revolution and agreed to call the first contested election since 1946. In 1990, the centre-based Civic Forum won the election and the Communist party stood down.
In October 1990, the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia became a federation of the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia and the Communist Party of Slovakia.