Ludvík Vaculík

President of Czechoslovakia and Communist Party leader Antonín Novotný and his fellow conservatives had begun taking a more repressive approach toward intellectuals and writers after the Six-Day WarR.J. Crampton, Eastern Europe in the Twentieth Century – and After, 2nd ed. (New York: Routledge, 1997), 323. of June 1967. The following month, Vaculík, then still a member of the Communist Party, attended the Fourth Congress of the Union of Writers. Others in attendance included communist party members Pavel Kohout, Ivan Klíma, and Milan Kundera, as well as non-Party member Václav Havel.Hans Renner, A History of Czechoslovakia since 1945, trans. Evelien Hurst-Buist (New York: Routledge, 1989), 39. Vaculík made an inflammatory speech in which he rejected the leading role of the party as unnecessary and criticized it for its restrictive cultural policies and failure to address social issues.Crampton, Eastern Europe, 323. Havel recalled the mixed response of the fellow writers to Vaculík's remarks: on the one hand, they were "delighted that someone had spoken the truth… but [their] delight was tempered by doubts about whether direct confrontation on the political level would lead anywhere, and by fears that it could stimulate a counterattack by the power center."Václav Havel, Disturbing the Peace: A Conversation with Karel Hvížďala, trans. Paul Wilson (New York:Knopf, 1990), 85. Novotný and his supporters did indeed try to bring the writers' union under their control after the congress, but failed. Vaculík's and other writers' speeches at the conference, with their anti-Novotný sentiments, increased the gap between the conservative Novotný supporters and more moderate members of the party leadership,Renner, History of Czechoslovakia, 39. a division that would contribute to Novotný's eventual fall.

Vaculík was among the most progressive members of the Communist Party and thereby more radical than Alexander Dubček, who had become Party leader in January 1968. Hence, Vaculík and others generally felt that the reforms of the April Action Programme were the minimum necessary and that they should be quickly and firmly enforced.Renner, History of Czechoslovakia, 59. In hopes of influencing voters in upcoming party congress elections, Vaculík released the manifesto "Two Thousand Words to Workers, Farmers, Scientists, Artists, and Everyone" in several major Prague newspapers, complete with signatures of other public figures. The date was 27 June 1968, the day after preliminary censorship was abolished by the national assembly.

In the "Two Thousand Words," Vaculík asked that the public "demand the resignation of people who have misused their power" by criticism, demonstrations, and strikes.Ludvík Vaculík, "Two Thousand Words to Workers, Farmers, Scientists, Artists, and Everyone," in From Stalinism to Pluralism: A Documentary History of Eastern Europe since 1945, ed. Gale Stokes (New York: Oxford University Press, 1996), 130. He also expressed concern over the "recent apprehension" regarding the reforms due to "the possibility that foreign forces"—those of the Warsaw Treaty Organization—"may intervene in Czechoslovakia's internal development."Vaculík, "Two Thousand Words," 130. If this were to happen, Vaculík argued:

…the only thing we can do is to hold our own and not indulge in any provocation. We can assure our government—with weapons if need be—as long as it does what we give it a mandate to do.

Despite the overall moderate tone and Marxist–Leninist orthodoxy,Crampton, Eastern Europe, 334. the "Two Thousand Words" called for action on the part of the public in case of military intervention and therefore denied the leading role of the party, as Vaculík's 1967 speech had. It was popular throughout Czechoslovakia with both intellectuals and workers, and its popularity only increased after the party officially condemned it. It also significantly increased the concerns of the Soviet Union. Following the "Two Thousand Words," Leonid Brezhnev's party leadership, seeing a situation similar to that in 1956 Hungary developing,Renner, History of Czechoslovakia, 67. used the term "counterrevolution" to describe the Prague Spring for the first time.Alan Levy, So Many Heroes, (Sagaponack, NY: Second Chance Press, 1980), 166. If a counterrevolution was taking place (and the Soviet Union was increasingly disposed to categorising the events in Czechoslovakia as such, as other radicals continued to act and Dubček failed to gain their confidence), socialism as the Soviet Union saw it was threatened and invasion by Warsaw Treaty Organisation troops, as occurred 20–21 August 1968, was deemed justified. This policy of the acceptability of using force wherever socialism was thought to be threatened would become known as the Brezhnev Doctrine, and Vaculík's "Two Thousand Words" was an integral step toward this early application of it.{{Cite news | title = Ludvík Vaculík, Czech journalist and author, dies aged 88 | url = https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jun/06/ludvik-vaculik-czech-journalist-and-author-dies-aged-88 | work = The Guardian | date = 6 June 2015 | access-date = 2015-06-07 | quote = ...Two Thousand Words manifesto became a key document of the 1968 Prague spring reform movement that contributed to the Kremlin's decision to invade Czechoslovakia...}}

After Gustáv Husák came to power in 1969 and censorship increased, Vaculík (now no longer a party member) was part of the circle of dissident writers in Czechoslovakia. In 1973, he started Edice Petlice (The Padlock Editions), a samizdat series that he ran until 1979. Others followed with their own series, despite harassment from the party's secret police.Igor Hájek, "Traditions of Czech Literature: Curses and Blessings," in Czechoslovakia 1918–88: Seventy Years of Independence, ed. H. Gordon Skilling (Oxford: Macmillan, 1991), 188. Some samizdat authors, including Vaculík, were also published in the west.Hájek, "Traditions of Czech Literature," 189.

The core of the samizdat authors eventually developed and signed the foundation document of Charter 77;Renner, History of Czechoslovakia, 126. Vaculík attended the second of the planning meetings in December 1976.Havel, Disturbing the Peace, 132. On 6 January 1977, Vaculík, along with Havel and Pavel Landovský, an actor, attempted to take a copy of the charter to the post office to mail to the Czechoslovak government. Their car was pulled over by the Party secret police, and all three were taken in for interrogation. Other signatories were subsequently subjected to interrogations and searches of their homes, as well.Renner, History of Czechoslovakia, 138.

In late 1978, however, Vaculík published the article "Remarks on Courage", a piece that helped set the tone for criticism of charterists.Renner, History of Czechoslovakia, 135. Of the original signatories, most were from the intelligentsia in Prague and Brno,Crampton, Eastern Europe, 348. and Vaculík and others warned against them becoming so isolated that average citizens could no longer relate to Charter 77. His criticism worked against a mythologisation of the Charter and ensured a continued discussion of its position and role.

Vaculík continued to write; the official ban on his works was lifted in late 1989. He had a weekly column in Lidové noviny that featured feuilletons addressing various Czech political and cultural issues, just as much of his underground work during Communism had.Linda Mastalir, Ludvík Vaculík: a Czechoslovak man of letters, [http://www.radio.cz/en/article/81466 Radio.cz]

Vaculík died of natural causes at the age of 88 on 6 June 2015 in Dobřichovice, where he lived by his son.{{cite news|url=http://domaci.ihned.cz/c1-64124370-zemrel-spisovatel-a-fejetonista-ludvik-vaculik-bylo-mu-89-let|title=Zemřel spisovatel a fejetonista Ludvík Vaculík. Bylo mu 89 let|date=6 June 2015|publisher=Hospodářské noviny|language=cs|access-date=6 June 2015}}[https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/news/ludvik-vaculik-writer-and-dissident-whose-two-thousand-words-tract-led-to-the-prague-spring-and-the-soviet-invasion-10308678.html Ludvik Vaculik: Writer and dissident whose 'Two Thousand Words' tract led to the Prague Spring and the Soviet invasion]

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• Rušný dům (1963), autobiographical novel about the author's work as a tutor at a boys' boarding school
• Sekyra (1966). The Axe, trans. Marian Sling (Harper & Row, 1973){{cite web|url=http://nupress.northwestern.edu/content/axe|title=The Axe|access-date=9 June 2015|archive-date=29 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150929041558/http://nupress.northwestern.edu/content/axe|url-status=dead}}
• Morčata (1970). The Guinea Pigs, trans. Kača Poláčková (The Third Press, 1973; Open Letter, 2011){{Cite book |last=Vaculík |first=Ludvík |url=http://archive.org/details/guineapigsnovel00vacu |title=The guinea pigs |date=1974 |publisher=London : London Magazine |others=Internet Archive |isbn=978-0-89388-060-6 |language=en, cs}}{{cite web|url=http://wordswithoutborders.org/book-review/ludvik-vaculiks-the-guinea-pigs|title=Ludvik Vaculik's "The Guinea Pigs"|author=Shaun Randol|work=Words Without Borders|access-date=9 June 2015}}
• Český snář (1980). A Czech Dreambook, trans. Gerald Turner and Jonathan Bolton (Karolinum Press, 2020){{cite web|url=http://www.databazeknih.cz/knihy/cesky-snar-143730|title=Český snář|access-date=9 June 2015}}
• Milí spolužáci (1995)

• A Cup of Coffee with My Interrogator: The Prague Chronicles of Ludvík Vaculík, trans. George Theiner (Readers International, 1987){{Cite book |last=Vaculík |first=Ludvík |url=http://archive.org/details/cupofcoffeewithm0000vacu |title=A cup of coffee with my interrogator : the Prague chronicles of Ludvík Vaculík |date=1987 |publisher=London : Readers International |others=Internet Archive |isbn=978-0-930523-34-3}}{{cite web |title=BOOKS OF THE TIMES; A CUP OF COFFEE WITH MY INTERROGATOR: The Prague Chronicles of Ludvik Vaculik. Translated by George Theiner. Introduction by Vaclav Havel. 127 pages. Readers International. $14.95. (Published 1987) |website=The New York Times |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210718181858/https://www.nytimes.com/1987/08/27/books/books-times-cup-coffee-with-my-interrogator-prague-chronicles-ludvik-vaculik.html |archive-date=2021-07-18 |url-status=live |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/08/27/books/books-times-cup-coffee-with-my-interrogator-prague-chronicles-ludvik-vaculik.html}}

• 1968: "Two Thousand Words to Workers, Farmers, Scientists, Artists, and Everyone"{{Cite book |last=Stokes |first=Gale |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2R0kAQAAIAAJ |title=From Stalinism to Pluralism: A Documentary History of Eastern Europe Since 1945 |date=1996 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-509447-3 |language=en}}
• 1983: "On a Plane", trans. Alex Zucker (2018){{Cite news |last=MacArthur |first=John R. |last2=Vaculík |first2=Ludvík |date=2018-01-01 |title=The Human Factor |language=en |volume=January 2018 |work=Harper's Magazine |url=https://harpers.org/archive/2018/01/the-human-factor/ |access-date=2022-10-31 |issn=0017-789X}}

• Charter 77
• Libri Prohibiti
• Normalization (Czechoslovakia)
• Prague Spring
• Samizdat

{{Reflist|30em}}

• Crampton, R. J. Eastern Europe in the Twentieth Century—and After. 2nd ed. New York: Routledge, 1997.
• Hájek, Igor. "Traditions of Czech Literature: Curses and Blessings." In Czechoslovakia 1918–88: Seventy Years of Independence, edited by H. Gordon Skilling, 177–95. Oxford: Macmillan, 1991.
• Havel, Václav. Disturbing the Peace: A Conversation with Karel Hvížďala. Translated by Paul Wilson. New York: Knopf, 1990.
• Levy, Alan. So Many Heroes. Sagaponack, NY: Second Chance Press, 1980.
• Mastalir, Linda. Ludvík Vaculík: a Czechoslovak man of letters. 25 July 2006. Radio Praha. 26 April 2007. [http://www.radio.cz/en/article/81466 Radio.cz]
• Renner, Hans. A History of Czechoslovakia since 1945. Translated by Evelien Hurst-Buist. New York: Routledge, 1989.

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• {{IMDb name|1138464}}
• [http://www.ludvikvaculik.cz Website about Vaculík and his work] {{in lang|cs}}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20060128225154/http://www.pwf.pragonet.cz/1998/vaculik.htm How to Make a Boy – an example]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20111006234231/http://www.salon.eu.sk/article.php?article=757&searchPhrase=vacul%C3%ADk Our Success Story] columne, October 2008
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20160303215251/http://baila.net/autor/81105153/ludvik-vaculik Ludvík Vaculík at Czechoslovak book network Baila.net]

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