Ludvík Svoboda facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Ludvík Svoboda
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Ludvík Svoboda in 1968
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| President of Czechoslovakia | |
| In office 30 March 1968 – 29 May 1975 |
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| Preceded by | Antonín Novotný |
| Succeeded by | Gustáv Husák |
| Minister of National Defence of Czechoslovakia | |
| In office 5 April 1945 – 25 April 1950 |
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| Preceded by | Jan Masaryk |
| Succeeded by | Alexej Čepička |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 25 November 1895 Hroznatín, Moravia, Austria-Hungary |
| Died | 20 September 1979 (aged 83) Prague, Czechoslovakia |
| Political party | Communist Party of Czechoslovakia |
| Spouse | Irena Svobodová (1901–1980) |
| Signature |  |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  Austria-Hungary Czechoslovakia |
| Branch/service |  Austro-Hungarian Army Czechoslovak Legions.svg){kind=small} Czechoslovak Army |
| Years of service | 1915 (Austria-Hungary) 1916 – 1950 (Czechoslovakia) |
| Rank |  General of the Army |
| Commands | 1st Czechoslovak Army Corps in the USSR |
| Battles/wars | World War I Russian Civil War
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| Awards |  Military Order of the White Lion Cross of St. George Order of Suvorov Legion of Honour Legion of Merit Order of the Bath |
Ludvík Svoboda (Czech pronunciation: [ˈludviːk ˈsvoboda]; November 25, 1895 – September 20, 1979) was a Czech general and important politician. He fought bravely in both World Wars. Because of his actions, many people saw him as a national hero. Later in his life, he became the president of Czechoslovakia and served from 1968 to 1975.
Contents
Early Life and Family
Ludvík Svoboda was born in a town called Hroznatín. This was in a region known as Margraviate of Moravia, which was part of Austria-Hungary at the time. His father passed away when Ludvík was only one year old. His mother, Františka, raised him and later remarried.
Svoboda went to an agricultural school. After finishing school, he worked at a vineyard. In 1915, when he was 20, he had to join the Austro-Hungarian Army.
In 1923, Svoboda married Irena Svobodová. They had a daughter named Zoe Klusáková-Svobodová, who grew up to be a well-known economist.
Fighting in World War I
During World War I, Svoboda was sent to fight on the Eastern Front. He was captured by Russian forces in September 1915. While in Russia, he joined the Czechoslovak Legion. This was a group of Czech and Slovak soldiers who fought for an independent Czechoslovakia.
He took part in important battles like Zborov and Bakhmach. After the war, he returned home by traveling a long way through Siberia.
Between the World Wars
After World War I, Svoboda first worked on his family's farm. In 1921, he joined the new Czechoslovak Army. He became a member of the 3rd infantry regiment in Kroměříž.
In 1923, he moved to a different regiment in Uzhhorod. He stayed there until 1931. During this time, he took many military courses. He also learned the Hungarian language and taught it at the Military Academy from 1931 to 1934.
In 1934, he was promoted to lieutenant colonel. He then returned to the 3rd infantry regiment. He held several important roles, including leading a battalion. His military career continued until Germany occupied Czechoslovakia in March 1939.
World War II and Resistance
After Germany took over Czechoslovakia, Lieutenant Colonel Svoboda joined a secret group called Obrana národa (meaning "Defence of the Nation"). This group worked underground against the German occupation. It is believed he also started working with Soviet intelligence around this time.
In June 1939, he escaped to Poland. There, he formed a Czechoslovak military unit in Kraków. Many young officers who were leaving Czechoslovakia passed through this camp. Within three months, 1,200 airmen were sent to France to fight. Other soldiers who stayed in Poland joined the Czechoslovak military unit there.
When Germany invaded Poland in September 1939, Svoboda's unit had little chance to fight. After Poland's defeat, Svoboda led over 700 officers and soldiers to the Soviet Union (USSR) to find safety. They traveled without weapons and in civilian clothes. The Soviet authorities kept these soldiers in special camps. These camps were not like prisoner-of-war camps or forced labor camps. The soldiers lived by Czechoslovak army rules.
Svoboda spent two years negotiating with Soviet officials. He wanted to keep the Czechoslovak military group together. He also wanted to send many of his officers to countries fighting Germany, like France and Great Britain. With Soviet help, 12 groups of soldiers, women, and children were sent to these countries.
Forming a Czechoslovak Army in the USSR
In July 1941, after Germany attacked the USSR, Czechoslovakia and the Soviet Union agreed to work together against Germany. This agreement allowed a separate Czechoslovak military unit to be formed in the Soviet Union. Lieutenant Colonel Svoboda played a big part in setting up this agreement.
He also helped arrange cooperation between Soviet and Czechoslovak intelligence services. Because of this, he traveled to Istanbul, Turkey, several times.
Svoboda was briefly held by Soviet counter-intelligence. He was wrongly accused of working with Germany. This misunderstanding was cleared up, and he was found innocent. Some historians have wondered if he then agreed to work with Soviet secret services for the rest of his life, but there is no proof of this.
Fighting on the Eastern Front
Svoboda spent the rest of the war organizing and leading Czechoslovak troops in the USSR. He gathered volunteers from all over the Soviet Union to form a field battalion. This battalion grew into the 1st Czechoslovak Army Corps. It became the largest Czechoslovak military unit fighting outside the country.
This unit included Czechs, Slovaks, people from Subcarpathian Rus, Czechoslovak Jews, and even German and Hungarian anti-fascists. Svoboda also allowed women to join the army, which was unusual for the Czechoslovak army rules at the time.
On January 30, 1943, Svoboda was promoted to colonel. He led his battalion in the Battle of Sokolovo, where they fought bravely against German forces. He then commanded a brigade that helped liberate Kiev, the capital of Ukraine, and other cities. In December 1943, he became a brigadier general. His brigade also took part in the Battle of Korsun–Cherkassy.
In May 1944, General Jan Kratochvíl became the commander of the 1st Czechoslovak Army Corps. Under his command, the corps fought in the Battle of the Dukla Pass. This was a huge mountain operation and the largest in the history of the Czechoslovak army. Later, on September 10, 1944, Svoboda took over command of the corps.
The corps continued to grow with more volunteers. They fought bravely in the Carpathian-Dukel operation. The corps also helped liberate Slovakia and eastern Moravia. By the end of the war, the number of soldiers in the corps grew to about 50,000.
In April 1945, President Edvard Beneš appointed Svoboda as the Minister of National Defense. Svoboda then handed over command of the army corps to General Karel Klapálek. On May 10, 1945, Svoboda was promoted to divisional general. By August 1, 1945, he became an army corps general.
After the War: Political Career
After World War II, a large part of Czechoslovakia was freed by the Red Army and Svoboda's 1st Czechoslovak Army Corps. Svoboda was seen as a hero of the Eastern Front and was appointed Minister of Defense. The Soviet Union was very popular in Czechoslovakia at this time. In the 1946 elections, the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia won a lot of votes.
In February 1948, most non-Communist government ministers resigned. They were protesting against the actions of the Communist Party leader, Klement Gottwald. Minister of Defense Svoboda was one of the few who stayed in his position. When armed workers and militias took to the streets, Svoboda refused to use the army against them. He famously said, "the army will not march against the people."
Two days later, President Edvard Beneš agreed to Gottwald's demands. He appointed a new government mostly made up of Communists. This was basically a peaceful Communist takeover. Svoboda, who had always been seen as "apolitical," then joined the Communist Party. He was elected as a representative to the National Assembly in the 1948 election.
In 1950, Svoboda was forced to leave the army. He had reached the rank of Army General. He also served as Deputy Prime Minister from 1950 to 1951. During a time when many people were being removed from power, Svoboda was even imprisoned for a while. He was later released but lost all his government jobs.
He returned to public life thanks to Nikita Khrushchev, whom he had met during the war. Svoboda then became the head of the Klement Gottwald Military Academy.
He received many honors, including the title of People's Hero of Yugoslavia in 1946. He was also named Hero of the Soviet Union in 1965 and Hero of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic three times (1965, 1970, 1975). In 1970, he was given the Lenin Peace Prize.
Presidency and the Prague Spring
After the previous leader, Antonín Novotný, left office, Czechoslovakia entered a period called the Prague Spring. This was a time of hopeful reforms. On March 30, 1968, Svoboda was elected President of Czechoslovakia. He was chosen because he was acceptable to both Czechs and Slovaks. As a war hero and someone who had suffered during the purges of the 1950s, he was highly respected by the people.
President Svoboda generally supported the reforms of the Prague Spring. However, this changed when the Warsaw Pact countries (led by the Soviet Union) invaded Czechoslovakia in August 1968. Before the invasion, Svoboda warned the Soviet ambassador that an invasion would be a "catastrophe." He said it would make the people of Czechoslovakia lose faith in the Soviet Union for many generations.
When the invasion happened, Svoboda signed an order preventing the Czechoslovak Army from fighting the invading troops. He then traveled to Moscow to try and get Alexander Dubček and other reform leaders released. They had been kidnapped by the invading forces. In Moscow, Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev demanded that Svoboda appoint a new government. Svoboda refused and even threatened to harm himself if Dubček and the others were not released.
Despite his efforts, Svoboda could not stop Brezhnev from forcing the Czechoslovak leaders to sign the "Moscow protocols." These secret agreements meant that Czechoslovakia had to give in to Soviet demands. They also allowed Warsaw Pact armies to stay in Czechoslovakia. Svoboda also supported his Minister of Defence, Martin Dzúr, who ordered the Czechoslovak army not to resist.
The Normalization Period
President Svoboda remained in office after the Prague Spring reforms were stopped. He quietly watched as reform-minded Communists were removed from power. He also saw civil liberties, which had briefly returned, being taken away again. He even helped to control the press and supported the replacement of Dubček with Gustáv Husák in April 1969.
Until his death, Svoboda believed that his actions in Moscow helped save thousands of lives. He defended his choices by remembering the terrible experiences of war.
Svoboda resisted Gustáv Husák's attempts to remove him from the presidency until 1975. At that point, he was forced to retire due to a new law. This law stated that if a president could not do his job for a year or more, the parliament could elect a new one. Svoboda had been in poor health for some time, so this law was used.
Even though politicians used him for their own purposes at times, Ludvík Svoboda is still respected by many Czechs and Slovaks. This is likely because of his brave actions and strength during important moments in Czechoslovak history. Streets and squares in both the Czech Republic and Slovakia are still named after him. This is different from most other Communist-era leaders, whose names were removed after the Velvet Revolution. Svoboda's attitude can be understood by his own words: "All I have ever done must be measured by my intention to serve best my people and my country."
Awards and Honors
Svoboda received many awards from Czechoslovakia and other countries for his military service and leadership.
- Czechoslovakia (before 1939)
- Order of the Falcon, with swords
- Order of King Charles IV
- Order of M. R. Štefánik
- Czechoslovakia (after 1945)
- Gold Star Hero of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic, three times (1965, 1970, 1975)
- Order of Klement Gottwald, three times (1959, 1970, 1975)
- Military Order of the White Lion "For Victory", 1st class (1945)
- Order of the Slovak National Uprising, 1st class
- Czechoslovak War Cross 1939–1945, three times
- Czechoslovak Medal "for bravery before the enemy" (1945)
- Czechoslovak Medal "For Merit"
- Commemorative medal of the second national resistance
- Allied victory Medal
- Dukelskaya commemorative medal
- Sokolovskaya commemorative medal
- Military commemorative medals with the label of the USSR (1945)
- Honorary Medal for Fighter against fascism, 1st class
- Czechoslovak War Cross 1918
- Order of 25 February, 1st class
- Order Wins the February
- Czechoslovak Cross of Valour 1914–1918
- Russian Empire
- Cross of St George, 3rd and 4th classes (1917)
- Soviet Union
- Hero of the Soviet Union (1965)
- Two Orders of Lenin (1943, 1965)
- Order of the October Revolution (1970)
- Order of Suvorov, 1st (1945) and 2nd (1943) classes
- Medal "For the Victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945" (1945)
- Medal "For the Liberation of Prague" (1945)
- Lenin Peace Prize (1970)
- Poland
- Virtuti Militari, 1st class (1947)
- Cross of Grunwald, 1st class (1948)
- Order of Polonia Restituta, 1st class (1969)
- Military Cross (1944)
- Medal for Warsaw 1939–1945
- Medal for Oder, Neisse and Baltic
- Medal of Victory and Freedom 1945
- Other Countries
- Order of the People's Hero (Yugoslavia, 1946)
- Order "For Service to the people", 1st class (Yugoslavia)
- Order of Red Banner (Hungary)
- Order "For Merit", 1st class (Hungary, 1950)
- Grand Officer of the Legion of Honour (France)
- Croix de guerre 1939–1945 (France)
- Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (United Kingdom)
- Legion of Merit, Commander (United States, 1945)
- Order of the Supreme Sun (Afghanistan, 1970)
- Commemorative Medal of the 2,500th Anniversary of the founding of the Persian Empire (1971)
Images for kids
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Ludvík Svoboda's signature
In Spanish: Ludvík Svoboda para niños
