Zdeněk Mlynář

Zdeněk Mlynář (Müller) (22 June 1930, Vysoké Mýto – 15 April 1997, Vienna) was secretary of Czechoslovak communist party in the years 1968–1970 and an intellectual who went against the grain during a critical time in the development of Eastern European political history. Mlynář wrote the noteworthy political manifesto Towards a Democratic Political Organization of Society which was released on 5 May 1968, at the height of the Prague Spring. He also wrote, while in exile in Vienna, an autobiographical account of the Prague Spring and the Warsaw Pact invasion that put an end to it in August, 1968. It was published in an English translation called Nightfrost in Prague: The End of Humane Socialism.

Mlynář had been a law student in the Soviet Union during the 1950s. He was known to have taken a detached approach to the developments in Czechoslovakia at the time. This bearing allowed him to exercise a critical analysis of the political and social developments taking place in Czechoslovakia and the rest of the region which under Soviet influence.

The early 1960s signaled a radical transformation in the Eastern European political and social landscape. Sweeping reforms and wide restructuring in various areas of daily life began to take place across the region. The first inklings of freedom of the press began to become apparent with the easing of censorship and the allowance for further debate on various social issues. A more permissive healthcare system gave patients the freedom to choose which doctors would provide for their treatment. Restrictions on religion became less constrained. In addition, the population began to be able to move about more freely as limitations on transportation were eased as well (Crampton 321–322).

It was during this period of positive social and political upheaval that Mlynář was assigned to the task of drafting policy recommendations for the Czechoslovakian communist party in 1967. These were to be used for the 13th Party Congress which was planned for 1970. Only three years prior in 1964, at a time when the national assembly of Czechoslovakia was “showing an uncharacteristic liveliness for a communist parliament” (322), Mlynář had made the argument that 'pressure groups' should be allowed to have their say concerning the state machinery. The electoral law had changed by 1967 in that it allowed for more freedom when nominating candidates. The changes also reflected an important advance in that it would be possible to nominate more candidate than there were places to be filled.

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