1950 Czechoslovak federal election (WFAC)

1950 Czechoslovak federal election

← 1946		19–20 May 1950		1954 →
All 300 seats in the Chamber of Deputies 151 seats needed for a majority All 150 seats to the Chamber of Nations
Turnout		90.25% (▼ 2.92%)
		First party	Second party
Leader		Josef Černý	Václav Majer
Party		RS	ČSSD
Last election		84 seats, 27.80%	88 seats, 28.98%
Seats won		91 / 300	76 / 300
Seat change		▲ 7 seats	▼ 12 seats
Popular vote		2,164,402	2,164,402
Percentage		30.18%	30.18%
Swing		▲ 2.38%	▼ 4.02%
Winning party by district (Red: ČSSD, Green: RS, Dark Red: Communist, Yellow: ČSL, Blue: SĽS, Pink: ČSNS)
Prime Minister before election Václav Majer ČSSD Elected Prime Minister Josef Černý RS

Federal elections were held in Czechoslovakia on 19 and 20 May, 1950. All 300 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and all 150 seats in the Chamber of Nations were up for election, with MPs elected by party list proportional representation and all Senators elected by first-past-the-post voting.

The elections were heavily influenced by the Cold War confrontation between the Soviet Union and the United States, and are now best known for the covert political warfare waged by the US State Department and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) on behalf of the democratic parties: mainly the right-wing Republican Party (RS), the Czechoslovak People's Party (ČSL) and the Slovak People's Party (SĽS), but also the Social Democratic Party (ČSSD). After the gains made by the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSČ) in the 1946 elections and the communist takeover in Hungary following their 1947 elections, the US became alarmed about Soviet intentions and feared that, if the communists were to win the elections or use the election as a pretext to launch a coup, they could draw Czechoslovakia into the Soviet Union's sphere of influence. The Soviet Union, meanwhile, covertly supported the Communist Party during the election campaign.

The elections were won by the four non-socialist parties led by the Republican Party, which became the largest party by winning 91 of the 300 seats with 30.18% of the votes. The non-socialist parties succeeded in winning a majority between them and forming a coalition minority government comprising the Republican Party, the Czechoslovak People's Party and the Slovak People's Party. Josef Černý, the leader of the Republican Party, became Prime Minister.

Background

Following the 1946 federal election Prime Minister Majer (who was also the leader of the) formed a National Front government with the Republican Party (RS), the Czechoslovak People's Party (ČSL), the Slovak People's Party (SLS), the National Social Party (ČSNS) and the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSČ). While political cooperation and some mutual trust existed for the first year, the tension both in the cabinet and in parliament between the Communists and their opponents had led to increasingly bitter conflict over the political course the National Front should take. The Communist Party was growing particularly fast due to its organizing efforts.

However, by the summer of 1947 the KSČ had alienated whole blocs of potential voters. The activities of the Minister of Labour and Social Affairs, Václav Nosek, were acutely offensive to many citizens; workers were angry at Communist demands that they increase output without being given higher wages, while farmers were offended by Communist's talk of collectivization. The general expectation was that the Communists would be soundly defeated in the May 1950 elections.

On 5 June 1947 US Secretary of State George C. Marshall made an offer of American aid to promote European recovery and reconstruction. The majority of the Czechoslovak parties, including Majer and the Social Democrats, were eager to share in the US aid, which they needed in order to complete the Four-Year Economic Plan of 1947–1950. The Communists were skeptical to the offer, but nonetheless agreed to accept the invitation. On 4 July the cabinet voted unanimously to accept the invitation to send a delegation to a preliminary conference of European states in Paris to discuss the Marshall Plan scheduled on 12 July.

The unanimous acceptance of the Marshall Plan by the cabinet precipitated the so-called July crisis. Jan Masaryk, the foreign minister of Czechoslovakia, was summoned to Moscow on 9 July and berated by Stalin for considering Czechoslovakia's possible involvement with and joining of the Marshall Plan. Stalin warned that by accepting the plan the Soviet Union would consider this as a signal of Czechoslovakia aligning themselves with the West, and thus damage Soviet-Czechoslovak relations. The Czechoslovaks chose, nevertheless, to attend the summit on 12 July.

The Communist acceptance of the offer was a result of a misunderstanding brought about by Soviet inefficiency. Gottwald had sought advance Soviet approval for accepting the invitation, but Valerian Zorin, the Soviet ambassador, lacked instructions. Failing to get a reply from Moscow in time, the Communist cabinet members voted in favour of accepting the invitation. Upon receiving instructions from Moscow not to accept the invitation, the Communist Party withdrew their acceptance and voiced their opposition to the invitation, citing fears that the American plan would result in the "economic enslavement of Czechoslovakia."

In the political chaos which ensued, Majer engineered the expulsion of all communist ministers from the cabinet on 18 July. Majer did this under pressure from US Secretary of State Marshall, who had informed him that anti-communism was a precondition for receiving American aid. The Communists, who had considered leaving the government as a result of the acceptance of the Marshall Aid, decided however remain in the National Front for the remainder of the term. The acceptance of the Marshall Plan and the expulsion of the Communists also resulted in a rift in Czechoslovak-Soviet relations, which were only resolved by the signing of the Declaration of Neutrality of 4 April 1948. Czechoslovakia eventually benefited from $768 million in aid between 1948-1951 by the Marshall Plan (European Recovery Program, ERP).

Electoral system

The 300 members of the Chamber of Deputies were elected from 14 multi-member constituencies (each usually electing between five and 25 members) using open list proportional representation, in which they could give preferential votes for up to four candidates on their chosen list. Seats were allocated using the d'Hondt method, with an electoral threshold a 4% threshold for single parties and 8% threshold for coalitions (requirements waived for national minorities). The members of the Chamber of Nations were elected using first-past-the-post voting in 150 single-member districts; 75 in each republic. To be included on a ballot, a senate candidate had to present 2000 signatures of support from their constituents. Should a party have 151 or more deputies in the Chamber of Deputies, it has an absolute majority and can thus govern autonomously, without the need for support from other parties. The constitution can be amended with a super majority of two-thirds, or 301 deputies.

The Czechoslovak constitution states that elections to the Federal Assembly must be held every four years. Polling days in Czechoslovakia are Friday and Saturday, and voters could submit their ballots on either day. The exact date of the election was to be chosen by the President, who is obliged to call it at least 60 days prior to the expiration of the electoral term and ending on the day of its expiration. If the Chamber of Deputies were dissolved, elections should be held within 60 days of its dissolution. On 10 March 1950 President Jan Masaryk announced 19 and 20 May 1950 as election days.

As in the previous election, only Czechs, Slovaks and other Slavs could register to vote.

Parties

With the termination of the National Front following the 1950 elections, new parties were allowed to participate in the the election. New parties wishing to participate in the election were required to send their application to the Minister of the Interior by 12:00 Noon 15 days before the election. Together with the application papers, the party had to submit a number of signatures corresponding at least to 1/300th of all valid votes cast at the last federal elections. In that election, 7,044,628 valid votes were cast, and a new party should therefore collect at least 23,480 signatures to become eligible for the election. Altogether seven parties have managed to get on the ballot in at least one state and could therefore (theoretically) earn proportional representation in the Federal Assembly.

The first party which was allowed to be established outside the National Front were the Liberal Democratic Party (Liberální demokratická strana, LDS), formed on 13 November 1948. The party, led by Karel Chalupa, had its roots in the pre-war liberal Czechoslovak Traders' Party.

Parliamentary parties

Name					Ideology	Leading candidate(s)	1946 result
							Votes (%)	Seats
	ČSSD			Czechoslovak Social Democratic Party Československá strana sociálně demokratická	Social democracy	Václav Majer	28.98%	88 / 300
	RS			Republican Party Republikánská strana	Social conservatism	Josef Černý	27.80%	84 / 300
	ČSL/SĽS		ČSL	Czechoslovak People's Party Československá strana lidová	Christian democracy	František Hála	10.10%	30 / 300
			SĽS	Slovak People's Party Slovenská ľudová strana		Jozef Tiso	5.66%	17 / 300
	KSČ			Communist Party of Czechoslovakia Komunistická strana Československa	Communism Marxism–Leninism	Klement Gottwald	18.99%	48 / 300
	ČSNS			Czechoslovak National Social Party Československá strana národně sociální	Socialist nationalism Conservative socialism	Petr Zenkl	8.12%	29 / 300

Parties not represented in the Federal Assembly

Name					Ideology	Leading candidate(s)
	LDS			Liberal Democratic Party Liberální demokratická strana	Liberalism	Karel Chalupa

Election campaign

Majer and the Social Democrats campaigned on his policies of economic reconstruction and growth, social democratic values and close constructive cooperation with the other members of the National Front. In foreign policy, he campaigned on maintaining Czechoslovakia's role as a bridge between the East and the West through close relationships with the United States and the Soviet Union.

Both the Czechoslovak Social Democratic Party and the Republican Party entered the campaign positively, which was marked by unity among the political parties. While the parties had agreed upon running independent campaigns and disbanding the National Front following the election, all parties ran on a platform which maintained the reforms carried out by the Košice Government Program along with the existing party programs.

The Republicans, along with the other centre-right parties, had accepted most of the nationalisation measures under the Košice Program that had taken place under the Majer government, which included the 1948 Federal Insurance Act and nationalization of certain banks, mining, metallurgy and armaments industries and the insurance industry. The campaign essentially focused on the possible future nationalization of other sectors and industries, which was supported by the Social Democrats, the Socialist and Communists, and opposed by the right-wing parties led by the Republicans.

Superpower influence

The 1950 general election was greatly influenced by the Cold War that was starting between the United States and the Soviet Union. The United States had two years earlier heavily influenced the outcome of the Italian general election in 1948 by waging covert political warfare on behalf of the Christian Democracy party (DC). The National Security Act of 1947, that made foreign covert operations possible, had been signed into law by President Harry S. Truman in 1947.

While the general expectation was that the Communists would be soundly defeated, the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the State Department decided to take precautionary measures. The CIA, by its own admission, gave one million dollars to Czechoslovak "democratic parties": mainly the Republican Party (RS), the Czechoslovak People's Party (ČSL), the Slovak People's Party (SĽS) and the Social Democratic Party (ČSSD).

In order to influence the election, the US agencies undertook a campaign of covering political as well as campaign expenses, made numerous short-wave radio broadcasts and funded the publishing of books and articles, all of which warned the Czechoslovaks of what was believed to be the consequences of a communist victory. Overall, the US funneled around $5 million into the country for specifically anti-KSČ purposes. Additionally, millions of dollars from the Economic Cooperation Administration affiliated with the Marshall Plan were spent on anti-communist "information activities."

While the United States supported the democratic-oriented parties, the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSČ) received both financial and political support from the Soviet Union. At the first Cominform meeting in September 1947, Andrei Zhdanov observed that Soviet victory had helped achieve "the complete victory of the working class over the bourgeoisie in every East European land except Czechoslovakia, where the power contest still remains undecided." This clearly implied the KSČ should be accelerating its own efforts to take complete power. That notion would be reinforced in 1970, when party archives were opened and showed that Stalin gave up the whole idea of a parliamentary path for Czechoslovakia when the Communist parties of France and Italy stumbled in 1947 and 1948.

United States government sources also claimed that the KSČ had received $20–30 million per year from the Soviet Union. However, while declassified information proved this to be exaggerated, the KSČ had relied on around $15 million in Soviet financial assistance annually in the years leading up to the 1950 elections.

Results

Chamber of Deputies

Summary of the 19–20 May 1950 Chamber of Deputies of Czechoslovakia election results

Parties				Votes	%	+/−	Seats	±
	Republican Party (RS)			2,164,402	30.18%	▲ 2.38 pp	91	▲ 7
	Czechoslovak Social Democratic Party (ČSSD)			1,816,758	25.33%	▼ 3.65 pp	76	▼ 12
	Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSČ)			1,013,322	14.13%	▼ 4.86 pp	42	▼ 15
	ČSL/SĽS		Czechoslovak People's Party (ČSL)	805,896	11.24%	▲ 1.14 pp	34	▲ 2
			Slovak People's Party (SĽS)	432,174	6.03%	▲ 0.37 pp	19	▲ 2
	Czechoslovak National Social Party (ČSNS)			580,890	8.10%	▼ 0.02 pp	24	▬ 0
	Liberal Democratic Party (LDS)			358,357	5.00%	New	14	New
Total valid votes				7,171,799	100.0%		300
Blank or invalid votes				46,507	0.64%
Total				7,218,306	0.0%
Registered voters and turnout				7,998,035	90.25%
Turnout in the Czech Federative Republic (Electorate: 6,026,077)				5,464,447	90.68%
Turnout in the Slovak Federative Republic (Electorate: 1,971,958)				1,753,859	88.94%

Popular Vote RS   30.26% ČSSD   25.26% KSČ   14.13% ČSL   11.24% ČSNS   8.10% SĽS   6.03% LDS   5.00%

↓

42	76	24	34	19	91	14
KSČ	ČSSD	ČSNS	ČSL	SĽS	RS	LDS

Results by state

		Czechia			Slovakia
		#	%	Seats	#	%	Seats
ČSSD		0	0.00%		0	0.00%
RS		0	0.00%		0	0.00%
ČSL		0	0.00%		N/A	N/A	N/A
SĽS		N/A	N/A	N/A	0	0.00%
KSČ		0	0.00%		0	0.00%
ČSNS		0	0.00%		0	0.00%
LDS		0	0.00%		0	0.00%
Blank or invalid votes		0	0.00%		0	0.00%
Total		0	100.00%		0	0.00%

Chamber of Nations

Summary of the 19–20 May 1950 Chamber of Nations election results

Parties		Votes	% of votes	Seats	±
Czechia
	Czechoslovak Social Democratic Party (ČSSD)	0	0.00%	0	0
	Republican Party (RS)	0	0.00%	0	0
	Czechoslovak People's Party (ČSL)	0	0.00%	0	0
	Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSČ)	0	0.00%	0	0
	Czechoslovak National Social Party (ČSNS)	0	0.00%	0	0
	Liberal Democratic Party (LDS)	0	0.00%	0	0
Invalid or blank votes		0	0.00%	N/A	N/A
Total in the Czech Federative Republic (Turnout: 00.00% – electorate: 0)		0	100.00%	75
Slovakia
	Czechoslovak Social Democratic Party (ČSSD)	0	0.00%	0	0
	Republican Party (RS)	0	0.00%	0	0
	Slovak People's Party (SĽS)	0	0.00%	0	0
	Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSČ)	0	0.00%	0	0
	Liberal Democratic Party (LDS)	0	0.00%	0	0
	Czechoslovak National Social Party (ČSNS)	0	0.00%	0	0
Invalid or blank votes		0	0.00%	N/A	N/A
Total in the Slovak Federative Republic (Turnout: 0.00% – electorate: 0)		0	100.00%	75
Total (Turnout: 0.00% – electorate: 0)		0	100.0%	150

Aftermath and government formation

The Republican Party became the largest party by winning 91 of the 300 seats with 30.18% of the votes. Despite Václav Majer's popularity and his ability to convince voters of his leadership abilities and economic and political success, the election was a disappointment for the Czechoslovak Social Democratic Party, who suffered a drop of 3.65% and winning 76 seats. The Communist Party was soundly defeated, winning only 14.42% of the vote, a drop of 4.86%. The loss was credited to the policies of the party which had alienated whole blocs of potential voters.

The four non-socialist parties succeeded in winning a majority between them and formed a coalition minority government comprising the Republican Party, the Czechoslovak People's Party and the Slovak People's Party, with the Liberal Democratic Party providing parliamentary support. Josef Černý, the leader of the Republican Party, became Prime Minister.

See also

• Elections in Czechoslovakia (WFAC)