Miroslav Vacek (29 August 1935 – 31 December 2022) was a Czech and Czechoslovakian politician and lieutenant general in the

Czechoslovak People's Army The Czechoslovak People's Army (, , ČSLA) was the armed forces of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSČ) and the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic from 1954 until 1989. From 1955 it was a member force of the Warsaw Pact. On 14 March 1990 ...

. Vacek was the Chief of the General Staff of the Czechoslovak People's Army from 1987 to 1989, coinciding with the end of the

Normalization Normalization or normalisation refers to a process that makes something more normal or regular. Science * Normalization process theory, a sociological theory of the implementation of new technologies or innovations * Normalization model, used in ...

era of

communist Czechoslovakia The Czechoslovak Socialist Republic, (Czech and Slovak: ''Československá socialistická republika'', ČSSR) known from 1948 to 1960 as the Czechoslovak Republic (''Československá republika)'', Fourth Czechoslovak Republic, or simply Czech ...

. He then became Minister of National Defence of Czechoslovakia 1989 to 1990 following the

Velvet Revolution The Velvet Revolution () or Gentle Revolution () was a non-violent transition of power in what was then Czechoslovakia, occurring from 17 November to 28 November 1989. Popular demonstrations against the one-party government of the Communist Pa ...

Biography

Vacek, the Chief of the General Staff of the Czechoslovak People's Army from 1987 to 1989, was appointed Minister of National Defence of Czechoslovakia in early December 1989, following the

. On 15 December 1989, Vacek announced that the military fortifications along the border with

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

would be removed, noting that he had also begun dismantling facilities along the border with

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

earlier in the week. Vacek and another newly appointed government minister, the ardent anti-communist

Foreign Minister In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...

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

, called for the withdrawal of the 75,000 Soviet troops stationed in Czechoslovakia since the 1968

Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia On 20–21 August 1968, the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic was jointly invaded by four fellow Warsaw Pact countries: the Soviet Union, the Polish People's Republic, the People's Republic of Bulgaria, and the Hungarian People's Republic. The ...

. Vacek also announced a series of reforms for the Czechoslovakian military, including the reduction in the length of mandatory military service from two years to 18 months and an end to control of the military by 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 Com ...

. Vacek served as Minister of National Defence from December 1989 to October 1990 under both Prime Ministers

Ladislav Adamec Ladislav Adamec (10 September 1926 – 14 April 2007) was a Czechoslovak communist politician. Early life Adamec was born in Moravia on 10 September 1926. From 1958 to 1961 he studied at the Political College of the Central Committee of th ...

and Marián Čalfa. Vacek retired from the Czechoslovak Army in 1991. He joined the

Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia The Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia (, KSČM) is a communist party in the Czech Republic. As of 2022, KSČM has a membership of 20,450. Sources variously describe the party as either left-wing or Far-left politics, far-left on the polit ...

(KSČM) following the end of communism rule and the

dissolution of Czechoslovakia The dissolution of Czechoslovakia, which took effect on December 31, 1992, was the Self-determination, self-determined Partition (politics), partition of the federal republic of Fifth Czechoslovak Republic, Czechoslovakia into the independent ...

. He was later elected to the

Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic The Chamber of Deputies, officially the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic (, PS PČR), is the lower house of the Parliament of the Czech Republic. The chamber has 200 seats and deputies are elected for four-year terms u ...

, serving one term from 1996 to 1999 as a member of the KSČM. Vacek died at a

palliative care Palliative care (from Latin root "to cloak") is an interdisciplinary medical care-giving approach aimed at optimizing quality of life and mitigating or reducing suffering among people with serious, complex, and often terminal illnesses. Man ...

facility in

Karlovy Vary Karlovy Vary (; , formerly also spelled ''Carlsbad'' in English) is a spa town, spa city in the Karlovy Vary Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 49,000 inhabitants. It is located at the confluence of the Ohře and Teplá (river), Teplá ri ...

, Czech Republic on 31 January 2022, at the age of 87.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vacek, Miroslav 1935 births 2022 deaths Members of the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic (1996–1998) Defence ministers of Czechoslovakia Chiefs of the General Staff (Czechoslovakia) Czechoslovak Army officers Members of the Chamber of the People of Czechoslovakia (1986–1990) Members of the Federal Assembly of Czechoslovakia (1986–1990) Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia MPs Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia politicians Communist Party of Czechoslovakia politicians People from Kolín Politicians from Kolín Czechoslovak generals