Široký was born in to the family of railroad workers. According to Muriel Blaive, he was an ethnic Hungarian from Slovakia,[1] but no Slovak source confirms this.
He joined the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia at 19 and quickly rose in the party apparatus after the election of Klement Gottwald as general secretary. Together with Václav Kopecký, Široký were agents of the Soviet NKVD, whose task was to inform the Moscow leadership mainly about Gottwald's activities.
He was elected as a member of the National Assembly of Czechoslovakia and prior to the start of the Second World War he was elected secretary of the Communist Party of Slovakia. In the autumn of 1938, Široký left for the USSR due to the growing threat of invasion from Nazi Germany. During the war, he first worked as a member of the exiled foreign secretariat of the Communist Party in Paris, later in a similar position in Moscow.[2]
In 1941 he was sent to Slovakia, where he was soon arrested and sentenced to the Leopoldov Prison. At the beginning of 1945, he managed to escape and cross the approaching front to the Red Army.[3]
After the end of the war, Široký became one of the most influential men in the Czechoslovakia. He was a member of the Politburo of the CPC as well its secretariat. He also held important government positions, From April 4, 1945, he was Deputy Prime Minister of Czechoslovakia and held this post in several post-war governments until March 21, 1953. From March 14, 1950 to January 31, 1953, he was Minister of Foreign Affairs in Antonín Zápotocký's government, and he presided over this government from March 21, 1953, after Zápotocký became president of the republic. Subsequently, he was the Prime Minister of other governments and held the post of Prime Minister until 20 September 1963.[4]
His career came in to an abrupt end during the Prague Spring and the rehabilitation processes he was relieved of all posts and in 1968 he was expelled from the ranks of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia.[2]
Široký was rehabilitated shortly before his death in 1971 during the period of normalization of his former political enemy, Gustáv Husák.
viliam, Široký, 1902, october, 1971, prominent, communist, politician, czechoslovakia, prime, minister, from, 1953, 1963, also, served, leader, communist, party, slovakia, between, 1945, 1954, portrait, Śiroký, 1947interim, president, czechoslovakiain, office,. Viliam Siroky 31 May 1902 6 October 1971 was a prominent Communist politician of Czechoslovakia the prime minister from 1953 to 1963 He also served as the leader of the Communist Party of Slovakia between 1945 and 1954 Viliam SirokyPortrait of Siroky 1947Interim President of CzechoslovakiaIn office 13 November 1957 19 November 1957Prime MinisterHimselfPreceded byAntonin ZapotockySucceeded byAntonin NovotnyPrime Minister of CzechoslovakiaIn office 21 March 1953 20 September 1963PresidentAntonin Zapotocky 1953 1957 Himself Interim 1957 Antonin Novotny 1957 1963 Preceded byAntonin ZapotockySucceeded byJozef LenartMinister of Foreign AffairsIn office 14 March 1950 31 December 1952PresidentKlement GottwaldPrime MinisterAntonin ZapotockyPreceded byVladimir ClementisSucceeded byVaclav DavidDeputy Prime Minister of CzechoslovakiaIn office 4 April 1945 21 March 1953PresidentEdvard Benes 1945 1948 Klement Gottwald 1948 1953 Prime MinisterZdenek Fierlinger 1945 1946 Klement Gottwald 1946 1948 Antonin Zapotocky 1948 1953 Personal detailsBorn 1902 05 31 31 May 1902Pozsony Pozsony County Austria HungaryDied6 October 1971 1971 10 06 aged 69 Prague CzechoslovakiaPolitical partyCommunist Party of CzechoslovakiaAwardsTwo Order of Polonia Restituta Two Order of Klement Gottwald Contents 1 Biography 2 See also 3 References 4 External linksBiography EditSiroky was born in to the family of railroad workers According to Muriel Blaive he was an ethnic Hungarian from Slovakia 1 but no Slovak source confirms this He joined the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia at 19 and quickly rose in the party apparatus after the election of Klement Gottwald as general secretary Together with Vaclav Kopecky Siroky were agents of the Soviet NKVD whose task was to inform the Moscow leadership mainly about Gottwald s activities He was elected as a member of the National Assembly of Czechoslovakia and prior to the start of the Second World War he was elected secretary of the Communist Party of Slovakia In the autumn of 1938 Siroky left for the USSR due to the growing threat of invasion from Nazi Germany During the war he first worked as a member of the exiled foreign secretariat of the Communist Party in Paris later in a similar position in Moscow 2 In 1941 he was sent to Slovakia where he was soon arrested and sentenced to the Leopoldov Prison At the beginning of 1945 he managed to escape and cross the approaching front to the Red Army 3 After the end of the war Siroky became one of the most influential men in the Czechoslovakia He was a member of the Politburo of the CPC as well its secretariat He also held important government positions From April 4 1945 he was Deputy Prime Minister of Czechoslovakia and held this post in several post war governments until March 21 1953 From March 14 1950 to January 31 1953 he was Minister of Foreign Affairs in Antonin Zapotocky s government and he presided over this government from March 21 1953 after Zapotocky became president of the republic Subsequently he was the Prime Minister of other governments and held the post of Prime Minister until 20 September 1963 4 Siroky was an initiator of the campaign against bourgeois nationalists in Czechoslovakia which led to the suppression of politicians such as Vladimir Clementis Laco Novomesky and Gustav Husak He took an active part in negotiating and enforcing constitutional changes which resulted in the creation of the 1960 Constitution of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic His career came in to an abrupt end during the Prague Spring and the rehabilitation processes he was relieved of all posts and in 1968 he was expelled from the ranks of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia 2 Siroky was rehabilitated shortly before his death in 1971 during the period of normalization of his former political enemy Gustav Husak See also EditList of prime ministers of CzechoslovakiaReferences Edit Muriel Blaive Promarnena prilezitost Ceskoslovensko a rok 1956 p 240 a b Rychlik Jan 2012 Cesi a Slovaci ve 20 stoleti Prague Vysehrad Zaznam vojaka Vojensky ustredni archiv Retrieved 2021 08 16 Prehled clenu vlady Vlada CR Retrieved 2021 08 16 External links Edit Wikimedia Commons has media related to Viliam Siroky Biography at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech RepublicPolitical officesPreceded byVladimir Clementis Minister of Foreign Affairs of Czechoslovakia1950 1952 Succeeded byVaclav DavidPreceded byAntonin Zapotocky Prime Minister of Czechoslovakia1953 1963 Succeeded byJozef Lenart Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Viliam Siroky amp oldid 1170588683, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
