Václav David

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Václav David (born September 23, 1910 in Studena , Austria-Hungary , today Studený , Okres Benešov ; † January 5, 1996 ) was a Czechoslovak politician of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia KSČ ( Komunistická strana Československa ) , who, among other things, between 1953 and 1968 Foreign Minister ČSSR and from 1969 to 1971 Ambassador to the People's Republic of Bulgaria . He was then President of the People's Chamber (Sněmovna lidu) , one of the two chambers of the Federation Assembly (Federální shromáždění) between 1971 and 1986 .

Life

Communist functionary and resistance to National Socialism

David, son of a wheelwright, took up a career as an employee of the Bohemian-Moravian Piston and Machine Factory ČKD (Českomoravská-Kolben-Daněk) after attending the commercial academy in Prague in 1929 , where he worked until 1939. During this time he joined the communist youth movement in 1930 and was a co-founder of the operating cell of the Communist Youth Union at ČKD and a member of the district and regional committee in Prague . In 1935 he became a member of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia KSČ ( Komunistická strana Československa ) and between 1935 and 1939 he was also the secretary of the Bohemian national organization of the Association of Friends of the Soviet Union (Svaz přátel Sovětského svazu) .

After the destruction of the rest of the Czech Republic and the proclamation of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia , he became involved in the communist resistance movement . In 1944 he became a member of the Central Committee (ZK) of the now banned KSČ and was one of the co-organizers of the Prague uprising from May 5 to 8, 1945

Member of Parliament and Foreign Minister

After the end of the Second World War , he became a member of the Provisional National Assembly of Czechoslovakia on October 21, 1945 (Prozatímní Národní shromáždění republiky Československé) and was a member of this until May 16, 1946. At the 8th Party Congress of KSČ (March 28 - 31, 1946) he was elected for the first time as a member of the Central Committee (ZK) of KSČ and was a member of this body until 1989. At the same time he also became a member of the Presidium of the Central Committee of the KSČ at the 8th Party Congress and was a member of this top management body of the party until June 15, 1954. He was also a member of the Central Committee's secretariat between April 1946 and April 1948. On May 26, 1946 he became a member of the Constituent National Assembly (Ústavodárné Národní shromáždění republiky Československé) , of which he was a member until May 29, 1948.

After that, David became a member of the National Assembly of the Czechoslovak Republic (Národní shromáždění republiky Československé) on May 30, 1948, and from 1960 of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic, and belonged to it until December 31, 1968. During this time he served between June 10, 1948 and January 31, 1953 as Vice President of the National Assembly. On January 31, 1953, he succeeded Viliam Široký as Foreign Minister (Ministr zahraničních věcí) in the government of Prime Minister Antonín Zápotocký and held this ministerial office in all subsequent governments for fifteen years until April 8, 1968 He paid a visit to France in December 1964, where he used the economic talks to discuss issues relating to the Munich Agreement , Germany's eastern borders and the planned NATO nuclear fleet MLF ( Multilateral Force ) . On January 20, 1967, David rejected a friendship treaty between the two states proposed by Günter Kohrt, Vice Foreign Minister of the GDR of the Czechoslovak Republic, because such an agreement, as the GDR had concluded with the Soviet Union, would commit Czechoslovakia to all Germany and Europe to coordinate relevant issues with the GDR. After the Six Day War , from 5 to 10 June 1967 he saw in July 1967 for a fleet visit to the Soviet Navy in Egypt to support arms sales to Egypt critical. After leaving the government in the wake of the Prague Spring , he became a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National Assembly on April 8, 1968. Together with 39 other leading personalities, David is said to have signed a so-called " letter of invitation " in which they requested the invasion of the Warsaw Pact troops to suppress the Prague Spring on August 21, 1968.

Ambassador to Bulgaria and President of Parliament

On January 1, 1969, David became a member of the newly created Federation Assembly (Federální shromáždění) and was a member of the Parliament of Czechoslovakia until January 23, 1990. Within parliament he was a member of the People's Chamber (Sněmovna lidu) , which was composed of 200 members elected in electoral districts. At the meeting of the Central Committee on April 17, 1969, he voted together with Jiří Hendrych , Vilém Nový , Pavel Auersperg and Otakar Rytíř against the election of Gustáv Husák to succeed Alexander Dubček as First Secretary of the Central Committee of the KSČ. At that time, David belonged to a group of 49 anti-reform orthodox and conservatives within the Central Committee, including, in particular, Central Committee Secretary Alois Indra , the former Prime Minister Jozef Lenárt , the former Minister for Culture and Information Karel Hoffmann , the former Deputy Prime Minister Otakar Šimůnek , Central Committee Secretary Vasiľ Biľak , the former Central Committee Secretary for Economy Drahomír Kolder and the former Deputy Prime Minister Jan Piller belonged.

In 1969 he became ambassador to the People's Republic of Bulgaria and remained in this diplomatic post until 1971. During his membership in parliament he was Josef Smrkovský's successor from November 27, 1971 to May 22, 1986 President of the People's Chamber, whereupon Vladimír Vedra became his successor in the fifth legislative period on May 24, 1986. He was also still a member of the Central Committee.

honors and awards

David has received several awards for his many years of service, including the Order of the Republic (Řád republiky) in 1955 , the Klement Gottwald Order (Řád Klementa Gottwalda) in 1960 and 1980 and the Order of Victorious February (Řád Vítězného února) in 1973 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ FRANCE / EASTERN RELATIONS: Red Round Dance . In: Der Spiegel of December 23, 1964
  2. ↑ BONN / OSTPOLITIK: Only sediment left . In: Der Spiegel from February 6, 1967
  3. ↑ EGYPT / SOVIET INFLUENCE: Late fidelity . In: Der Spiegel from July 17, 1967
  4. ↑ "WE HAVE INVITED THE RUSSIANS" . In: Der Spiegel from January 4, 1971
  5. ↑ CZECHOSLOVAKIA / NEW GUIDED TOUR: Slovak dances . In: Der Spiegel from May 19, 1969
  6. ↑ CZECHOSLOVAKIA / CLEANING: Black Hundred . In: Der Spiegel from September 30, 1969
  7. ↑ TSCHECHOSLOWAKEI: Sorry, Tony from August 9, 1971
personal data
SURNAME David, Vaclav
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Czechoslovak politician and diplomat
DATE OF BIRTH September 23, 1910
PLACE OF BIRTH Studený , Okres Benešov , then: Austria-Hungary
DATE OF DEATH 5th January 1996