Communist Party of Slovakia

A Marxist-Leninist party in the Slovak Socialist Republic. It was formed in May 1939, when the Slovak State was created, as the Slovak branches of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSČ) were separated from the mother party. When Czechoslovakia was again established as a unified state, the KSS was still a separate party for a while (1945–1948). On 29 September 1948, it was reunited with the KSČ and continued to exist as an "organizational territorial unit of the KSČ on the territory of Slovakia". Its main organ (and thus the main newspaper in Slovakia at the time) was Pravda.

After the merger KSS functioned as a regional affiliate of the KSČ, not as an independent political institution. Therefore, the organizational structure of the KSS mirrored that of the KSČ: the KSS Congress held session for several days every five years (and just before the KSČ's Congress), selecting its Central Committee members and candidate members, who in turn selected a Presidium, a Secretariat, and a First Secretary (i.e. party leader).

The most important first secretaries were Alexander Dubček (1963–1968) and Jozef Lenárt (1970–1988). Following the March 1986 party congress, the KSS Presidium consisted of 11 members; the Secretariat included, in addition to Lenárt, three secretaries and two members; and the Central Committee comprised 95 full members and 36 candidate members. The KSS in 1986 also had its own Central Control and Auditing Commission, four other commissions, twelve party departments, and one training facility.

KSS ceased to exist in 1990 (following the Velvet Revolution), when it was transformed into the independent social democratic party called the Party of Democratic Left (SDĽ). Most of that party, in turn, is now part of Direction – Social Democracy, which had separated from the SDĽ in 2000.

A new Communist Party of Slovakia was, however, founded in 1992 from a merger of the Communist Party of Slovakia – 91 and Communist League of Slovakia.

Collective leadership: Július Ďuriš, Ľudovít Benada, Ján Osoha (May 1939 – August 1941), Ján Osoha, Otto Krajňák, Vincent Škrabal (September 1941 – April 1942), Ján Osoha, Jozef Lietavec, Štefan Dubček (July – August 1942), Štefan Bašťovanský, Miloš Hrušovský ( August 1942 – May 1943), Karol Šmidke, Gustáv Husák, Ladislav Novomeský (July 1943 – September 1944),

Chairperson: Karol Šmidke (17 September 1944 – August 1945), Viliam Široký (August 1945 – September 1953), Štefan Bašťovanský (August 1945 – 1951),

First Secretary: Karol Bacílek (15 September 1953 – April 1963), Alexander Dubček (April 1963 – 23 January 1968), Vasil Biľak (23 January – 29 August 1968), Gustáv Husák (29 August 1968 – 4 May 1969), Štefan Sádovský (4 May 1969 – February 1970), Jozef Lenárt (February 1970 – 14 April 1988), Ignác Janák (14 April 1988 – 6 December 1989),

Chairman of the Executive Committee: Pavol Bolvanský (interim, 6 – 17 December 1989), Ján Široký (17 December 1989 – 21 January 1990), Peter Weiss (21 January 1990 – 22 November 1990)