National Front (Czechoslovakia)

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The National Front (in Czech: Národní fronta, in Slovak: Národný front) was the coalition of parties which headed the re-established Czechoslovakian government from 1945 to 1948. During the Communist era in Czechoslovakia (1948–1989) it was the vehicle for control of all political and social activity by the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSČ). It was also known in English as the National Front of Czechs and Slovaks.

1943–1948

As World War II began, Czechoslovakia disappeared from the map of Europe. The Czech lands became the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia under direct Nazi rule, and Slovak lands formed an ostensibly-independent Slovakia. At the end of World War II, Czechoslovakia was included in the sphere of influence of the Soviet Union. Postwar Czechoslovakia was organized according to a program worked out by the KSČ (whose leaders were in exile in Moscow), and Edvard Beneš, representing the government-in-exile—these being the two most important groups seeking the reconstitution of the country. Part of the program was the formation of a popular anti-Nazi coalition of parties. Negotiations began in December 1943 in Moscow. The KSČ and the non-Communist parties had very different ideas about this.

This coalition was finally established as the "National Front" in April 1945, when a Czechoslovak government came into being in the city of Košice, recently liberated by Soviet troops.

The National Front government was a coalition of six parties:

  • Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSČ)
  • Communist Party of Slovakia (KSS; formed in 1939)
  • Czechoslovak Social Democratic Party (CSDP)
  • Czechoslovak National Socialist Party (CNSP; national-liberal, petty bourgeois, no connection to the German Nazis)
  • Czechoslovak People's Party (CPP; a Catholic group)
  • (Slovak) Democratic Party

Later two more parties were added:

The Slovak People's Party was banned due to its collaboration with the Nazis. The government decided not to allow the re-creation of other pre-war democratic parties, such as the Republican Party of Farmers and Peasants.

The National Front was dominated by the "socialist" parties: KSČ, KSS, CSDP, CSNP. Communists held the key ministries.

The Communists viewed the National Front as a permanent entity, while the remaining parties considered it a temporary coalition until normal conditions would arise in Czechoslovakia. Many quarrels arose between the KSČ and the remaining parties of the National Front in the transitory period 1945–1948.

1948–1990

The KSČ definitively seized power in Czechoslovakia on 25 February 1948. The other parties were quickly purged of their more courageous elements, and also dropped their original ideologies.

After the 1948 coup, the member parties were:

The KSČ held all real power. The other parties were structured just like the Communists, with a secretariat, central committee, and Presidium. Despite their actual impotence they retained a significant membership through the entire Communist era. In 1984, the CPP had about 66,000 members, and the CSNP had about 17,000 members. The National Front nominated all candidates for public offices, who were then elected without opposition. The Front always nominated a few non-KSČ candidates to the Federal Assembly.

In 1969, the country was re-organized as a federation of the Czech Socialist Republic and Slovak Socialist Republic. Separate National Front organizations for each federal component were set up, which nominated candidates for the Czech National Council and Slovak National Council.

The National Front enabled the KSČ to maintain the fiction of political pluralism and at the same time control all political activity. In other Communist states, there were similar "coalitions" with identical names (in the German Democratic Republic) or similar names (in Poland, Bulgaria, and Vietnam).

Other civil organizations

The Front controlled all political activity, and its role was expanded to control of all organized activity of any kind, excluding only religion. Thus the Front was extended to include mass organizations that were not political parties. All large organizations of any kind were included, except churches. Among the organizations brought into the Front were:

  • Revolutionary Trade Union Movement (to which all unions belonged)
  • Socialist Union of Youth (1.5 million members)
  • Union for Czechoslovak-Soviet Friendship
  • Czechoslovak Union of Women (1 million members)
  • Czechoslovak Red Cross
  • Union for Czechoslovak-Soviet Friendship
  • Union of Agricultural Cooperatives
  • Union of Anti-Fascist Fighters
  • Svazarm (Union for Cooperation with the Army)
  • Peace Committee
  • Physical Culture Association
  • Union of Philatelists

All these groups were given the standard Communist organization, and Party members held all controlling posts. These groups permeated workplaces, schools, and neighborhoods. As with the Front, many of these organizations added Czech and Slovak regional components in 1969 and after.

End of the National Front

After the Velvet Revolution of 1990 ended Communist rule, the National Front was dissolved.

See also

Further reading

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