Pětka

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The Pětka, which is the Czech word for five, was an informal, extra-parliamentary forum, which played a crucial role in Czechoslovakian politics in the era of the first Republic. Created in 1920, by the leader of the Agrarian party, Antonín Švehla, it was originally designed as a means to stave off a potential crisis that seemed to be brewing, on account of the inability of the leading parties in parliament to form a governing coalition. Invited to participate in the Pětka were the leaders of the four other leading political parties in the newly formed Republic of Czechoslovakia. It was Švehla’s hope that by holding political discussions in a private setting, the five leaders would be able to forge a compromise that had been eluding the parliamentary factions.

Conceived on an ad hoc basis, this behind-the-scenes forum proved so effective, that the leaders of the five parties – the Agrarians, the National Socialists, the National Democrats, the Social Democrats, and the Catholic Party – reconvened the Pětka on several occasions throughout the following two decades. Some historians go so far as to argue that the Pětka was the de facto government of Czechoslovakia, in that it had the power to overthrow any cabinet.

But whatever the true dimensions of its power, it is certain that the non-elected, rather shadowy Pětka wielded a great deal of power during the interwar period. In September of 1921, it seems to have been the Pětka that was responsible for deciding to install Edvard Beneš as the prime minister. A year later, after Beneš resigned, the Pětka chose Svehla to serve as his successor. As the 1920s progressed, and Czechoslovakia remained relatively stable, the importance of the early Pětka began to wane. Or rather, it didn't so much wane as it was incorporated into the cabinet. Švehla, who was prime minister for much of this period, effectively incorporated the Pětka into his cabinet during his tenure, taking members from each of the five major parties to serve as experts or luminaries in his cabinet.

The establishment and effectiveness of the Pětka reflects two significant aspects of political life in post-World War I Czechoslovakia. First, it demonstrates the impulse towards consensus among the leaders of the newly formed Czechoslovakia, which had only come into being as an independent state with the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire at the end of World War I. This sentiment was captured in the slogan of the coalitions forged by Svehla, “We have agreed that we will agree.” Whatever their differences and personal leaders, the Czechoslovak leaders felt obliged to search out common ground so as to prevent the country from falling into chaos. Second, the presence and the power of the Pětka demonstrates the fragility and immaturity of Czechoslovakian democracy. That this unelected body which answered to nobody should have been able to yield so much power is testament to the fact that Czechoslovakia was not yet a fully fledged democracy.

The legacy of the Pětka is something of a mixed bag. On the one hand, it seems to have played an important role in some of the most significant accomplishments of the short-lived First Republic. It can be given credit, among other things, for the vast majority of social reforms enacted between 1918 and 1923. The eight-hour workday, sickness, and unemployment relief, restrictions on female and child labor constituted some of the reforms that the Pětka supposedly engineered. And in comparison with all the other Eastern European countries carved out of the remnants of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Czechoslovakia was both a prosperous and secure haven. Some credit for this must go to the Pětka. At the same time, it can be argued that the reliance on the Pětka and on backroom negotiations left the country ill-prepared when the difficulties it encountered defied compromise. Specifically, the leaders found it impossible to contend with the threat posed by the rise of the Nazis in Germany and the various repercussions that this had on life in Czechoslovakia, which possessed a large and increasingly hostile German minority.