Alexander Dubcek : The ‘politician with a human face’.

In the early years of the 20th Century, Alexander Dubcek’s parents had been living in America for a number of years and had become American citizens. The collapse of the Habsburg Empire as a result of the Great War (1914-1918), and the creation of the ‘new’ state of Czechoslovakia in the Peace Treaties of 1919, persuaded them that the time was right to return home.

Alexander, the second son, was born in 1921. His early years were very hard. His parents were very disappointed with their new life. Things were much more difficult than they had been in America. There was a great deal of unemployment. By the time Alexander was twelve his family had moved to Gorki, in Russia. He went to a good secondary school and was a hard-working student and was excellent at sports, especially water polo and hockey.

In 1938, Alexander’s father was faced with an important decision. Stalin, the Russian leader, had decided that all foreigners living in Russia had either to except Soviet citizenship or leave the country. Though Alexander’s father was a socialist, he decided not to forget that he was also a Czechoslovakian citizen. He decided to leave Russia with his seventeen year old son. It was only a few weeks after the famous meeting in Munich between the British Prime Minister, the French Premier and Adolf Hitler. Czechoslovakia was about to be sacrificed to Nazi ambitions.

The Nazi police were naturally very interested in Dubcek’s family. They were forced to hide in Bratislava. Though only eighteen years of age, Alexander became a member of the illegal Communist Party. The Communists listened to the British and Russian radio stations as they spread their anti-Nazi views. The war years were truly eventful for the Alexander’s family. His father was taken away to a concentration camp (though he did survive) and his brother Julius was shot four months before the end of the war.

Immediately after the war it was not in Alexander’s plan to become a politician; but it was a difficult time for Czechoslovakia as the country fell more and more under the strict control of the Soviet Union. In 1955, Dubcek went to Moscow to study political science. He returned to Slovakia in 1958. His promotion was rapid. By 1960 he had become a secretary of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. By 1963 he had become the First Secretary of the Slovak Communist Party. As one of the most important political representatives in Slovakia now he could set about improving and reforming his country. He was determined to introduce democracy. But the Soviet leadership was equally determined not to allow these reforms. An army of half a million soldiers marched into Czechoslovakia and Dubcek and his colleagues were taken back to Moscow.

Though the Russians hoped that Dubcek would be satisfied as an ambassador in Turkey, Alexander secretly left and came back to Prague. Now began his most difficult years. He was treated as a second-class citizen and became a mechanic working in the state woods in Western Slovakia. All of his ranks and titles were taken away from him. His every move was monitored. His name was taken out of history books. Despite the persecution, Alexander did not give up his faith. Those who longed for democracy and change in Czechoslovakia saw him as their natural leader. When Mikhail Gorbachev took over in the Soviet Union things became a little easier for Dubcek. He continued to play an active part in Czechoslovakian- in politics, though not at the highest level

On 1 September 1992, in the early hours of the morning, Dubcek’s car crashed. Mystery surrounds the accident. The driver was not injured at all. Alexander was taken to the furthest hospital and not one nearby. He had major injuries to his spine, chest and internal organs and, despite three operations, he died two months later.

The people felt that they had lost a great leader. He was a graceful and brave man who was able to bring the people together make them work in a spirit of tolerance and co-operation. As he himself said, “My philosophy was that the best arrangement of society can be found in democracy”.

Indeed, Dubcek was a ‘politician with a human face’.

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