The Personal Structure of the Regional Committees of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia in České Budějovice, Ostrava and Prague, 1945–1951

Abstract

The article is concerned with the staffing of the apparatus of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia in three regions (České Budějovice, Ostrava and Prague) in the period between 1945 and 1951. The study describes the developmental determinants that had a significant influence over the organizational framework and personal structure. The study provides a basic overview of the staffing based on the three traits: year of birth, the period of joining the Party and the original vocation. In the first three years, regional party organizations struggled with a fundamental lack of financial resources and therefore could only afford to employ a limited number of political employees. Significant part of political personnel consisted of pre-war party members, who were also largely involved in the anti-Nazi resistance movement. After February 1948, all three monitored party apparatuses underwent a massive increase in the number of political employees. Positions in party apparatus were gradually occupied by younger employees, mostly post-war party members from the ranks of factory workers without political experience. After the inner party purge in 1951, these young political employees controlled regional party apparatuses not only by sheer numbers, but also by holding leading posts.