Milán Václavík (28 March 1928 – 2 January 2007) was a Slovak-origin Czechoslovak military officer with the rank of

colonel general Colonel general is a three- or four-star military rank used in some armies. It is particularly associated with Germany, where historically general officer ranks were one grade lower than in the Commonwealth and the United States, and was a ra ...

. He served as defence minister from 1985 to 1989, being the last communist-era defence minister of

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

Early life

Václavík was born in

Predmier Predmier ( hu, Peredmér) is a village in the Bytča District in the Žilina Region of Slovakia. It has a population of 1,350. Notable people *Jozef Ignác Bajza, author of the first novel written in Slovak language, Slovak References

, Zilina district in Slovakia, on 28 March 1928. He held an engineering degree. In the 1950s he was sent to the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

for military training and attended the

Frunze Military Academy The M. V. Frunze Military Academy (russian: Военная академия имени М. В. Фрунзе), or in full the Military Order of Lenin and the October Revolution, Red Banner, Order of Suvorov Academy in the name of M. V. Frunze (rus ...

and the General Staff Academy.

Career

Václavík worked as an engineer until 1949 when he joined the

Czechoslovak People's Army The Czechoslovak People's Army ( cs, Československá lidová armáda, sk, Československá ľudová armáda, ČSLA) was the armed forces of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSČ) and the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic from 1954 until ...

. In the 1970s he served as deputy commander of the western military district. He was later promoted to the rank of colonel general. He served as first deputy chief of the army General Staff from 1983 to 11 January 1985. He was appointed defence minister on 11 January 1985, replacing

Martin Dzúr Martin Dzúr (12 July 1919 – 15 January 1985) was a Slovak military officer and a communist politician, who served as defense minister from 1968 to 1985. Early life and education Dzúr was born in Ploštín (now part of Liptovský Mikul� ...

in the post. Václavík served in the cabinet led by

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier 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. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Lubomír Štrougal Lubomír Štrougal (born 19 October 1924) is a Czech former politician, who was the prime minister of Czechoslovakia from 1970 to 1988. Life and career Štrougal was born in Veselí nad Lužnicí. After compulsory service in German industry ...

under the President

Gustáv Husák Gustáv Husák (, , ; 10 January 1913 – 18 November 1991) was a Czechoslovak communist politician of Slovak origin, who served as the long-time First Secretary of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia from 1969 to 1987 and the president o ...

. Václavík became a member of the central committee 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 Cominte ...

soon after his appointment. He retained his post in the cabinet formed by Prime Minister

Ladislav Adamec Ladislav Adamec (10 September 1926 – 14 April 2007) was a Czechoslovakia, Czechoslovak Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, communist politician. Early life Adamec was born in Moravia on 10 September 1926. Career Adamec joined the Presidiu ...

in October 1988. On 29 November 1989 Václavík was asked by the Federal Assembly to answer the question to whom the Czechoslovak People's Army was subordinated. In response Václavík stated that it was subordinated to those who supported

socialism Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

, leading to concerns among the Czech parliamentarians. Upon this incident and due to the pressures on the Prime Minister Adamec to relieve him from the post he was removed from office. Then Miroslav Vacek became the new defense minister on 3 December 1989.

Later years and death

Following his removal from office Václavík lost all his credibility due to his support for the continuation of the

communist regime A communist state, also known as a Marxist–Leninist state, is a one-party state that is administered and governed by a communist party guided by Marxism–Leninism. Marxism–Leninism was the state ideology of the Soviet Union, the Cominte ...

in the country. He was prosecuted in January 1996 together with other former major Communist Party figures. All of them were charged with the illegal arming of the militia. In September 1996 Václavík was pardoned by the president

Václav Havel Václav Havel (; 5 October 193618 December 2011) was a Czech statesman, author, poet, playwright, and former dissident. Havel served as the last president of Czechoslovakia from 1989 until the dissolution of Czechoslovakia in 1992 and then as ...

because of poor health. Václavík died in 2007.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vaclavik, Milan 20th-century engineers 1928 births 2007 deaths Communist Party of Slovakia (1939) politicians Czechoslovak generals Czechoslovak expatriates in the Soviet Union Czechoslovak prisoners and detainees Defence Ministers of Czechoslovakia Frunze Military Academy alumni Members of the Chamber of the People of Czechoslovakia (1981–1986) Members of the Chamber of the People of Czechoslovakia (1986–1990) Members of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union alumni Military personnel of the Cold War People from Bytča District Recipients of the Order of Lenin Slovak engineers