List of political parties in Czechoslovakia (WFAC)

This article lists political parties in Czechoslovakia.

The Czechoslovak Federative Republic has a plural multi-party system, with two or three major parties complemented by several other significant parties. The largest by members and parliament seats are the Czechoslovak Social Democratic Party (ČSSD) and the Republican Party (RS).

Czechoslovakia also has a number of other parties, in recent history most importantly the Free Democrats (SD), the Czechoslovak People's Party (ČSL), the Czechoslovak National Social Party (ČSNS), the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSČ) and the Green Party (SZ)

History[]

1918–1938[]

1945–1965[]

1965–present[]

In the Czechoslovak political system usually no one party has a chance of gaining power alone, and parties must work with each other to form coalition governments. The federal government of Czechoslovakia often consisted of a coalition of a major and a minor party, specifically RS and ČSL; ČSSD and ČSNS; or ČSSD, ČSNS and ČSL. From 1948 to 1965, the federal government consisted of a coalition of the two major parties, called Grand Coalition.

The parties[]

Parties represented in the Federal Assembly or the European Parliament[]

Party			Founded	Ideology	Position	Leader	European affiliation	Representation
Party			Founded	Ideology	Position	Leader	European affiliation	Chamber	Senate	EP
Left-wing
	ČSSD	Czechoslovak Social Democratic Party Československá sociálně demokratická strana Československá sociálnodemokratická strana	1878	Social democracy Left-wing populism	Centre-left	Robert Fico	PES	0 / 300	0 / 150	3 / 26
	ČSNS	Czechoslovak National Social Party Československá strana národně sociální Československá strana národne sociálnu	1897	Social liberalism Democratic socialism Left-wing nationalism	Centre-left to left	Lubomír Zaorálek	Non-Inscrits	0 / 300	0 / 150	1 / 26
	KSČ	Communist Party of Czechoslovakia Komunistická strana Československa	1921	Eurocommunism Democratic socialism Marxism-Leninism	Left-wing to far-left	Kateřina Konečná	PEL	0 / 300	0 / 150	1 / 26
Centre
	SZ	Green Party Strana zelených	1985	Green politics Social liberalism Progressivism	Centre-left	Magdalena Davis Michal Šimečka	EGP	0 / 300	0 / 150	2 / 26
	AS	Alliance Aliancia Szövetség	2021	Hungarian minority interests Christian democracy Conservatism	Centre-right	Krisztián Forró	EFA	0 / 300	0 / 150	1 / 26
	SWG	Sudeten German Electoral Association Sudetendeutsche Wahlgemeinschaft Sudetoněmecké volební společenství	1955	German minority interests Christian democracy	Centre-right	Bernd Posselt	EFA	0 / 300	0 / 150	1 / 26
	STAN	Mayors and Independents Starostové a nezávislí Starostovia a nezávislí	2004	Regionalism Liberalism	Centre-right	Vít Rakušan	EPP	0 / 300	11 / 150	0 / 26
	SEN 21	Senator 21 Senátor 21	2017	Liberalism Syncretic politics	Centre	Václav Láska	EDP	0 / 300	3 / 150	0 / 26
	Piráti	Czechoslovak Pirate Party Československá pirátská strana Československá pirátska strana	2009	Pirate politics Liberalism Progressivism	Centre to centre-left	Ivan Bartoš	PPEU	0 / 300	2 / 150	0 / 26
	SNK	SNK European Democrats SNK Evropští demokraté	1996	Liberal conservatism Pro-Europeanism	Centre to centre-right	Zdeňka Marková	EPP	0 / 300	0 / 150	2 / 26
Right-wing
	RS	Republican Party Republikánská strana Republikánska strana	1899	Liberal conservatism Conservative liberalism Agrarianism	Centre-right	Markéta Adamová	EPP	70 / 300	0 / 150	6 / 26
	ČPES	Czech Industrial Economic Party Česká průmyslová ekonomická strana Česká priemyselná ekonomická strana	2024	Liberal conservatism Neoliberalism Fiscal conservatism	Right-wing	Jakub Šulc	ECR	3 / 300	0 / 150	3 / 26
	ČSL	Czechoslovak People's Party Československá strana lidová Československá strana ľudová	1919	Christian democracy Social conservatism	Centre to Centre-right	Marian Jurečka Milan Majerský	EPP	0 / 300	0 / 150	2 / 26
	SD	Free Democrats Svobodní demokraté Slobodni demokrati	1954	National conservatism National liberalism Right-wing populism	Right-wing to far-right	Andrej Babiš	IDP	0 / 300	0 / 150	2 / 26
	SNS	Slovak National Party Slovenská národná strana	1871	National conservatism Slovak nationalism Right-wing populism	Right-wing to far-right	Andrej Danko	None	0 / 300	0 / 150	2 / 26
Independents
	KAN	Club of Committed Non-Party Members Klub angažovaných nestraníků Klub angažovaných nestraníkov	1972	Direct democracy Syncretic politics Liberalism	Centre	František Laudát	None	0 / 300	3 / 150	0 / 26
	MHS	Marek Hilšer to Senate Marek Hilšer do Senátu	2017	Social liberalism	Centre	Marek Hilšer	None	0 / 300	1 / 150	0 / 26
	HPP	Movement for Prague 11 Hnutí pro Prahu 11	2006	Prague localism	Centre	Ladislav Kos	None	0 / 300	1 / 150	0 / 26
	TB	Team Bratislava	2018	Bratislava localism Social liberalism	Centre	Matúš Vallo	None	0 / 300	1 / 150	0 / 26
	Ostravak	Ostravak Citizens' Movement Ostravak hnutí občanů	2017	Ostrava localism	Centre	Tomáš Málek	None	0 / 300	1 / 150	0 / 26
	SPL	Mayors for Liberec Starostové pro Liberec	2008	Liberec localism Fiscal conservatism	Centre-right	Martin Půta	None	0 / 300	1 / 150	0 / 26
	Ž	Independents for Žilina Nezávislí pre Žilinu	2011	Žilina localism	Centre	Peter Dobeš	None	0 / 300	1 / 150	0 / 26

Non-parliamentary parties with elected representatives in state assemblies[]

Party				Founded	Ideology	Position	Leader	European affiliation
Party					Moravané		Moravians Moravané	1971	Moravian nationalism Regionalism Direct democracy Euroscepticism	Centre	Ctirad Musil	EFA
	PKW		Polish Electoral Committee in Czechoslovakia Polski komitet wyborczy w Czechosłowacji Polský volební výbor v Československu	1971	Polish minority interests Christian democracy	Centre to Centre-right	Dariusz Polowy	EFA

Non-parliamentary parties with no elected representation[]

Party				Founded	Ideology	Position	Leader	European affiliation
Party					SDL SDĽ		Party of the Democratic Left Strana demokratické levice Strana demokratickej ľavice	1991	Democratic socialism Environmentalism Antimilitarism	Left-wing	Collective leadership	PEL

Defunct parties[]

Major historical parties[]

		Founded	Dissolved	Ideology	Position	Leader	Comments
ČsND	Czechoslovak National Democracy Československá národní demokracie	1919	1934	National liberalism National conservatism Czechoslovak nationalism	Right-wing	Karel Kramář	Nationalist and liberal and conservative political party established in 1919 by a merger of the Free-minded Young Czech arty and several smaller parties such as the State's Rights Progressives, Moravian Progressive Party, and the Moravian-Silesian People's Party. Led by Karel Kramář, who served as Prime Minister of the first provisional government between 1918 and 1920. The party represented big businessmen, bankers, industrialists and the Czech upper class. The party In 1935 the party merged with the National League and the National Front to form the National Unification.
ČŽOS	Czechoslovak Traders' Party Československá živnostensko-obchodnická strana středostavovská Československá zivnostensko-obchodnícka strana stredostavovská	1920	1938	Liberalism Conservatism Economic nationalism	Centre-right to right-wing	Josef Václav Najman	Liberal and conservative political party established in 1920 as a split from the Czechoslovak National Democracy. The party represented the class and professional interests of small businessmen and tradesmen. The party was banned by the German occupation authorities in 1938 and merged with the Republican Party of Farmers and Peasants (RSZML) in 1945.
BdL	Farmers' League Bund der Landwirte Německý svaz zemědělců	1919	1938	Agrarianism Conservatism Activism German nationalism	Centre-right to right-wing	Franz Spina Gustav Hackner	An ethnic German agrarian political party with its base in the Sudetenland countryside. The party pursued an activist policy of cooperation within the democratic system, cooperated with the Czechoslovak agrarians and served in various governments from 1925 to 1938. From 1935 the party struggled badly from the competition from the Sudeten German Party (SdP) and suffered continuously from defections from its ranks. In March 1938, Gustav Hackner declared the party to merge with into SdP.
DCVP	German Christian Social People's Party Deutsche Christlich-Soziale Volkspartei Německá křesťansko sociální strana lidová	1919	1938	Conservatism Political Catholicism Activism German minority interests	Centre-right to right-wing	Karl Hilgenreiner	An ethnic German catholic political party formed in 1919 as the continuation of the Austrian Christian Social Party. The party pursued an activist policy of cooperation within the democratic system, cooperated with the Czechoslovak People's Party (ČSL) and served in various governments from 1926 to 1929 and 1936 to 1938. From 1935 the party struggled badly from the competition from the Sudeten German Party (SdP). After the Anschluß of Austria in 1938, the DCVP suspended the activities of the party and their MPs joined the SdP. The party was banned by the German occupation authorities in November 1938.
DSAP	German Social Democratic Workers' Party Deutsche sozialdemokratische Arbeiterpartei in der Tschechoslowakischen Republik Německá sociálně demokratická strana dělnická v Československé republice	1919	1938	German minority interests Social democracy Democratic socialism Activism	Left-wing	Wenzel Jaksch	Party was formed in 1919 when the Bohemian provincial organization of the Social Democratic Workers' Party of Austria separated itself from the mother party. The party pursued an activist policy of cooperation within the democratic system, cooperated with the Czechoslovak Social Democrats (ČSDSD), and served in various governments from 1929 to 1938. The party was banned by the German occupation authorities in November 1938.
HSĽS	Hlinka's Slovak People's Party Hlinkova slovenská ľudová strana	1913	1945	Slovak nationalism National Catholicism Corporate statism National conservatism Autonomism	Right-wing to far-right	Andrej Hlinka Jozef Tiso	Known as the Ľudáks (Slovak: ľudáci, singular: ľudák), the party was a far-right clerico-fascist political party with a strong Catholic fundamentalist and authoritarian ideology. Formed in 1913 and fought for democratic liberties and the independence and sovereignty of Slovakia from Austria-Hungary. After the formation of Czechoslovakia, the party opposed Czechoslovakism and demanding Slovak autonomy. Saw a turn towards more radical and authoritarian ideologies such as fascism in the second half of the 1930 after having lost faith in democratic procedures. Party split in October 1938 between the moderate wing loyal to the Czechoslovak state (headed by Jozef Tiso) and the radical wing wanting secede from Czechoslovakia and cooperate with the Germans and Hungarians (headed by Vojtech Tuka). The moderate wing merged with the Czechoslovak People's Party (ČSL) in 1945 to form the party's Slovak branch.
Most–Híd	Most–Híd	2009	2021	Liberal conservatism Hungarian minority interests Pro-Europeanism	Centre to centre-right	Béla Bugár	A regionalist political party representing the Hungarian national minority formed in 2009 by dissidents from the Party of the Hungarian Coalition (SMK-MKP), which they accused of being too nationalistic. Led by the SMK-MKP's former chairman Béla Bugár, the party claimed to have an electorate that is two-thirds ethnic Hungarian and one-third ethnic Slovak. The party remerged with SMK-MKP in 2021 to form the Alliance (Aliancia - Szövetség).
NOF	National Fascist Community Národní obec fašistická Národná obec fašistická	1913	1938	Fascism Antisemitism Anti-Germanism Anti-Communism Czech nationalism	Far-right	Radola Gajda	Formed in March 1926 by the merger of a group of dissident National Democrats known as the "Red-Whites" with various other rightist groups across Bohemia and Moravia. Inspired by Benito Mussolini's National Fascist Party, the party was distinguished by a strong current of opposition to Germany, which continued even after Adolf Hitler had come to power. The party failed to attract support and had virtually no support in Slovakia. It received only 2% and six seats in the 1935 parliamentary election. The NOF attempted a comeback during the German occupation, but the German occupation forces banned the party in November 1938 due to their earlier criticism and their overall minor status.
NSj	National Unification Národní sjednocení	1934	1938	National conservatism Czechoslovak nationalism Agrarianism	Right-wing to far-right	Karel Kramář	Nationalist party formed in 1934 by a merger of the Czechoslovak National Democracy and two marginal parties, National League and National Front. The party politically cooperated with the fascist Vlajka movement. The party was banned by the German occupation authorities in November 1938.
SDS	Party of Democratic Socialism Strana demokratického socialismu Strana demokratického socializmu	1961	1991	Democratic socialism	Left-wing	Josef Smrkovský Štefan Sádovský Zdeněk Mlynář	Formed in 1961 by members of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSČ) critical of the the Soviet intervention in the Hungarian Revolution in 1956 and supporting the idea of independence from the Soviet Union. The party had its peak support during the 1960s and 1970s, with a peak share being 5.4% of the vote in the 1965 general election. As the KSČ enjoyed a renewd surge of popularity after transitioning from doctrinaire marxism-leninism to Eurocommunism in the 1970s, the party played a increasingly marginal role in Czechoslovak politics, attracting only 2.18% of the popular vote in the 1987 election. The party was renamed to Party of the Democratic Left (SDL) in 1991.
SMK-MKP	Party of the Hungarian Community Magyar Közösség Pártja Strana maďarskej komunity	1954	2021	Hungarian minority interests Christian democracy National conservatism	Centre to centre-right	Ignác Schulcz Mihály Csáky Štefan Fábry László Dobos István Harna Miklós Duray Pál Csáky Béla Bugár	A regionalist political party representing the Hungarian national minority formed in 1954. It was represented in the Federal Assembly from 1954 until 2010, when it failed to pass the threshold necessary for entering the Federal Assembly. Its votes went largely to Most–Híd, a new party led by former SMK leader Béla Bugár. The party remerged with Most–Híd in 2021 to form the Alliance (Aliancia - Szövetség).
SdP	Sudeten German Party Sudetendeutsche Partei Sudetoněmecká strana	1933	1938	Nazism German nationalism Pan-Germanism Volksgemeinschaft	Far-right	Konrad Henlein	Party was formed after Czechoslovak authorities had outlawed the German National Socialist Workers' Party (Deutsche Nationalsozialistische Arbeiterpartei, DNSAP). Renamed Sudetendeutsche Partei in 1935 following a mandatory demand of the Czechoslovak government. With the rising power of Nazi Party in Germany, the Sudeten German Party became a major pro-Nazi force in Czechoslovakia with the explicit official aim of breaking the country up and joining it to the Third Reich. Had over 1.3 million members, i.e. 40.6% of ethnic-German citizens of Czechoslovakia, and became the largest party in the 1935 parliamentary election. Merged into the German Nazi Party on 5 November 1938 following the invasion of Czechoslovakia and banned in 1945 by the Czechoslovak authorities.

Minor historical parties[]

		Founded	Dissolved	Ideology	Position	Leader	Comments
SŽJ	Party for Life Security Strana za životní jistoty Strana za životné istoty	1989	2005	Pensioners' interests Social justice Social democracy	Centre to centre-left	Josef Koníček Eduard Kremlička	Centrist party focused on pensioner's interests and issues. It became widely known during 1998 Czechoslovak federal election when it was expected to gain seats in the Federal Assembly. Dissolved in 2005.
SPP	Friends of Beer Party Strana přátel piva Strana priateľov piva	1990	1998	Frivolous political party Social democracy	Centre-left	Martin Hesoun	Frivolous political party originally intended as a humorous commentary on the political situation of the late 1980s and early 1990s, the party decided to run in the elections after receiving public attention. Participated in various elections between 1990 and 1998 but failed to reach the threshold. The party merged with the Czechoslovak Social Democratic Party (ČSSD) in 1998.
ROI	Roma Civic Initiative Romská občanská iniciativa Rómska občianska iniciatíva	1982	2005	Roma minority interests	Centre-left	Emil Ščuka	Party founded in 1989 as a political platform representing the Roma minority. Gained parliamentary representation in the 1990s but internal divisions led to further splits and its dissolution in 2005.