Resource base of Communist Czechoslovakia
Encyclopedia
Minerals and Mining
Czechoslovakia had significant quantities of coalCoal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
and lignite
Lignite
Lignite, often referred to as brown coal, or Rosebud coal by Northern Pacific Railroad,is a soft brown fuel with characteristics that put it somewhere between coal and peat...
.
- Hard coal suitable for extraction was present in the OstravaOstravaOstrava is the third largest city in the Czech Republic and the second largest urban agglomeration after Prague. Located close to the Polish border, it is also the administrative center of the Moravian-Silesian Region and of the Municipality with Extended Competence. Ostrava was candidate for the...
coalfields and near KladnoKladnoKladno is a city in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It is located 25 km northwest of Prague. Kladno is the largest city of the region and holds a population together with its adjacent suburban areas of more than 110,000 people...
, Plzeň (Pilsen), KošiceKošiceKošice is a city in eastern Slovakia. It is situated on the river Hornád at the eastern reaches of the Slovak Ore Mountains, near the border with Hungary...
, and TrutnovTrutnovTrutnov is a city in the Hradec Králové Region of the Czech Republic. It has a population of 31,239 and lies in the Krkonoše in the valley of the Úpa River....
. - Brown coal and lignite deposits were located around ChomutovChomutovChomutov is a city in the Czech Republic, in the Ústí nad Labem Region.Chomutov has been a statutory town since 1 July 2006. It occupies an area of 29,26 km² and has 50 782 inhabitants , thereby making it the 20th largest town in the Czech Republic, the 4th largest in the Ústí nad Labem...
and MostMostMost is the capital city of the Most District, situated between the Czech Central Mountains and the Ore Mountains, approximately northwest of Prague along the Bílina River and southwest of Ústí nad Labem.-Etymology:...
, in the SokolovSokolov (Sokolov District)Sokolov , Falknov nad Ohří until 1948 is a town in the Karlovy Vary Region of the Czech Republic, located to the north-east of Cheb. It has about 28,000 inhabitants....
field near Karlovy VaryKarlovy VaryKarlovy Vary is a spa city situated in western Bohemia, Czech Republic, on the confluence of the rivers Ohře and Teplá, approximately west of Prague . It is named after King of Bohemia and Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV, who founded the city in 1370...
, at TepliceTepliceTeplice , Teplice-Šanov until 1948 is a town in the Czech Republic, the capital of the Teplice District in the Ústí nad Labem Region. It is the state's second largest spa town ....
, at České BudějoviceCeské BudejoviceČeské Budějovice is a city in the Czech Republic. It is the largest city in the South Bohemian Region and is the political and commercial capital of the region and centre of the Roman Catholic Diocese of České Budějovice and of the University of South Bohemia and the Academy of Sciences...
, and near Modrý KameňModrý KamenModrý Kameň is a town and municipality in the Veľký Krtíš District of the Banská Bystrica Region of southern Slovakia.- Geography :It is located in the Krupina Plain on the Krtíš and Riečka rivers...
and HandlováHandlováHandlová is a town in the Prievidza District, Trenčín Region in the middle of Slovakia. It is made up of the three parts Handlová, Nová Lehota and Morovno.-Geography:...
in SlovakiaSlovakiaThe Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south...
. Reserves of oilPetroleumPetroleum or crude oil is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights and other liquid organic compounds, that are found in geologic formations beneath the Earth's surface. Petroleum is recovered mostly through oil drilling...
and natural gasNatural gasNatural gas is a naturally occurring gas mixture consisting primarily of methane, typically with 0–20% higher hydrocarbons . It is found associated with other hydrocarbon fuel, in coal beds, as methane clathrates, and is an important fuel source and a major feedstock for fertilizers.Most natural...
were rather small (see Oil and gas deposits in the Czech RepublicOil and gas deposits in the Czech RepublicThe small oil and gas deposits in the Czech Republic are located mainly in south Moravia. Their exploration started in the early years of 20th century, first commercial oil extraction opened in 1919...
). - Iron ore was mined in the Slovenské rudohorie (Slovak Ore Mountains) and near PraguePraguePrague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
and Plzeň, but reserves have nearly been exhausted in the 1980s. - There were also deposits of copperCopperCopper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...
and manganeseManganeseManganese is a chemical element, designated by the symbol Mn. It has the atomic number 25. It is found as a free element in nature , and in many minerals...
ores in the Slovenské Rudohorie. - LeadLeadLead is a main-group element in the carbon group with the symbol Pb and atomic number 82. Lead is a soft, malleable poor metal. It is also counted as one of the heavy metals. Metallic lead has a bluish-white color after being freshly cut, but it soon tarnishes to a dull grayish color when exposed...
and zincZincZinc , or spelter , is a metallic chemical element; it has the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. It is the first element in group 12 of the periodic table. Zinc is, in some respects, chemically similar to magnesium, because its ion is of similar size and its only common oxidation state is +2...
ores were found at Kutná HoraKutná HoraKutná Hora is a city in Bohemia, now the Czech Republic in the Central Bohemian Region.-History:The town began in 1142 with the settlement of the first Cistercian Monastery in Bohemia, Kloster Sedlitz, brought from the Imperial immediate Cistercian Waldsassen Abbey...
and PříbramPríbramPříbram is a city in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic with a population of 35,147. The city is located on the Litavka river and the foothills of Brdy, 60 kilometers south-west of Prague, the country's capital...
in central Bohemia, but in insignificant quantities. - There were small amounts of mercuryMercury (element)Mercury is a chemical element with the symbol Hg and atomic number 80. It is also known as quicksilver or hydrargyrum...
, antimonyAntimonyAntimony is a toxic chemical element with the symbol Sb and an atomic number of 51. A lustrous grey metalloid, it is found in nature mainly as the sulfide mineral stibnite...
, and tinTinTin is a chemical element with the symbol Sn and atomic number 50. It is a main group metal in group 14 of the periodic table. Tin shows chemical similarity to both neighboring group 14 elements, germanium and lead and has two possible oxidation states, +2 and the slightly more stable +4...
in the Krušné Hory (Ore Mountains), which also contained substantial uraniumUraniumUranium is a silvery-white metallic chemical element in the actinide series of the periodic table, with atomic number 92. It is assigned the chemical symbol U. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons...
deposits (see Uranium mining in Czechoslovakia). - Additional mineral resources include saltSaltIn chemistry, salts are ionic compounds that result from the neutralization reaction of an acid and a base. They are composed of cations and anions so that the product is electrically neutral...
in SlovakiaSlovakiaThe Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south...
, graphiteGraphiteThe mineral graphite is one of the allotropes of carbon. It was named by Abraham Gottlob Werner in 1789 from the Ancient Greek γράφω , "to draw/write", for its use in pencils, where it is commonly called lead . Unlike diamond , graphite is an electrical conductor, a semimetal...
near České Budějovice, and kaolin near Plzeň and Karlovy Vary.
1970-1985
In the 1970s, coal production expanded. During these years, the growing need for energy was met primarily by imported oil and, from the mid-1970s, by natural gas; almost all imports of oil and gas came from the Soviet UnionSoviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
. Domestic crude oil sources and production were modest. Within Czechoslovakia itself, numerous small oil and gas fields had been discovered, but production was minor (about 100,000 tons of crude oil and 800 million cubic meters of natural gas in 1985). These supplied only a small fraction of the country's needs. Geological surveys largely ruled out the possibility of future discoveries of major oil or gas deposits, although one significant new source of natural gas was discovered in 1985 near Gbely
Gbely
Gbely is a town in the Skalica District, Trnava Region in western Slovakia, close to the Czech border.-History:The first written record about Gbely was in 1392. It gained town rights in the 16th–17th centuries...
in western Slovakia.
During the 1970s, the Soviet Union found it increasingly difficult and costly to meet the fuel and raw materials needs of Czechoslovakia and other East European countries. The unexploited Soviet resources tended to be located in Siberia, where extraction and transport were difficult and costly. One solution to the problem was Comecon
Comecon
The Council for Mutual Economic Assistance , 1949–1991, was an economic organisation under hegemony of Soviet Union comprising the countries of the Eastern Bloc along with a number of communist states elsewhere in the world...
's decision to adjust Soviet energy prices annually after 1974; as a result, Soviet prices approached—and eventually at times exceeded—world market prices. The adjustment improved the terms of trade of the Soviet Union at the expense of Czechoslovakia and its neighbors when world prices for many commodities, particularly crude oil, rose sharply in the middle and late 1970s. The higher prices in turn resulted in a larger return to the Soviet Union for its exports of fuels and raw materials and helped to finance expansion of Soviet production capacity. In addition, in the 1970s Comecon initiated several joint projects, such as the construction of a major natural gas pipeline from the Soviet Union to Eastern Europe and of large nuclear power plant
Nuclear power plant
A nuclear power plant is a thermal power station in which the heat source is one or more nuclear reactors. As in a conventional thermal power station the heat is used to generate steam which drives a steam turbine connected to a generator which produces electricity.Nuclear power plants are usually...
s in the Soviet Union. The participating countries, including Czechoslovakia, received payments in the form of natural gas and electricity. In the mid-1980s, Czechoslovakia also participated in construction of the Yamburg natural gas pipeline "Progress" in the Soviet Union.
From 1967 to 1984, Czechoslovakia benefited additionally from a special agreement with the Soviet Union—in effect a Czechoslovak credit from 1967—whereby Czechoslovakia received 5 million tons of Soviet crude oil a year at a late 1960s price, which was just a small fraction of the world market price. Thus while increased Soviet fuel and raw materials export prices imposed a severe burden on Czechoslovakia, the cost was substantially less than if the country had imported these materials from noncommunist countries. In 1980 a Czechoslovak official indicated that Czechoslovakia was paying about one-fourth the world price for its oil imports. By 1985, however, the situation had changed dramatically. In 1981 the Soviet Union had announced a 10-percent cutback in the crude oil it would deliver to Central European countries during the 1981-85 period. Subsequently—and for a variety of other reasons—world oil prices plummeted, but the Soviet price, based on the five-year formula, continued to rise.
Minerals
In the mid-1980s, Czechoslovakia's mineral resources were meager. The country was heavily dependent on imports of raw materials for use in industry. Deposits of ferrous metals were small and low grade. Imports, especially from the Soviet Union, supplied the dominant share of iron ore for the country's important iron and steel industry. MagnetiteMagnetite
Magnetite is a ferrimagnetic mineral with chemical formula Fe3O4, one of several iron oxides and a member of the spinel group. The chemical IUPAC name is iron oxide and the common chemical name is ferrous-ferric oxide. The formula for magnetite may also be written as FeO·Fe2O3, which is one part...
, a basic input for the steel industry, was more plentiful, making exports possible during the 1970s and 1980s. Deposits of nonferrous metals were limited or nonexistent. Imports supplied most of the country's needs for these metals. The country also produced limited amounts of gold and mercury. Imports supplied most of the country's needs for nonferrous metals. Czechoslovakia did supply most of its own requirements for nonmetallic minerals to support the manufacture of building materials, glass, and ceramics.
The bulk of the country's mining activity involved coal, the principal domestic energy source. In 1985 production of all coal amounted to 126.6 million tons, a 2.1% drop over 1984 that signaled the accelerating exhaustion of easily worked, high-grade reserves. In 1985 Czechoslovakia depended on coal for 60% of its energy consumption in contrast with 88% in 1960.
Energy conservation
In the mid-1980s, the country's leaders considered energy conservationEnergy conservation
Energy conservation refers to efforts made to reduce energy consumption. Energy conservation can be achieved through increased efficient energy use, in conjunction with decreased energy consumption and/or reduced consumption from conventional energy sources...
essential. Czechoslovakia's heavy reliance on fuel imports was costly, with imports supplying 95% of the country's needs. Conservation was also essential because although Soviet supplies of natural gas were expected to increase, the more important flow of crude oil was likely to stagnate. In the short run, extraction of domestic coal would help Czechoslovakia meet its growing energy needs, but the increase would be slow and costly because deeper deposits had to be mined in order to meet quotas. The fuel problem was especially acute because Czechoslovak industry had a high input of energy per unit of national income, a rate substantially higher than that of Western Europe and some of Central and East European countries (7.5 tons of standard fuel per inhabitant per year). Industrial consumption of largely imported raw materials and energy was acknowledged to be perhaps as much as 40% higher than in comparable advanced industrial countries. The Communist Party of Czechoslovakia
Communist Party of Czechoslovakia
The Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, in Czech and in Slovak: Komunistická strana Československa was a Communist and Marxist-Leninist political party in Czechoslovakia that existed between 1921 and 1992....
(KSČ) leadership accurately believed that considerable savings were possible.
Nuclear plants
Nevertheless, energy conservation alone would not suffice. Since the 1970s, economic planners had been pursuing an ambitious nuclear energy program. In the long run, in their judgment, nuclear powerNuclear power
Nuclear power is the use of sustained nuclear fission to generate heat and electricity. Nuclear power plants provide about 6% of the world's energy and 13–14% of the world's electricity, with the U.S., France, and Japan together accounting for about 50% of nuclear generated electricity...
was absolutely vital to the projected energy balance. In late 1978, the first major nuclear power plant (of Soviet design) began operation at Jaslovské Bohunice
Bohunice Nuclear Power Plants
The Bohunice Nuclear Power Plant is a complex of nuclear reactors situated 2.5 km from the village of Jaslovské Bohunice in the Trnava District in western Slovakia....
. In 1985 and 1986, portions of the Dukovany
Dukovany Nuclear Power Station
The Dukovany Nuclear Power Station is a nuclear power plant near Dukovany, a village in the Czech Republic.It was the first NPP in what is now the Czech Republic and is situated 30 km from the city of Třebíč, near Dalešice Dam, where the NPP sources its water supply...
station began test runs, and preliminary site work was underway for two more power stations, at Mochovce in western Slovakia and Temelín
Temelín Nuclear Power Station
Temelín Nuclear Power Station is located near Temelín, a small village in the Czech Republic. Temelín NPP is owned by ČEZ Group, which employs 1000 workers at this site. The adjacent castle Vysoký Hrádek serves as an information centre.-History:...
in southern Bohemia. Nuclear power's share of the total electricity supply increased to almost 20% in 1986. According to the long-range plan, with expansion of this power station plus construction of additional stations and the import of electricity from joint nuclear projects in the Soviet Union, nuclear power would provide 30% or more of total electricity by 1990. Plans called for nuclear power to account for over 53% of electricity by the year 2000. Although the 1986 Chernobyl accident in the Soviet Union did not alter the government's commitment to nuclear power, particularly since none of the existing or planned reactors used the kind of technology employed at Chernobyl, Czechoslovak leaders acknowledged the need for a thorough review of safety measures. Subsequently a number of special conferences were held concerning nuclear power issues. Czechoslovakia was well positioned to fuel its ambitious nuclear program; in the mid-1980s, the country was an important producer of uranium. The uranium reserves were located in the Krušné hory of Bohemia.
Hydroelectric plants
In the mid-1980s, Czechoslovakia had a substantial number of hydroelectric plants, located mainly on the VáhVáh
The Váh is the longest river in entire Slovakia. A left tributary of the Danube river, the Váh is 406 km long, including its Čierny Váh branch...
and Vltava rivers. Work was underway on a major hydroelectric power project on the Danube River at Gabčíkovo - Nagymaros
Gabcíkovo - Nagymaros Dams
The Gabčíkovo – Nagymaros Dams is a large barrage project on the Danube. It was initiated by the Budapest Treaty of 16 September 1977 between Czechoslovakia and Hungary...
, a controversial joint project with Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
to which environmentalists, especially in Hungary, had objected. The completed project was expected to supply about 4% of Czechoslovak energy requirements. In 1986 the government approved plans for construction of several additional power stations on the Labe and Váh Rivers by the end of the century. Czechoslovakia imported some electricity every year from Romania.
Land and Forest
In the 1980s, agricultural land constituted just under 55% of the country's total land area, and most of this land was suitable for tillage. The soil is relatively fertile in the lowlands but less productive in the mountainous regions. About one-third of the country's territory is forested. Czech forests had serious environmental problems, primarily as a result of "acid rain" pollution from coal-fired power stations. In the 1980s, the authorities acknowledged the seriousness of the problem, and the Eighth Five-Year Plan (1986-1990) allocated funding to combat the pollutionPollution
Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into a natural environment that causes instability, disorder, harm or discomfort to the ecosystem i.e. physical systems or living organisms. Pollution can take the form of chemical substances or energy, such as noise, heat or light...
.
Labor
In 1985 Czechoslovakia's total labor force amounted to about 7.6 million persons. Of these, 46.1% were women, giving Czechoslovakia one of the highest female labor rates in the world. Almost 88% of the population of working age (between 15 and 59 years of age for men and between 15 and 54 for women) was employed in 1985. About 37.4% of the work force was in industry, 13.7% in agriculture and forestry, 24.3% in other productive sectors, and 24.6% in the service sectors.During the first two decades following World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, redistribution of the work force, especially movement from agriculture to industry, had provided an influx of workers for the government's program emphasizing heavy industry. Women also had entered the work force in record numbers. But falling birthrates in the 1960s, noticeable first in the Czech lands
Czech lands
Czech lands is an auxiliary term used mainly to describe the combination of Bohemia, Moravia and Czech Silesia. Today, those three historic provinces compose the Czech Republic. The Czech lands had been settled by the Celts , then later by various Germanic tribes until the beginning of 7th...
but subsequently occurring in Slovakia
Slovakia
The Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south...
as well, gave reason for concern.
During the 1970s, the government introduced various measures to encourage workers to continue working after reaching retirement age, with modest success. In addition, the large number of women already participating in the work force precluded significant increases from this source.
By the mid-1980s, the labor supply was a serious problem for Czechoslovakia. During the Seventh Five-Year Plan (1981-85), the work force increased by less than 3%. Czechoslovakia's service sectors were less developed than those of the more industrialized countries of Western Europe, and the 1980s employment in services continued to expand faster than employment in the productive sectors. The expansion placed additional constraints on industrial enterprises seeking to fill positions. Some Western observers suggested that the labor shortage resulted in part from the tendency of many industrial enterprises to overstaff their operations.
Party and government officials set wage scales and work norms. As part of reform measures effective after 1980, incentive rewards represented a larger share of total pay than had previously been the case. Work norms also increased. Officials were clearly soliciting a greater effort from workers, in terms of both quantity and quality.
In the mid-1980s, most of the labor force was organized and was represented, at least in theory, by unions. The party controlled the unions, and a major task of the unions was to motivate workers to work harder and fulfill the plan goals. The unions served as vehicles for disseminating desired views among the workers. The principal activity of the trade unions was the administration of health insurance
Health insurance
Health insurance is insurance against the risk of incurring medical expenses among individuals. By estimating the overall risk of health care expenses among a targeted group, an insurer can develop a routine finance structure, such as a monthly premium or payroll tax, to ensure that money is...
, social welfare, and worker's recreation programs.