People of the Revolution and the USSR

Activity(set)
Any Political and party leadership 10 Government and administration 6 Military command 1 Diplomacy and international organization 2 Economy, finance and planning 2 Social movements and organizing 4 Scholarship and theory 2 Science and technology 1 Literature and arts 2
Affiliation

Most people

Any Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) 1 Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSČ) 1 Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany (USPD) 1

All 3 affiliations

Czechoslovakia

Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSČ) 1

Germany

Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) 1 Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany (USPD) 1
Position
Any Non-Bolshevik socialists 1
Citizenship
Any Austria 1 Czechoslovakia 1
Background(set)
Any Russia 105 United States 46 United Kingdom 28 Germany 11 France 8 China 7 Ukraine 6 Armenia 5 Hungary 5 Poland 5 Czechoslovakia 4 Georgia 4 Finland 3 Belarus 2 Croatia 2 Cuba 2 Czechia 2 Estonia 2 India 2 Ireland 2 Latvia 2 Lithuania 2 Spain 2 Albania 1 Australia 1 Bulgaria 1 Canada 1 Ethiopia 1 Guyana 1 Israel 1 Italy 1 Japan 1 Martinique 1 Netherlands 1 Portugal 1 Romania 1 Serbia 1 Somalia 1 South Africa 1 Trinidad and Tobago 1
Era
Any

People of the wider world

The age of the Internationals and empires1820–1917 1 The Cold War and decolonization1945–현재 1
Scholarship and theory Background: Czechia Clear all

Karl Johann Kautsky

Karl Johann Kautsky
Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany (USPD) Non-Bolshevik socialists Austria Czechia 1854–1938 ○ Natural causes

Chief theoretician of orthodox Marxism in the Second International, founding editor of Die Neue Zeit, editor of Marx's Capital Vol. IV

"Socialism as a means to the emancipation of the proletariat, without democracy, is unthinkable." — The Dictatorship of the Proletariat (1918)

Leading Marxist theoretician of the Second International. He authored the Erfurt Programme, refuted Bernstein's revisionism, and after the Russian Revolution critiqued Bolshevik rule, creating the defining point of divergence between social democracy and Leninism.

Career timeline
  • 1875Joined Austrian SDAP; published Darwin and Socialism
  • 1880–1883Moved to Zurich, met Bernstein; travelled to London and befriended Marx and Engels
  • 1883–1917Founded and edited Die Neue Zeit for 35 years — leading Marxist theoretical journal of the Second International
  • 1885–1890Worked closely with Engels in London; began editing Marx's Theories of Surplus Value
  • 1891–1892Authored theoretical section of Erfurt Programme and commentary The Class Struggle — defining SPD Marxism
  • 1899–1909Led orthodox Marxist counter-attack against Bernstein's revisionism; published The Road to Power
  • 1917Broke with SPD over war policy; co-founded Independent Social Democratic Party (USPD)
  • 1918–1922Published The Dictatorship of the Proletariat criticising Bolshevik rule; provoked Lenin's polemical reply

Radovan Richta

Radovan Richta
Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSČ) Communism Czechoslovakia Czech 1924–1983 ○ Illness

Czech Marxist philosopher who coined the phrase "socialism with a human face"

In his final years Richta tried to form a prognostic team that, in his own words, "would rid us of the political curse and allow us to officially examine society."

A Czech Marxist philosopher and sociologist who developed the concept of the 'scientific-technological revolution' and led a 60-author collective to produce Civilization at the Crossroads (1966). The work argued that centralized planning was obsolete in the age of science and technology, providing the theoretical foundation for the Prague Spring's Action Programme; Richta coined its defining slogan, 'socialism with a human face.' After the Warsaw Pact invasion of August 1968, he accommodated himself to Gustáv Husák's normalization regime, directing the Institute for Philosophy and Sociology while purging former colleagues and, in 1977, joining the press campaign against Charter 77 and Jan Patočka.

Career timeline
  • 1944Arrested by Gestapo; imprisoned at Pankrác and Terezín
  • 1945–1953Studied at Charles University; PhDr. in philosophy
  • 1949–1954Deputy editor-in-chief, Tvorba; editorial board, Rudé právo
  • 1954–1966Researcher, Philosophical Institute, ČSAV
  • 1966–1968Head of interdisciplinary STR research team; published Civilization at the Crossroads
  • 1967Elected corresponding member, ČSAV
  • 1969–1982Director, Institute for Philosophy and Sociology, ČSAV
  • 1972Elected full academician, ČSAV