Ladislav Kopřiva (28 June 1897 in

Ivanovice na Hané Ivanovice na Hané () is a town in Vyškov District in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 3,000 inhabitants. Administrative division Ivanovice na Hané consists of two municipal parts (in brackets population according to ...

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 ...

– 13 November 1971 in

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

) was a

Czechoslovak Czechoslovak may refer to: *A demonym or adjective pertaining to Czechoslovakia (1918–93) **First Czechoslovak Republic (1918–38) **Second Czechoslovak Republic (1938–39) **Third Czechoslovak Republic (1948–60) ** Fourth Czechoslovak Repu ...

communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

during the era of Gottwald, after 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 ...

took control of the country during a 1948 coup. His position was Minister of National Security, and he was largely responsible for a series of

purge In history, religion and political science, a purge is a position removal or execution of people who are considered undesirable by those in power from a government, another, their team leaders, or society as a whole. A group undertaking such an ...

s of party members, such as Czech Vice Premier

Rudolf Slánský Rudolf Slánský (31 July 1901 – 3 December 1952) was a leading Czech Communist politician. Holding the post of the party's General Secretary after World War II, he was one of the leading creators and organizers of Communist rule in Czechoslova ...

, stating that "Our Czechoslovak traitors ..can be compared with

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

Trotsky Lev Davidovich Bronstein ( – 21 August 1940), better known as Leon Trotsky,; ; also transliterated ''Lyev'', ''Trotski'', ''Trockij'' and ''Trotzky'' was a Russian revolutionary, Soviet politician, and political theorist. He was a key figure ...

..Our conspiracies are not extraordinary, but only further evidence that our country is subject to the same laws of socialistic development 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 ...

." Kopřiva soon fell out of favor; he was voluntarily relieved in late January 1952, to be replaced by

Karol Bacílek Karol Bacílek (12 October 1896 – 19 March 1974) was a Czechoslovak communist politician, activist and high-ranking state and Communist Party official during the leadership of Klement Gottwald. Biography Bacílek was born in to a Slovak wor ...

, who would initiate yet more purges. Like many high communist officials out of favor, he was soon purged from the party; in April 1963 he was expelled from the partyDubček, Alexander: "Hope Dies Last", page 86. Kodansha International Incorporated, 1993. because of his role in the purges after the findings of the Kolder Report, which partly rehabilitated many of those purged.

References

Sources

Time (magazine)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kopriva, Ladislav 1897 births 1971 deaths People from Ivanovice na Hané People from the Margraviate of Moravia Members of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia Czech communists Government ministers of Czechoslovakia Members of the Chamber of Deputies of Czechoslovakia (1935–1939) Members of the National Assembly of Czechoslovakia (1948–1954)