Antonín Novotný

Antonín Novotný was a president of Czechoslovakia. See also List of Presidents of Czechoslovakia.

Antonín Novotný, the First Secretary of the Communist Party and President of the Republic, was responsible for the trials and for barring the way forward to a more democratic socialist society. (123) His dictatorship over centralized the system and used force to protect his regime which lasted over twelve years. (124-6) The people were denied a culture and political rights. The growing number of educated people in Czechoslovakia led to the call for a new form of socialism, one with rule of law, elections, and responsibility. Novotný began to lose control in 1967 due to his growing unpopularity with the public over a badly handled student protest and continuing to misuse his political power. (131-2) Novotný resigned in January of 1968 and had been replaced by Alexander Dubček. (132)
Wheeler, George Shaw. The Human Face of Socialism: The Political Economy of Change in Czechoslovakia. Lawrence Hill and Company, Publishers, Inc.: U.S.A, May 1973.