Dubček, Alexander (1921–1992)

Alexander Dubček was the leader of Prague Spring from 1991 to 1992, an effort by reformists within the Czechoslovakia Communist Party to open the political system and introduce economic changes, personified in his slogan “Socialism with a human face.”Born in the small Slovak village of Uhrovec, Dubček spent much of childhood in the Soviet Union and later participated in the Slovak Uprising against Nazi occupation during World War II.

Dubček was recruited to become a party administrator in 1949, rising rapidly to become a provincial secretary in 1953, national party secretary for industry in 1960, and Slovak first secretary in 1963. In the early 1960s, Dubček was a member of the Kolder Commission, a party investigation of the Stalinist purges of a decade earlier. His participation on this commission, along with his oversight of industry, solidified his belief in structural reform. Reaching the top ranks of the party in the early 1960s, Dubček cautiously worked to create the necessary conditions to implement his reforms, gathering together like-minded reformists. A cautious approach was necessary because entrenched Stalinists opposed all but the most tepid reforms, and the Stalinist party head and president, Antonin Novotny, repeatedly tried to oust or demote Dubček, at one point launching a police investigation of Dubček that failed. The attacks on Dubček, led by Novotny, centered on false accusations of “bourgeois nationalism”—for which some senior party officials were jailed during the 1950s—were manufactured over Dubček's continuing advocation of more industrial investment in the Slovak Republic, which lagged behind the Czech lands.

Economic stagnation, rising tensions between Czechs and Slovaks, and pressure for reforms from below created the conditions for changes in the party leadership by late 1967, and in January 1968 the party leadership elected Dubček first secretary, the highest office. Although his reformist credentials and wider anti-Novotny sentiment were important factors in his elevation, another factor was that Dubček was a Slovak;all previous party heads were Czechs and most high party positions had been held by Czechs. A key goal for Dubček was the party renewing its popular support, which was to be done in part by ending the party's pervasive close management of all aspects of government. Through 1968, a majority in the party leadership solidified behind Dubček, but he continued to have to maneuver around internal oppositionists and repeated demonstrations of disapproval from the Soviet Union. In August 1968, Czechoslovakia was invaded by the Soviet Union and four other Warsaw Pact nations, and Dubček was kidnapped from his office by Soviet intelligence agents. Dubček refused to denounce his program but was allowed to remain as first secretary when the Soviets failed to install the coup leaders in power. Although his followers were removed from their offices, he remained in his office in an attempt to stave off reversals of his reforms.

Dubček was forced from office in 1969, stripped of his party membership, and harassed by the secret police for the next 20 years. He worked as a mechanic before retiring, but when the communist regime collapsed in late 1989, Dubček became the head of the national parliament. He energetically opposed the split of Czechoslovakia into two nations. But although a lifelong, unwavering believer in socialism, Dubček was deeply saddened by the betrayal of his ideals and became the leader of the Social Democrats. His return [Page 484]to public life ended prematurely when he was severely injured in an automobile crash in September 1992;he died 9 weeks later.

...