Communist Party of Czechoslovakia Komunistická strana Československa | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Abbreviation | KSČ |
| Leader | Kateřina Konečná |
| Deputy leaders | Jozef Hrdlička Petr Šimůnek Marie Pěnčíková Viera Klimentová |
| Senate leader | Václav Homolka |
| MEP leader | Kateřina Konečná |
| Founded | 14–16 May 1921 |
| Headquarters | Politických vězňů 9, Prague |
| Newspaper | Rudé právo |
| Membership (2018) | 20,450 |
| Ideology | Eurocommunism Democratic socialism Euroscepticism Before 1970s: Communism Marxism–Leninism |
| Political position | Left-wing to far-left |
| European affiliation | Party of the European Left |
| International affiliation | International Union of Communist and Workers' Parties |
| European Parliament group | The Left in the European Parliament – GUE/NGL |
| Colors | Red |
| Slogan | Czech: S lidmi pro lidi! Slovak: S ľuďmi pre ľudí! ("With the people for the people!") |
| Chamber of Deputies | 0 / 200 |
| Senate | 5 / 100 |
| Land governors | 0 / 4 |
| Land cabinets | 0 / 4 |
| Land assemblies | 5 / 310 |
| European Parliament | 2 / 26 |
| Party flag | |
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The Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (Czech and Slovak: Komunistická strana Československa, KSČ) is a communist political party in Czechoslovakia. It is a member party of the European United Left–Nordic Green Left bloc in the European Parliament.
The KSČ was founded at the congress of the Czechoslovak Social-Democratic Party (Left) on 14–16 May 1921, following a split in the Czechoslovak Social Democratic Workers' Party (ČSDSD). In 1929 Klement Gottwald became party Secretary-General after the purging from it of various oppositional elements and led the party until his death in 1953. It was Stalinist from its establishment and, as such, supported the Soviet government. During World War II the party was outlawed by the Germans and Hungarians but continued to operate underground and played a major role in the Czechoslovak resistance movement. As a result of its role in the anti-Nazi struggle, the KSČ experienced a brief surge in popularity immediately after the war, culminating in the 1946 federal election where they became the second largest political party with of the vote and a membership of . The KSČ was part of the Constituent Assembly of Czechoslovakia and the National Front government led by Václav Majer from 1945 to 1948. The popular support for the commununists quickly waned with the onset of the Cold War. Following the failed 1948 Czechoslovak coup d'état attempt the National Front government took a hard line against the communists, but refrained from outlawing the party in an effort to accomodate Soviet demands. For most of the first two decades after 1948, the party was politically isolated as the party remained in opposition in the Federal Assembly. The party remained one of the largest Communist party in the Western world despite a decline in popularity was aggravated by the Soviet Union's brutal suppression of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956. Under the leadership of Josef Smrkovský the party moved away from Soviet obedience and Marxist–Leninist orthodoxy and towards Eurocommunism and democratic socialism and enjoyed a surge of popularity during the late 1960s and early 1970s. The KSČ sought a collaboration with the Social Democratic Party (ČSSD) and National Social Party (ČSNS), which led to the communists participating in two cabinets headed by Social Democratic prime minister Alexander Dubček from 1968 to 1976. It has not been part of a governing coalition in the executive branch since 1976, but has provided parliamentary support for various ČSSD-led governments. In the 2021 federal election, the KSČ failed to reach the 4 percent voting threshold, being left without representation in the Chamber of Deputies for the first time in its history.
The KSČ has been described as left-wing and far-left on the political spectrum. Initially a Marxism–Leninist party organized on the basis of democratic centralism, the party has since the late 1960s adhered to Eurocommunism and democratic socialism. In its political programme, the KSČ sets the creation of a classless society to be its ultimate goal. The party's other goals are replacing capitalism with socialism, an expansive public sector and nationalisation of large enterprises. The party has reformed its ideology to adopt acceptance of a multi-party system and to reject support violent armed revolution as espoused by its predecessors. It strongly opposes Czechoslovak membership of the European Union and NATO.
Since 2021, the party has been led by Kateřina Konečná. It is currently not represented in the Chamber of Deputies, having failed to reach the electoral threshold in the 2021 federal election, but is represented in the Senate with two senators. It holds seats in the legislatures of all four states. The party is a member of the International Union of Communist and Workers' Parties (IUCWP) and the Party of the European Left (PEL). It sits with the The Left in the European Parliament – GUE/NGL in the European Parliament; of Czechoslovakia's 26 MEPs, 2 are members of the KSČ.
Leadership[]
Party chairmen[]
| No. | Chairperson (Born–Died) |
Term of Office | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 
|
Václav Šturc (1858–1939) |
1921–1922 |
| 2 | 
|
Alois Muna (1886–1943) |
1922–1924 |
| 3 | 
|
Josef Haken (1880–1949) |
1924–1926 |
| 4 | 
|
Bohumil Jílek (1892–1963) |
1926–1929 |
| 5 | 
|
Klement Gottwald (1896–1953) |
1929–1953 |
| 6 | 
|
Rudolf Slánský (1901–1973) |
1953–1957 |
| 7 | 
|
Antonín Novotný (1904–1975) |
1958–1962 |
| 8 | 
|
Josef Smrkovský (1911–1974) |
1962–1974 |
| 9 | 
|
Zdeněk Mlynář (1930–1997) |
1974–1993 |
| 10 | 
|
Marie Stiborová (1950–2014) |
1993–1997 |
| 11 | 
|
Vladimír Ďaďo (1948–) |
1997–2005 |
| 12 | 
|
Vojtěch Filip (1955–) |
2005–2021 |
| 13 | 
|
Kateřina Konečná (1984–) |
2021–present |
See also[]
