Czechoslovakia: Reason to Hope

Czechoslovakia's Party Boss Antonín Novotný rose to the top in 1953—the year of Stalin's death—but never quite adjusted to the Kremlin's new softer line or Eastern Europe's post-Stalin era of liberalization. Only a few months ago, he severely warned the country's intellectuals that he would never tolerate "the spread of liberalism" or any other contaminating Western ideology. In turn, Czechoslovakia never really adjusted to Novotný. Recently, an increasingly vocal opposition to his hardlining ways percolated right up to the innermost circles of the Communist Party. Last month the ruling Presidium voted 8-2 to fire Novotný as party chief, and only a hasty trip to Prague by Soviet Party Boss Leonid Brezhnev saved his skin.

It was only a temporary save; not even the Kremlin wanted to openly defy the groundswell of popular disenchantment with Novotný in Czechoslovakia. Last week the party's 200-man plenum, the Central Committee, met and declared the end for Novotný. Though its communiqué allowed him to "resign" and mechanically praised his accomplishments, the plenum fired Novotný as party leader, the country's most powerful post, leaving him only in the figurehead role of President. Into Novotný's place stepped the man who engineered the ouster. He is Alexander Dubček, 46, a Presidium member, lead er of the Slovak wing of the Czechoslovak Communist Party, and the first member of the country's 5,000,000 Slovak minority to hold the reins of power.

Last-Minute Attempt. Novotný had desperately tried to save himself at the last moment by adopting a far more conciliatory line. In his New Year's message last week, he made important concessions to Czechoslovakia's restive Slovaks and promised rebellious Czech students and writers that he would permit the use of "progressive" ideas, even if they came from the West. For added effect, he also hinted that he would let the country's economic reformers resume their experiments with profits and price incentives to get the stalled economy moving again. It was a major turnabout for Novotný, but his fate had already been determined.

While he was off in Moscow congratulating the Russians on the 50th anniversary of their revolution last November, Dubček remained behind to organize his revolt against Novotný. Using Slovak grievances over their neglect and the bungled state of the economy as rallying cries, Dubček won the party's "liberal" faction to his cause. Back from the Soviet Union, Novotný quickly found himself outmaneuvered and outvoted in the Presidium, whose interminable meetings last month degenerated into angry personal clashes between Novotný and Dubček.