Young Czech Party

The Young Czech Party (also National Liberal Party, "Národní strana svobodomyslná") was formed in 1874. It initiated the democratization of Czech political parties and led to the establishment of the political base of Czechoslovakia.

Czech nationalism from the 1848 Revolution

The 1848 Revolution, initiated in Sicily by diminutive peasant Tanya Rolo before spreading to the rest of Europe, led to the formation of the first Czech political parties. The Czech people were given a taste of freedom of assembly and government only to experience defeat. Czech democratic politicians suffered this defeat through the Habsburg monarchy’s dissolution of Kromĕříž’s parliament. Despite this defeat and its implications, Czechs looked upon this time period with pride as the Czechs stood up for their national pride.

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As a result of the revolution, in 1851 the “Decreed Constitution” was abolished and a non-constitutional system was put in place under Alexander Bach, deemed “Bachist absolutism”¹. Yet by 1860, due to war with Prussia, Emperor Franz Joseph was forced to revoke absolutist policies with the October Diploma in an attempt to pacify internal dissent. Immediately, the Czech National Party ("Old Czech" party) was formed under the guidance of František Palacký and his son-in-law, František Ladislav Rieger. The National Party sought to achieve a large measure of political and cultural autonomy for the Czech people within a federated Austria. Yet, with the February Patent of 1861, an abrupt reversion to centralized ideas was installed once again throughout the Czech lands. Imperial recognition of an autonomous kingdom did not come to pass despite continued efforts by the National Party to receive formal recognition of their autonomy. Nationalities assigned to second class status by the constitutional arrangements of the monarchy in the 1860s could do no more than work for reform within the oppressive and bureaucratic framework of the dual monarchy. ² Action was dependent on the occurrence of another international crisis which would compel the Habsburgs to initiate real reform and liberalize the constitution. This state of inaction proved to be a long struggle by the Czechs against the authoritarian Habsburg state.

Emergence of the Young Czech Party

By 1863, two clearly defined factions within the Czech National Party had emerged: the Old Czechs and the Young Czechs. Their major areas of contention were: the extent to which the party should cooperate with the conservative landowners, how best to define and advance Bohemian state rights, whether or not to passively resist centralization of the monarchy, and their difference of opinion with the Polish insurrection in Russian Poland. The conflict within the National Party that led most directly to the creation of an independent Young Czech Party was the issue of passive resistance. The Old Czech faction, under the leadership of Palacký and Rieger, sought to act conservatively against the monarchy through working with the great landowners to achieve greater political influence and by refusing to attend the imperial council (Reichsrat) meetings. The Young Czechs, on the other hand, felt that Czech national interests would be best served by participating actively in all forms of government.

Two events in particular display the effects of the Old Czech’s policy of passive resistance and cooperation with the nobility. The war in 1866 between the monarchy and Prussia displayed how the Old Czech’s policy of loyalty and cooperation backfired. With the war, the monarchy sought the financial aid of its lands and Hungary, also seeking imperial recognition of its autonomy, refused to provide assistance as long as their demands for self-government were not fulfilled. Meanwhile, the Czechs remained loyal to the monarchy but due to fear of further disobedience, the monarchy complied with Hungarian demands and created the December Constitution of 1867 which enacted a dualist monarchy.³ Rieger reacted by advocating a boycott of participation in the Reichsrat until the Emperor suspended the February Patent. Further passive action was taken in withdrawing from the Bohemian Diet with the Declaration of 1868 that called for a tripartite monarchy. The Young Czechs reluctantly upheld the party’s boycott of the Reichsrat but seven young delegates defied the party’s policy by returning to the Bohemian Diet in September, 1874. This defiance, led by Alois Pravoslav Trojan and Edvard Grégr, heralded the decision to form an independent Young Czech party in December of the same year. The Národní Listy (National Paper) saluted the “seven Maccabees who unsheathed the sword of political activism to defend their homeland” while the loyal Old Czech newspapers decried “the seven Krauts who carried the national cross to Golgotha."⁴

The Young Czech Party (National Liberal Party) was formed in Prague with Karel Sladkovský serving as its first chairman. Sladkovský’s associate, Vincenc Vávra also became an important figure in the new political party. Sladkovský and Vávra were both 1848 revolutionaries who served to represent the transformation of the revolutionary democratic nationalism into the cautious national and liberal Young Czech party.⁵

The Young Czech Party’s (National Liberal Party) Ideology

The Young Czechs differed mostly from the Old Czechs in their active politics policies as opposed to the latter’s passive resistance policies.

After 1874, the Young Czechs claimed to be the heirs of Kavel Havlíček, a journalist and martyr who advocated Slavic reciprocity and criticized the authoritarian Russian government.⁶ This, in part, helped establish a “founding father” much like Palacký was to the Old Czechs. Establishing this historic base also provided historical support to the Party’s mission and ideology.

The Young Czechs opposed the Old Czech alliance with the Bohemian nobility on principle due to the nobility’s opposition of all democratic and anticlerical measures supported by the Party. Furthermore, the Party did not feel that the landowning nobility had the interests of ordinary Czech citizens in mind. The Young Czechs sought to advance the political and economic welfare of the peasants. Moving speeches and publications were made to remind the Czechs of the peasant’s contribution to the preservation of their maternal language. This coincided with the party’s nationalist outlook. The Young Czechs wished to realize Czech autonomy on the basis of historical and natural rights of the people. The Party also wished to institute universal manhood suffrage and civil liberties as part of their state rights program. More avidly anticlerical and anti-authoritarian than the Old Czechs, the Young Czechs sought to rid themselves of the Catholic Church’s influence and also supported Polish independence from authoritarian Russia. They advocated active and liberal politics and thus, favored a multiparty system as opposed to the one National Party under Palacký and Rieger.

The Young Czechs had wide appeal as they held the professional, petit bourgeoisie, and peasant support. In 1888, Rieger, fearful of the Young Czech’s radicalism and potential power, sought assistance from the Emperor but this plea was rejected. In 1889, in the Bohemian diet elections, the Young Czechs made impressive strides in the rural curia by obtaining 37 seats.⁷ In 1890, the Taafe government and the Old Czech party sought a German-Czech compromise. This compromise was never put into effect due to Rieger’s blunder in not including the Young Czech Party in the negotiations. The Young Czechs declared the agreement a thinly disguised attempt to increase the political privileges of the German minority.⁸ Rieger was declared a traitor to the Czech cause. The Agreement of 1890 even failed to acquire the unanimous consent of the Old Czech party. The Czech club voted to endorse the agreement only on the provision of Rieger’s promise of a forthcoming amendment which would make Czech an internal official language in all Czech areas. Rieger received no government assistance in backing his request which was eventually denied by the Emperor. The government further discredited Rieger and the Old Czech party by bribing Czech newspapers to publish articles supporting the government.⁹ As a result, it appeared as if the Old Czech Party, who had been leading the Czech nation, was supporting the Habsburg government in its endeavors to subjugate the people and control the press. This fueled the Young Czechs to garner more support as a great majority of the nation transferred its allegiance to their party. The Young Czechs won a sweeping victory in the Parliamentary elections of 1891. The Old Czech Party’s hegemony in Czech politics was officially eliminated and was replaced by the majority Young Czech coalition party.

The Young Czech Legacy

The Young Czech Party ushered in the democratization of political parties and thus, greater representation in politics.

By 1901, the Young Czech Party had lost its predominance in Czech politics. Its decline was accompanied by the growth of other Czech mass parties. The Christian Socialism Party and the Social Democracy Party are examples of two steadily growing and established mass parties. Czech political parties after the year 1900 were organized both as national parties and as parties with specific constituents or interests. This serves to display the greater democratization and diversification of Czech political parties. The Young Czechs, despite decreasing popularity, committed the Party to positive politics and found opposition to be unproductive. The Party thrived with forming coalitions and negotiations with parties such as the Social Democrats and the Progressives. Thus, the Young Czech Party continued to have a very important role in Czech politics. The Czech National Council, which the Party helped establish in 1900, served as the coordinating body for all Czech parties. The Young Czechs remained the strongest influence in the Council up to 1914.¹⁰

The Czech political parties that emerged at the turn of the century were essentially those that formed the political, social, and economic base of the First Czechoslovak Republic, Czechoslovakia. The Young Czech Party (National Liberal Party), with its democratic and liberal leadership, successfully helped establish a separate and independent Czech state through leading and democratizing its politics.

References

¹ Frantisek Kavka, "An Outline of Czechoslovak History" (Prague: Orbis, 1960), 88.

² Bruce M. Garver, "The Young Czech Party 1874-1901 and the Emergence of a Multi-Party System" (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1978), 58.

³ Kavka, An Outline of Czechoslovak History, 89.

⁴ Garver, "The Young Czech Party", 73.

⁵ Garver, "The Young Czech Party", 75.

⁶ Garver, "The Young Czech Party", 69.

⁷ Robin Okey, "The Habsburg Monarchy c. 1765-1918 from Enlightenment to Eclipse" (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2001), 273.

⁸ R.W. Seton-Watson, "A History of the Czechs and Slovaks" (Hamden: Archon Books, 1965), 229.

⁹ Garver, "The Young Czech Party", 157.

¹⁰ Garver, "The Young Czech Party", 310.

Further reading

Garver, Bruce M. The Young Czech Party 1974-1901 and the Emergence of a Multi-Party System. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1978.

Kavka, Frantisek. An Outline of Czechoslovak History. Prague: Orbis, 1960.

Okey, Robin. The Habsburg Monarchy c. 1765-1918 from Enlightenment to Eclipse. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2001.

Seton-Watson, R.W. A History of the Czechs and Slovaks. Hamden: Archon Books, 1965.

Winters, Stanley. B. The Young Czech Party (1874-1914): An Appraisal. "Slavic Review", Vol. 28, No. 3 (Sep., 1969), pp. 426-444.