This article gives an overview of liberalism in the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

. It is limited to

liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

parties A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will often feature ...

with substantial support, mainly proved by having had a representation in parliament. The sign ⇒ denotes another party in that scheme. For inclusion in this scheme it is not necessary that parties label themselves as a liberal party.

Background

When

liberalism Liberalism is a political and moral philosophy based on the rights of the individual, liberty, consent of the governed, political equality and equality before the law."political rationalism, hostility to autocracy, cultural distaste for c ...

started in the

Czech lands The Czech lands or the Bohemian lands ( cs, České země ) are the three historical regions of Bohemia, Moravia, and Czech Silesia. Together the three have formed the Czech part of Czechoslovakia since 1918, the Czech Socialist Republic since ...

, they were member states 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 ...

. Liberals in the region started as part of the conservative nationalist National Party (''Národní strana'') or

Old Czechs The Old Czech Party ( cz, Staročeši, officially National Party, ''Národní strana'') was formed in the Kingdom of Bohemia and Bohemian Crown Lands of Austrian Empire in Revolution Year of 1848. They initiated Czech national program, formin ...

, but from 1874 they formed their own party: the National Liberal Party (''Národní strana svobodomyslná''), also known as the

Young Czechs The Young Czech Party ( cz, Mladočeši, officially National Liberal Party, ''Národní strana svobodomyslná'') was formed in the Bohemian crown land of Austria-Hungary in 1874. It initiated the democratization of Czech political parties and l ...

. Czech liberals usually do not call themselves liberals, but prefer labels such as progressive or even

national socialist Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...

(which has nothing to do with the German variant).

History

The liberal movement is currently unsuccessful in this country. Liberal parties are small or in decline and are unable to cooperate. They were unsuccessful at the 2004 European elections. At these elections the

European Democrats The European Democrats were a loose association of conservative political parties in Europe. It was a political group in the European Parliament from 1979 until 1992, when it became a subgroup of the European People's Party–European Democr ...

(''Evropští demokraté'') proved to be a liberal alternative, but it joined the EPP.

National Liberal Party

*1874: Liberals in Bohemia seceded from the National Party and formed the National Liberal Party. *1889: A faction of the ''National Party'' joined the National Liberal Party. *1897: The ⇒ Radical Progressive Party seceded from the party. *1899: The ⇒ Czech State Rights Radical Party seceded from the party. *1900: A faction seceded as the ⇒ Czech People's Party. *1918: The party merged with the ⇒ Czech State Rights Radical Party, the National Party and others into the mainly conservative

Czech State Rights Democrats 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, ...

(''Česká státoprávní demokracie''), renamed in 1919 as the Czechoslovak National Democracy (''Československá národní demokracie''). *1924: Allies of president

Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk Tomáš () is a Czech and Slovak given name, equivalent to the name Thomas. It may refer to: * Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk (1850–1937), first President of Czechoslovakia * Tomáš Baťa (1876–1932), Czech footwear entrepreneur * Tomáš Berdyc ...

left the party to form the ⇒ National Labour Party. *1934: After the party developed into a national-conservative party, it joined the National Unification (''Národní sjedonocení'').

Czech People's Party / Czech Progressive Party

*1887: A second faction of liberals seceded from the National Party and joined the ⇒ National Liberal Party in 1889. *1900: This faction formed the Czech People's Party (''Česká strana lidová''). *1906: The party absorbed the ⇒ Radical Progressive Party and was renamed Czech Progressive Party (''Česka strana pokroková''). *1918: The party disappeared, members joined the ⇒ Czech State Rights Democrats and the ⇒ Czech Socialist Party

Radical Progressive Party

*1897: The

Radical Progressive Party Radical may refer to: Politics and ideology Politics *Radical politics, the political intent of fundamental societal change *Radicalism (historical), the Radical Movement that began in late 18th century Britain and spread to continental Europe and ...

(''Strana radikálně pokroková'') seceded from the ⇒ National Liberal Party *1906: The party merged into the ⇒ Czech Progressive Party

From National Social Party until Liberal National Social Party

*1898: National-minded social democrats and left-wing liberals formed the

Czech National Social Party Czech National Social Party (Czech: ''Česká strana národně sociální'', ČSNS) is a civic nationalist political party in the Czech Republic, that once played an important role in Czechoslovakia during the interwar period. It was established ...

(''Česká strana národně sociální''). *1918: The party was reorganized into the Czech Socialist Party (''Česká socialistická strana''), from 1919 the Czechoslovak Socialist Party (''Československá socialistická strana''). *1926: The party absorbed the liberal ⇒ National Labour Party and was renamed the Czechoslovak National Socialist Party (''Československá národně socialistická strana''). *1948: The party continued as a satellite party of the communists under the name Czechoslovak Socialist Party (''Československá strana socialistická''). It regained a democratic profile in 1990, after the fall of the Communist regime. *1993: The party was renamed the Liberal National Social Party (''Liberální strana národně sociální''), but didn't play a role anymore. *1995: The party merged with the ⇒ Free Democrats into the ⇒ Free Democrats-Liberal National Social Party. Shortly before the merger a conservative faction seceded as the Civic National Movement (''Občanské národní hnutí'') *1997: After failure in 1996 elections, the Free Democrats left the party and it was renamed again into Czech National Social Party.

Radical State Rights Party / Progressive State Rights Party

*1899: The Radical State Rights Party (''Strana radikálně státoprávní'') seceded from the ⇒ National Liberal Party *1908: The party merged with a faction of the former ⇒ Radical Progressive Party into the Progressive State Rights Party (''Strana státoprávně pokroková''). *1918: The party merged with the ⇒ National Liberal Party and others into the ⇒ Czech State Rights Democrats.

National Labour Party

*1924: A liberal faction of the ⇒ Czechoslovak National Democrats left the party to form the National Labour Party (''Národní strana práce''). *1926: The party merged into the ⇒ Czechoslovak National Socialist Party

German Democratic Freedom Party

*1919:

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

liberals in

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

formed the German Democratic Freedom Party (''Deutschdemokratische Freiheitspartei'') *1938: The party disappeared with the German takeover of Czechoslovakia.

From Civic Movement until Party for the Open Society

*1991: Liberals inside the general democratic

Civic Forum The Civic Forum (Czech: ''Občanské fórum'', OF) was a political movement in the Czech part of Czechoslovakia, established during the Velvet Revolution in 1989. The corresponding movement in Slovakia was called Public Against Violence ( Slovak ...

(''Občanské fórum'') formed the

Civic Movement The Civic Movement ( cs, Občanské hnutí, OH) was a liberal political party based in the Czech Republic, which existed from 1991 to 1995. The party was established after the break-up of Civic Forum by the liberal wing of Civic Forum, while the co ...

(''Občanské hnutí''). The movement largely failed in elections. *1993: The party was renamed into the Free Democrats (''Svobodní demokraté''). *1995: After another failure in elections the party merged with the ⇒ Liberal National Social Party into the

Free Democrats-Liberal National Social Party Free may refer to: Concept * Freedom, having the ability to do something, without having to obey anyone/anything * Freethought, a position that beliefs should be formed only on the basis of logic, reason, and empiricism * Emancipate, to procure ...

(''Svobodní Demokraté - Liberální strana národně sociální''). *1997: After failure in 1996 elections, the Free Democrats left the party and in 1998 formed the Party for the Open Society (''Strana pro otevřenou společnost'').

Civic Democratic Alliance

*1991: At the fracturing of the general democratic

(''Občanské fórum'') the conservative and liberal right wing faction

Civic Democratic Alliance The Civic Democratic Alliance ( cs, Občanská demokratická aliance, ODA) was a conservative-liberal political party in the Czech Republic, active between 1989 (founded shortly after the Velvet revolution) and 2007. The ODA was part of govern ...

(''Občanská demokratická alliance'') established itself as a separate party. * After being quite influential during the early 1990s (over 5% of voters, participated in government) the party gradually declined. It no longer plays any role in Czech politics. * Some regional factions formed new liberal parties in the second half of the 1990s: ** Liberal Reform Party (''Liberální reformní strana'') in

South Moravian Region The South Moravian Region ( cs, Jihomoravský kraj; , ; sk, Juhomoravský kraj) is an administrative unit () of the Czech Republic, located in the south-western part of its historical region of Moravia (an exception is Jobova Lhota which trad ...

(in Brno), **

Vote for the City Voting is a method by which a group, such as a meeting or an electorate, can engage for the purpose of making a collective decision or expressing an opinion usually following discussions, debates or election campaigns. Democracies elect holder ...

(''Volba pro město'') in

Hradec Králové Region Hradec Králové Region ( cs, Královéhradecký kraj, ; pl, Kraj hradecki) is an administrative unit ( cs, kraj) of the Czech Republic located in the north-eastern part of the historical region of Bohemia. It is named after its capital Hradec K ...

, **Some members in

Liberec Region Liberec Region ( cs, Liberecký kraj, german: Reichenberger Region, pl, Kraj liberecki) is an administrative unit ( Czech: ''kraj'') of the Czech Republic, located in the northernmost part of its historical region of Bohemia. It is named after ...

left party and entered the ⇒ Party for Open Society.

Freedom Union

*1998: A breakaway group of the Civic Democratic Party established the liberal Freedom Union (''Unie Svobody''). *2001: The party merged with the Democratic Union (''Demokratická unie'') into the

Freedom Union – Democratic Union The Freedom Union–Democratic Union ( cs, Unie Svobody–Demokratická unie, US–DEU) was a small pro-European liberal party in the Czech Republic from 1998 to 2011. Freedom Union was founded in January 1998 by former members of the Civic Dem ...

(''Unie Svobody - Demokratická unie'', US-DEU) * The influence and membership of the party declined and in the 2006 parliamentary elections it obtained only 0.3% of the vote.

Liberal leaders

* National Liberal Party:

(1850–1937), but he strictly rejected the label "liberal". * National Social Party:

Edvard Beneš Edvard Beneš (; 28 May 1884 – 3 September 1948) was a Czech politician and statesman who served as the president of Czechoslovakia from 1935 to 1938, and again from 1945 to 1948. He also led the Czechoslovak government-in-exile 1939 to 194 ...

* Free Democrats:

Jiří Dienstbier Jiří Dienstbier (20 April 1937 – 8 January 2011) was a Czech politician and journalist. Born in Kladno, he was one of Czechoslovakia's most respected foreign correspondents before being fired after the Prague Spring. Unable to have a livelih ...

(party is defunct) * Freedom Union:

Jan Ruml Jan Ruml (born 5 March 1953 in Prague) is a Czech politician who was interior minister from 1992 to 1997. Government career Before becoming Interior Minister, Jan Ruml served as deputy Interior Minister in 1991. Jan Ruml announced his resignatio ...

, Hana Marvanová (no longer a member) * Liberal Reform Party: Milan Hamersky (leader of an extremely tiny party)

Liberal thinkers

In the

contributions to liberal theory Contribution or Contribute may refer to: * ''Contribution'' (album), by Mica Paris (1990) ** "Contribution" (song), title song from the album *Contribution (law), an agreement between defendants in a suit to apportion liability *Contributions, a ...

the following Czech thinkers are included: *

Karel Havlíček Borovský Karel Havlíček Borovský (; Borová, today ''Havlíčkova Borová;'' 31 October 1821 – 29 July 1856) was a Czech writer, poet, critic, politician, journalist, and publisher. Early life and education He lived and studied at the Gymnasium ...

(1821–1856), a Czech liberal journalist *

(1850–1937), but he strictly rejected being counted as a liberal. * Josef Kaizl (1854–1901)