Ludvík Svoboda
| Ludvík Svoboda | |
|---|---|
.JPG) |
|
| 8th President of Czechoslovakia | |
|
In office 30 March 1968 – 28 May 1975 |
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| Preceded by | Antonín Novotný |
| Succeeded by | Gustáv Husák |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
25 November 1895 Hroznatín, Moravia, Austria Hungary |
| Died | 20 September 1979 (aged 83) Prague, Czechoslovakia (now Czech Republic) |
| Political party | Communist Party of Czechoslovakia |
| Spouse(s) | Irena Svobodová (1901–1980) |
| Signature |  |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |
 Austria-Hungary Czechoslovakia
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| Service/branch |
 Austro-Hungarian Army Czechoslovak Legions.svg){kind=small} Czechoslovak Army
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| Years of service | 1915 (Austria-Hungary) 1916 – 1950 (Czechoslovakia) |
| Rank |
 General of the Army
|
| Commands | I Corps |
| Battles/wars | |
| Awards |
 Military Order of the White Lion Cross of St. George Order of Suvorov Legion of Honour Legion of Merit Order of the Bath
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Ludvík Svoboda (25 November 1895 – 20 September 1979) was a Czechoslovak general and politician. He fought in both World Wars, for which he was regarded as a national hero, and he later served as President of Czechoslovakia from 1968 to 1975.
Svoboda was born in Hroznatín, Moravia. In 1915, he joined the Austro-Hungarian Army and was captured later that year on the Eastern Front. Following his release, he fought for the Czechoslovak Legion in Russia. He took part in the legendary battles of Zborov and Bakhmach and returned home through the famous "Siberian anabasis". He then worked at his father's estate before launching his military career in the Czechoslovak Army in 1921.
In the early 1930s Svoboda taught at a military academy. After the German occupation in spring 1939 he became a member of a secret underground organization Obrana Národa ("National Defence"). It is supposed that at the same time he established connection with Soviet intelligence. In June 1939 he fled to Poland, forming a Czechoslovak military unit in Kraków, before falling into Soviet captivity during the Soviet invasion of Poland. As he related it after the war, he escaped certain death after asking his captors to call a phone number in Moscow where they could obtain personal information about him; this worked. After the outbreak of the German offensive against the Soviet Union, Svoboda became head of the Czechoslovak military units on the Eastern Front. The Czechoslovak units fought the Germans for the first time in March 1943 at the Battle of Sokolovo in Ukraine. As a commander he also led troops of the 1st Czechoslovak Army Corps in the Battle of the Dukla Pass in the fall of 1944 when, after a very heavy fighting, this unit managed to cross the Czechoslovak state border for the first time. Svoboda's charismatic leadership and personal bravery was highly valued by his commanding officer at the time, Soviet marshal Ivan Konev. Trusted by Klement Gottwald's exile leadership and Soviet functionaries, he quickly climbed the military ranks, becoming army general in August 1945.
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