He then served on the Russian Eastern Front during World War I, and resumed his studies at the university from 1918 to 1921.

Dolanský joined the radical, Moscow- and Comintern-oriented group around Klement Gottwald, which later went down in history under the nickname karlínští kluci ("Karlín boys").

After the occupation of the Czech lands by Nazi Germany in 1939, Dolanský was arrested while trying to flee the country.

After being interned at Pankrác Prison in Prague, he was briefly held in Dresden before being sent to Sachsenhausen concentration camp.

[5] In December 1967 he was amongst the political leaders who were against the General Secretary of the Communist Party Antonín Novotný, and voted in favor of his removal.