Liberalism in the Czech lands
This article gives an overview of liberalism in the Czech lands. It is limited to liberal parties 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 started in Bohemia and Moravia, the Czech lands were member states of Austria-Hungary. Liberals in the region started as part of the conservative nationalist National Party or Old Czechs, but from 1874 they formed their own party: the National Liberal Party, also known as the Young Czechs. Czech liberals usually do not call themselves liberals, but prefer labels such as progressive or even national socialist.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 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, renamed in 1919 as the Czechoslovak National Democracy.
- 1924: Allies of president Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk left the party to form the ⇒ National Labour Party.
- 1934: After the party developed into a national-conservative party, it joined the National Unification.
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.
- 1906: The party absorbed the ⇒ Radical Progressive Party and was renamed Czech Progressive Party.
- 1918: The party disappeared, members joined the ⇒ Czech State Rights Democrats and the ⇒ Czech Socialist Party
Radical Progressive Party
- 1897: The Radical Progressive Party 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 National Socialist Party.
- 1918: The party was reorganized into the Czech Socialist Party, from 1919 the Czechoslovak Socialist Party.
- 1926: The party absorbed the liberal ⇒ National Labour Party and was renamed the Czechoslovak National Socialist Party.
- 1948: The party continued as a communist satellite party under the name Czechoslovak Socialist Party. It regained a democratic profile in 1990, after the fall of the Communist regime.
- 1993: The party was renamed the Liberal National Social Party, 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
- 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 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.
- 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.
- 1926: The party merged into the ⇒ Czechoslovak National Socialist Party
German Democratic Freedom Party
- 1919: German liberals in Czechoslovakia formed the German Democratic Freedom Party
- 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 formed the Civic Movement. The movement largely failed in elections.
- 1993: The party was renamed into the Free Democrats.
- 1995: After another failure in elections the party merged with the ⇒ Liberal National Social Party into the Free Democrats-Liberal National Social Party.
- 1997: After failure in 1996 elections, the Free Democrats left the party and in 1998 formed the Party for the Open Society.
Civic Democratic Alliance
- 1991: At the fracturing of the general democratic Civic Forum the conservative and liberal faction Civic Democratic Alliance established itself as a separate party.
- After being quite influential during the early 1990s 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 in South Moravian Region,
- *Vote for the City in Hradec Králové Region,
- *Some members in Liberec Region 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.
- 2001: The party merged with the Democratic Union into the Freedom Union – Democratic Union
- 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: Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk, but he strictly rejected the label "liberal".
- National Social Party: Edvard Beneš
- Free Democrats: Jiří Dienstbier
- Freedom Union: Jan Ruml, Hana Marvanová
- Liberal Reform Party: Milan Hamersky
Liberal thinkers
- Karel Havlíček Borovský, a Czech liberal journalist
- Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk, but he strictly rejected being counted as a liberal.
- Josef Kaizl