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 military rank used in some armies. It is particularly associated with Germany, where historically General officer#Old European system, general officer ranks were one grade lower than in the Commonwealth and the United States, ...

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

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 ...

Early life

Václavík was born in

Predmier Predmier () 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 Jozef Ignác Bajza (; 5 March 1755 – 1 December 1836) was a Slovak writer, satirist and Catho ...

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

for military training and attended the

Frunze Military Academy The M. V. Frunze Military Academy (), 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 (), was a military academy of the Soviet and later the Russian Armed Forces ...

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 (, , ČSLA) was the armed forces of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSČ) and the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic from 1954 until 1989. From 1955 it was a member force of the Warsaw Pact. On 14 March 1990 ...

. 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 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 ...

Lubomír Štrougal Lubomír Štrougal (19 October 1924 – 6 February 2023) was a Czech politician who was the prime minister of Czechoslovakia from 1970 to 1988. Biography Štrougal was born in Veselí nad Lužnicí on 19 October 1924. His father, a communist, ...

under the President

Gustáv Husák 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 from 1969 to 1987 and the President of Czechoslovakia from 1975 ...

. 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 Com ...

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 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 ...

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 an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

, leading to concerns among the Czechoslovak 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 Miroslav Vacek (29 August 1935 – 31 December 2022) was a Czech and Czechoslovakian politician and lieutenant general in the Czechoslovak People's Army. Vacek was the Chief of the General Staff of the Czechoslovak People's Army from 1987 to 19 ...

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 in which the totality of the power belongs to a party adhering to some form of Marxism–Leninism, a branch of the communist ideology. Marxism–Leninism was ...

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 dissident. Havel served as the last List of presidents of Czechoslovakia, president of Czechoslovakia from 1989 until 1992, prior to the dissol ...

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