Gustáv Husák
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Gustáv Husák ( , ; ; 10 January 1913 – 18 November 1991) was a Czechoslovak politician who served as the long-time First Secretary of the
Communist Party of Czechoslovakia The Communist Party of Czechoslovakia ( Czech and Slovak: ''Komunistická strana Československa'', KSČ) was a communist and Marxist–Leninist political party in Czechoslovakia that existed between 1921 and 1992. It was a member of the Com ...
from 1969 to 1987 and the
President of Czechoslovakia The president of Czechoslovakia (, ) was the head of state of Czechoslovakia, from the Origins of Czechoslovakia, creation of the First Czechoslovak Republic in 1918 until the Dissolution of Czechoslovakia, dissolution of the Czech and Slovak F ...
from 1975 to 1989. His rule is known for the period of
normalization Normalization or normalisation refers to a process that makes something more normal or regular. Science * Normalization process theory, a sociological theory of the implementation of new technologies or innovations * Normalization model, used in ...
after the 1968
Prague Spring The Prague Spring (; ) was a period of liberalization, political liberalization and mass protest in the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic. It began on 5 January 1968, when reformist Alexander Dubček was elected Secretary (title), First Secre ...
.


Early life

Gustáv Husák was born to an unemployed worker in Pozsonyhidegkút,
Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from 1000 to 1946 and was a key part of the Habsburg monarchy from 1526-1918. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the Coro ...
,
Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...
(now
Bratislava Bratislava (German: ''Pressburg'', Hungarian: ''Pozsony'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Slovakia, Slovak Republic and the fourth largest of all List of cities and towns on the river Danube, cities on the river Danube. ...
- Dúbravka,
Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...
). He joined the Communist Youth Union at the age of sixteen while studying at the grammar school in Bratislava. In 1933, when he started his studies at the law faculty of the Comenius University in Bratislava, he joined the
Communist Party of Czechoslovakia The Communist Party of Czechoslovakia ( Czech and Slovak: ''Komunistická strana Československa'', KSČ) was a communist and Marxist–Leninist political party in Czechoslovakia that existed between 1921 and 1992. It was a member of the Com ...
(KSČ) which was banned from 1938 to 1945. During
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, he was periodically jailed by the
Jozef Tiso Jozef Gašpar Tiso (, ; 13 October 1887 – 18 April 1947) was a Slovaks, Slovak politician and Catholic priest who served as president of the Slovak Republic (1939–1945), First Slovak Republic, a client state of Nazi Germany during World War ...
government for illegal Communist activities. He was one of the leaders of the 1944
Slovak National Uprising Slovak National Uprising ( Slovak: ''Slovenské národné povstanie'', abbreviated SNP; alternatively also ''Povstanie roku 1944'', English: ''The Uprising of 1944'') was organised by the Slovak resistance during the Second World War, directed ag ...
against
Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...
and Tiso. Husák was a member of the Presidium of the Slovak National Council from 1 to 5 September 1944. After the war, he began a career as a government official in Slovakia and party functionary in Czechoslovakia. From 1946 to 1950, he was the head of the devolved administration of Slovakia, and as such strongly contributed to the liquidation of the anti-communist Christian democratic Democratic Party of Slovakia. The Democratic Party of Slovakia established in 1944 had taken 62% in the 1946 elections in Slovakia (whereas in the Czech part of the republic of then-Czechoslovakia, the clear winners were the Communists), thus complicating the Communist ambitions for a swift taking of power. Husák's loyalty to the central organs of the Czechoslovak Communist party as well as his considerable talent for body politics and a ruthless approach to political opponents contributed largely to the crushing of the Democratic Party's dissent in Slovakia and releasing the popular opinion in the country to the whims of prevailing political currents. In 1950, he fell victim to a Stalinist purge of the party leadership, and was sentenced to life imprisonment, spending the years from 1954 to 1960 in the Leopoldov Prison. A convinced Communist, he always viewed his imprisonment as a gross misunderstanding, which he periodically stressed in several letters of appeal addressed to the party leadership. It is generally acknowledged that the then party leader and president Antonín Novotný repeatedly declined to pardon Husák, assuring his comrades that "you do not know what he is capable of if he comes to power". As part of the
De-Stalinization De-Stalinization () comprised a series of political reforms in the Soviet Union after Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, the death of long-time leader Joseph Stalin in 1953, and Khrushchev Thaw, the thaw brought about by ascension of Nik ...
period in
Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...
, Husák's conviction was overturned and his party membership restored in 1963. By 1967, he had become a critic of Novotný and the KSČ's neo-Stalinist leadership. In April 1968, during the
Prague Spring The Prague Spring (; ) was a period of liberalization, political liberalization and mass protest in the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic. It began on 5 January 1968, when reformist Alexander Dubček was elected Secretary (title), First Secre ...
under new party leader and fellow Slovak
Alexander Dubček Alexander Dubček (; 27 November 1921 – 7 November 1992) was a Slovaks, Slovak statesman who served as the First Secretary of the Presidium of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSČ) (''de facto'' leader of Czech ...
, Husák became a vice-premier of Czechoslovakia, responsible for overseeing reforms in Slovakia.


Leader of Czechoslovakia

As the
Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
grew increasingly alarmed by Dubček's liberal reforms in 1968 (
Prague Spring The Prague Spring (; ) was a period of liberalization, political liberalization and mass protest in the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic. It began on 5 January 1968, when reformist Alexander Dubček was elected Secretary (title), First Secre ...
), Husák, originally Dubček's ally and a moderate supporter of the reform programme, began calling for caution. After the Soviets invaded Czechoslovakia in August, Husák participated in the Czechoslovak-Soviet negotiations between the kidnapped Dubček and
Leonid Brezhnev Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev (19 December 190610 November 1982) was a Soviet politician who served as the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1964 until Death and state funeral of Leonid Brezhnev, his death in 1982 as w ...
in Moscow. Husák changed course and became a leader among those party members calling for the reversal of Dubček's reforms. An account for his
pragmatism Pragmatism is a philosophical tradition that views language and thought as tools for prediction, problem solving, and action, rather than describing, representing, or mirroring reality. Pragmatists contend that most philosophical topics ...
was given in one of his official speeches in
Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...
after the 1968 events, during which he ventured a rhetorical question, asking where the opponents of the Soviet Union wished to find allies of Czechoslovakia that might come to support the country against Soviet troops. Supported by Moscow, he was appointed leader of the Communist Party of Slovakia in as early as August 1968, and he succeeded Dubček as first secretary (title changed to general secretary in 1971) of the
Communist Party of Czechoslovakia The Communist Party of Czechoslovakia ( Czech and Slovak: ''Komunistická strana Československa'', KSČ) was a communist and Marxist–Leninist political party in Czechoslovakia that existed between 1921 and 1992. It was a member of the Com ...
in April 1969. He reversed Dubček's reforms and purged the party of its liberal members in 1969–1971. In 1975, Husák was elected
President of Czechoslovakia The president of Czechoslovakia (, ) was the head of state of Czechoslovakia, from the Origins of Czechoslovakia, creation of the First Czechoslovak Republic in 1918 until the Dissolution of Czechoslovakia, dissolution of the Czech and Slovak F ...
. During the two decades of Husák's leadership, Czechoslovakia became one of Moscow's most loyal allies. In the first years following the invasion, Husák managed to appease the outraged civil population by providing a relatively satisfactory living standard and avoiding any overt reprisals as were seen in the 1950s. His regime was not a complete return to the heavy-handed Stalinism that had prevailed during the first 20 years of Communist rule in the country. At the same time, the people's rights were somewhat more restricted than was the case in
János Kádár János József Kádár (; ; né Czermanik; 26 May 1912 – 6 July 1989) was a Hungarian Communist leader and the General Secretary of the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party, a position he held for 32 years. Declining health led to his retireme ...
's
Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...
and
Josip Broz Tito Josip Broz ( sh-Cyrl, Јосип Броз, ; 7 May 1892 – 4 May 1980), commonly known as Tito ( ; , ), was a Yugoslavia, Yugoslav communist revolutionary and politician who served in various positions of national leadership from 1943 unti ...
's
Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...
. Indeed, on the cultural level, the level of repression approached that seen in
Erich Honecker Erich Ernst Paul Honecker (; 25 August 1912 – 29 May 1994) was a German communist politician who led the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) from 1971 until shortly before the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989. He held the post ...
's
East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...
and even Nicolae Ceauşescu's
Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...
. There was a campaign of repression by the
secret police image:Putin-Stasi-Ausweis.png, 300px, Vladimir Putin's secret police identity card, issued by the East German Stasi while he was working as a Soviet KGB liaison officer from 1985 to 1989. Both organizations used similar forms of repression. Secre ...
( StB) targeting dissidents represented later by
Charter 77 Charter 77 (''Charta 77'' in Czech language, Czech and Slovak language, Slovak) was an informal civic initiative in the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic from 1976 to 1992, named after the document Charter 77 from January 1977. Founding members ...
as well as hundreds of unknown individuals who happened to be targets of the StB's pre-emptive strikes. The repression intensified over the years as Husák grew more conservative. Starting in the early 1970s, Husák allowed those who had been purged in the aftermath of Prague Spring to rejoin the party. However, they were required to publicly distance themselves from their past support for reform. The latter part of Husák's tenure saw a struggle within the Politburo over whether to adopt Gorbachev-style reforms. While the hardliners, led by Vasiľ Biľak, were vehemently opposed to
glasnost ''Glasnost'' ( ; , ) is a concept relating to openness and transparency. It has several general and specific meanings, including a policy of maximum openness in the activities of state institutions and freedom of information and the inadmissi ...
and
perestroika ''Perestroika'' ( ; rus, перестройка, r=perestrojka, p=pʲɪrʲɪˈstrojkə, a=ru-perestroika.ogg, links=no) was a political reform movement within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) during the late 1980s, widely associ ...
, moderates led by
Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...
Lubomir Strougal strongly favoured reform. Husák himself stayed neutral until April 1987, when he announced a somewhat half-hearted reform program scheduled to start in 1991. Later that year, however, Husák yielded his post as general secretary to
Miloš Jakeš Miloš Jakeš (12 August 1922 – 10 July 2020) was a Czech communist politician. He was General Secretary of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia from 1987 until 1989. He resigned from his position in late November 1989, amid the Velvet Revo ...
in response to a desire for younger leaders (Jakeš and
Ladislav Adamec Ladislav Adamec (10 September 1926 – 14 April 2007) was a Czechoslovak communist politician. Early life Adamec was born in Moravia on 10 September 1926. From 1958 to 1961 he studied at the Political College of the Central Committee of th ...
) to share in power. On 24 November 1989, the entire Presidum of the Communist Party, including Husák, resigned in the wake of the
Velvet Revolution The Velvet Revolution () or Gentle Revolution () was a non-violent transition of power in what was then Czechoslovakia, occurring from 17 November to 28 November 1989. Popular demonstrations against the one-party government of the Communist Pa ...
. The party officially abandoned power four days later, when the legislature deleted the portions of the Constitution that codified the party's " leading role." On 10 December, Husák swore in a new government. Although it was headed by communist Marián Čalfa, it had a non-communist majority—the first in 41 years that was not dominated by communists and/or fellow travelers. He resigned later that day, just hours after presiding over the formal end of the regime he had largely created. In an attempt to rehabilitate its image ahead of the first free elections in 44 years, the Communist Party expelled him in February 1990. He died on 18 November 1991, at the age of 78, and was buried at the Dúbravka cemetery.


Legacy

There is still some question about Husák's moral culpability for the last two decades of Communist rule in Czechoslovakia. After its collapse, Husák kept saying that he was just trying to diminish the aftermath of the Soviet invasion and had to constantly resist pressure from hard line Stalinists in the party such as Biľak, Alois Indra and the like. In the early 1970s, he personally pushed for an early withdrawal of the Soviet troops from Czechoslovak territory, which did not happen until 1991; this may be ascribed to his pragmatic attempts to ease the situation and to give an impression that things were leaning toward "normality". However, there are many ways in which he personally contributed to the Communist government's longevity and policies. As the General Secretary of the Party, he was the nominal leader of the repressive state apparatus. There are many documented cases of appeals from politically persecuted persons, but almost none of them was given Husák's attention. As the overall decay of Czechoslovak society was becoming more and more obvious in the 1980s, Husák became a politically impotent puppet of events. Gustáv Husák was awarded the title Hero of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic three times, in 1969, 1973, and 1982. In 1983 he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. Husák allegedly confessed to a Catholic priest before his death, having previously been an atheist. On his deathbed in 1991, Husák received the sacrament of reconciliation from a Catholic archbishop, Ján Sokol.


Awards and honors

*: ** Hero of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic, thrice (1969, 1972, 1982) ** Order of Klement Gottwald, four times ** Order of Victorious February *: **
Hero of the Soviet Union The title Hero of the Soviet Union () was the highest distinction in the Soviet Union, awarded together with the Order of Lenin personally or collectively for heroic feats in service to the Soviet state and society. The title was awarded both ...
(1983) ** Orders of Lenin, four times (1969, 1973, 1983, 1988) **
Order of the October Revolution The Order of the October Revolution (, ''Orden Oktyabr'skoy Revolyutsii'') was instituted on 31 October 1967, in time for the 50th anniversary of the October Revolution. It was conferred upon individuals or groups for services furthering communis ...
(1978) ** Jubilee Medal "In Commemoration of the 100th Anniversary of the Birth of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin" (1969) *Other countries: ** Grand Cross of the Order of May (
Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...
) ** Order of Georgi Dimitrov, twice (
Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...
) ** Order of the Balkan Mountains (Bulgaria) ** Order of Jose Marti (
Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...
) ** Order of Playa Girón (Cuba) ** Order of Karl Marx, twice (
East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...
) ** Grand Cross of the White Rose of Finland (
Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...
) ** Order of the Flag of the Republic of Hungary (
Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...
) ** Order of Pahlavi (
Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...
) ** Order of Sukhbaatar, thrice (
Mongolia Mongolia is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south and southeast. It covers an area of , with a population of 3.5 million, making it the world's List of countries and dependencies by po ...
) ** Order of the National Flag 1st class, twice (
North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...
) ** Order of the Grand Cross of the Rebirth of Poland (
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...
) ** Order of the Star of the Romanian Socialist Republic 1st class (
Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...
) ** Order of Victory of Socialism (Romania) ** Order of Civil Merit (
Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...
) ** Order of the Yugoslav Great Star (Yugoslavia)


Functions

Communist Party of Czechoslovakia The Communist Party of Czechoslovakia ( Czech and Slovak: ''Komunistická strana Československa'', KSČ) was a communist and Marxist–Leninist political party in Czechoslovakia that existed between 1921 and 1992. It was a member of the Com ...
/KSČ (prohibited 1938, dissolved 1939–1945) *1933-1938/1939 and 1989 (December)-(February) 1990: common member *spring 1945: member of its Provisional Central Committee (established in the parts of Czechoslovakia liberated by the
Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...
) *1949-1951 and 1968 (31 August)-1989: member of its Central Committee *1968 (31 August)-1989 (24 November): member of its Presidium *1969 (April) -1987 (December): one of its secretaries *1969 (April)-1987: party leader (First Secretary, since 1971 Secretary General of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia) *1987 (17 December): resigned as party leader (replaced by
Miloš Jakeš Miloš Jakeš (12 August 1922 – 10 July 2020) was a Czech communist politician. He was General Secretary of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia from 1987 until 1989. He resigned from his position in late November 1989, amid the Velvet Revo ...
) Communist Party of Slovakia/KSS (illegal 1939–1944/1945) *1939-1945: one of its leaders *1943-1944: member of its 5th illegal Central Committee *1944-1950 and 1968–1971: member of its Central Committee and (except for 1970–1971) member of its Presidium and (except for 1944–1948) one of its secretaries *1944-1945: vice-chairman *1968 (28 August)-1969: party leader ("first secretary") Slovak National Council (''Slovenská národná rada'') (during World War II a resistance parliament-government, since 1968 the Slovak parliament) *1943-1944: one of its main organizers *1944-1950 and 1968 (December)-1971: its deputy *1944-1950: member of its Presidium *1944-1945: vice-chairman Council of Commissioners (''Zbor povereníkov'') (a quasi government responsible for Slovakia) *1944-1945: Commissioner of the Interior *1945-1946: Commissioner of Transport and Technology in Slovakia *1946-1950: President of the Council of Commissioners, in which he contributed to the suppression of the influential Democratic Party of Slovakia by the Communists (1947–1948) *1948-1950: Commissioner of Agriculture and Land Reform in Slovakia *1949-1950: Commissioner of Alimentation in Slovakia Czechoslovak Parliament (called National Assembly and since 1968 Federal Assembly) *1945-1951 and 1968–1975: deputy *1969-1975: member of its Presidium Czechoslovak government *1968 (April–December): a vice-premier of the
Prague Spring The Prague Spring (; ) was a period of liberalization, political liberalization and mass protest in the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic. It began on 5 January 1968, when reformist Alexander Dubček was elected Secretary (title), First Secre ...
Czechoslovak government
President of Czechoslovakia The president of Czechoslovakia (, ) was the head of state of Czechoslovakia, from the Origins of Czechoslovakia, creation of the First Czechoslovak Republic in 1918 until the Dissolution of Czechoslovakia, dissolution of the Czech and Slovak F ...
*1975-1989: President of Czechoslovakia *1989 (10 December): resigned as the President of Czechoslovakia within the
Velvet Revolution The Velvet Revolution () or Gentle Revolution () was a non-violent transition of power in what was then Czechoslovakia, occurring from 17 November to 28 November 1989. Popular demonstrations against the one-party government of the Communist Pa ...


Other important data

*1929–1932: member of the Communist Youth Union (prohibited in 1932) *1933–1937: studies at the law faculty of the Comenius University in Bratislava, *1938 received a title Dr. (of law) and started to work as a lawyer in Bratislava *1936–1938: member of the Slovak Youth Union (1936 founder and secretary) *1937–1938 vice-president of the Slovak Students Union and secretary of the Association for the Economic and Cultural Cooperation with the
Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
*1940–1944: four times shortly jailed by the government of
Jozef Tiso Jozef Gašpar Tiso (, ; 13 October 1887 – 18 April 1947) was a Slovaks, Slovak politician and Catholic priest who served as president of the Slovak Republic (1939–1945), First Slovak Republic, a client state of Nazi Germany during World War ...
for illegal Communist activities *1943–1944: member of the 5th illegal KSS Central Committee, one of the main organizers of the anti-Nazi
Slovak National Uprising Slovak National Uprising ( Slovak: ''Slovenské národné povstanie'', abbreviated SNP; alternatively also ''Povstanie roku 1944'', English: ''The Uprising of 1944'') was organised by the Slovak resistance during the Second World War, directed ag ...
(1944) and of its leading body, the Slovak National Council *late 1944–February 1945: he fled to Moscow after the defeat of the Slovak National Uprising *1950: charged with " bourgeois nationalism" with respect to Slovakia (see History of Czechoslovakia) *1951: arrested *1954: sentenced to life imprisonment *1954–1960: imprisoned *1960: conditionally released through an amnesty *1963: his conviction was overturned and his party membership restored and he was rehabilitated *1963–1968: scientific employee of the State and Law Institute of the Slovak Academy of Sciences *1969 (April)–1987 (December): chief commander of the Popular Militia *1971 (January)–1987 (December): president and member of the Presidium of the National Front Central Committee


See also

* Husakism * Husák's Children * History of Czechoslovakia * Lennon Wall


References


Literature

* MACHÁČEK, Michal. ''Gustáv Husák''. Prague : Vyšehrad 2017, 632 pp. . * MACHÁČEK, Michal. ''The Strange Unity. Gustáv Husák and Power and Political Fights Inside the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia as Exemplified by Presidency Issue (1969–1975), in: ''Czech Journal of Contemporary History'', 2016, vol. 4, 104–128 pp

''


External links


Speeches and Writings
', a publication from 1986.
Kim Ir sen v Praze 1984/Kim Il-sung in Prague 1984
, - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Husak, Gustav Gustáv Husák, 1913 births 1991 deaths Politicians from Bratislava People from the Kingdom of Hungary Leaders of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia Presidents of Czechoslovakia Members of the Interim National Assembly of Czechoslovakia Members of the Constituent National Assembly of Czechoslovakia Members of the National Assembly of Czechoslovakia (1948–1954) Members of the Chamber of the Nations of Czechoslovakia (1969–1971) Members of the Chamber of the People of Czechoslovakia (1971–1976) Communist Party of Slovakia (1939) politicians Prime ministers of Slovakia Prague Spring People of the Cold War People of the Velvet Revolution Czechoslovak prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by Czechoslovakia Czechoslovak Socialist Republic rehabilitations Collaborators with the Soviet Union Comenius University alumni Heroes of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic Recipients of the Order of Klement Gottwald Foreign Heroes of the Soviet Union Recipients of the Order of Lenin Grand Crosses of the Order of Polonia Restituta