Bohumír Šmeral
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Bohumír Šmeral (25 October 1880 in
Třebíč Třebíč (; german: Trebitsch; yi, טרייביטש Treybitsh) is a town in the Vysočina Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 34,000 inhabitants. The beginnings of the town's history are connected with the establishment of a Benedictine ...
,
Margraviate of Moravia The Margraviate of Moravia ( cs, Markrabství moravské; german: Markgrafschaft Mähren) was one of the Lands of the Bohemian Crown within the Holy Roman Empire existing from 1182 to 1918. It was officially administrated by a margrave in cooperat ...
– 8 May 1941 in
Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
) was a
Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places *Czech, ...
politician, leader of the
Czech Social Democratic Party The Czech Social Democratic Party ( cs, Česká strana sociálně demokratická, ČSSD, ) is a social-democratic political party in the Czech Republic. Sitting on the centre-left of the political spectrum and holding pro-European views, it is a m ...
, and one of the founders 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 Cominte ...
.


Early life

Šmeral was born into a relatively well to-do family in a small town. While studying at the gymnasium in Třebíč he joined the local wing of the Czech Social Democratic Party. During 1898–1904 he studied law at the
Charles University in Prague Charles University ( cs, Univerzita Karlova, UK; la, Universitas Carolina; german: Karls-Universität), also known as Charles University in Prague or historically as the University of Prague ( la, Universitas Pragensis, links=no), is the oldest an ...
and actively engaged in politics. Since 1899 he also worked as a journalist in the party newspaper Právo lidu and as a public speaker. He also published several theoretical works.


Political career

Being able, outspoken and hard working, Šmeral was elected to the executive committee of social democracy (in 1909) and into the
parliament of Austria The Austrian Parliament (german: Österreichisches Parlament) is the bicameral federal legislature of the Austrian Republic. It consists of two chambers – the National Council and the Federal Council. In specific cases, both houses convene ...
(Reichsrat), in 1911. According to historian Jan Galandauer he was the most competent politician among Czech social democrats. During
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
Šmeral became head of social democracy. He advocated federalization of
Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...
as the best way to achieve the goals of the worker's movement and argued against creation of small national states. As the war dragged on and faith in the monarchy vanished, the other leaders of the party grew discontented. During September 1917, Gustav Habrman,
František Soukup František () is a masculine given name of Czech origin. It is a cognate of Francis, Francisco, François, and Franz. People with the name include: * Frank Daniel (František Daniel) (1926–1996), Czech film director, producer, and screenwrit ...
,
František Tomášek František Tomášek (30 June 1899, in Studénka, Moravia – 4 August 1992, in Prague, Czechoslovakia) was a cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church in Bohemia, the 34th Archbishop of Prague, and a Roman Catholic theologian. His "cautious but ...
, Rudolf Bechyně and others criticized Šmeral for his pro-Austrian stance and forced him to resign. After 28 October 1918, when
Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...
was established, he refused to participate in politics of the new state and until the end of 1919 worked as a correspondent of ''Právo lidu'' in
Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
. During the spring of 1920, Šmeral visited
Soviet Russia The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR or RSFSR ( rus, Российская Советская Федеративная Социалистическая Республика, Rossíyskaya Sovétskaya Federatívnaya Soci ...
where he discussed the future directions of the left movement in Czechoslovakia with
V. I. Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 19 ...
. After his return, he led the left-wing of Social Democracy, preparing for the creation of the communist party and participated in work of the
Comintern The Communist International (Comintern), also known as the Third International, was a Soviet Union, Soviet-controlled international organization founded in 1919 that advocated world communism. The Comintern resolved at its Second Congress to ...
. In May 1921 he co-founded, together with
Antonín Zápotocký Antonín Zápotocký (19 December 1884 – 13 November 1957) was a Czech communist politician and statesman who served as the prime minister of Czechoslovakia from 1948 to 1953 and the president of Czechoslovakia from 1953 to 1957. Biography He ...
, 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 Cominte ...
(KSČ) and served in its executive committee (later named the central committee, ÚV KSČ). Šmeral was criticized as too moderate and for "social democratism" by radicals. He worked as an executive of the Comintern from 1926, most of the time outside Czechoslovakia. During the 1930s he organized anti-fascist movements. In September 1938, after the
Sudetenland Crisis The Sudetenland ( , ; Czech and sk, Sudety) is the historical German name for the northern, southern, and western areas of former Czechoslovakia which were inhabited primarily by Sudeten Germans. These German speakers had predominated in the ...
resulted in the
Munich Agreement The Munich Agreement ( cs, Mnichovská dohoda; sk, Mníchovská dohoda; german: Münchner Abkommen) was an agreement concluded at Munich on 30 September 1938, by Nazi Germany, Germany, the United Kingdom, French Third Republic, France, and Fa ...
, he left for
Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
and joined the exiled leadership (''zahraniční vedení'') of the KSČ (soon banned in Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia). In November 1938 he went to Moscow, where he died on May 8, 1941.


Selected works

* Kdo jsou a co chtějí sociální demokraté ocial Democrats: Who They Are And What They Want(1906) * Materálie k dějinám dělnického hnutí istorical Materials About Worker's Movement(1906) * Pravda o sovětském Rusku
he Truth About Soviet Russia He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' in ...
(1920)


References

* Bernard Wheaton: "Radical socialism in Czechoslovakia : Bohumír Šmeral, the Czech road to socialism and the origins of the Czechoslovak Communist Party, 1917-1921", 1986, * Jan Galandauer: "Bohumír Šmeral 1888 až 1914", Prague, 1981


External links


Short biography
(in Czech) {{DEFAULTSORT:Smeral, Bohumir 1880 births 1941 deaths Politicians from Třebíč People from the Margraviate of Moravia Leaders of the Czech Social Democratic Party Members of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia Members of the Austrian House of Deputies (1911–1918) Members of the Chamber of Deputies of Czechoslovakia (1920–1925) Members of the Chamber of Deputies of Czechoslovakia (1925–1929) Members of the Senate of Czechoslovakia (1935–1939) Czechoslovak Comintern people Executive Committee of the Communist International Czechoslovak expatriates in the Soviet Union People granted political asylum in the Soviet Union