1948 Czechoslovak Coup
Anais Dethou & Quentin Pierre
BACKGROUND
President Edvard Benes
Political differences
Benes = Czech National Social Party
Gottwald = Communist Party of Czechoslovakia [KSC]
Two resistance groupsOne in London led by Benes One in Moscow led by Gottwald
WWII: Czechoslovakia occupied by Germany
Government in exile in London
President = Edvard Benes1943 = Friendship treaty with
USSR
The Communist wave
The Communist party wins 38% of the votes in the
parlimentary elections of 1946
Communism gains popularity
Help of the Red Army during WWII
Bennes gets reelected on the 10th of June 1946o He’s on friendly terms with
the communists Communists get key
ministrieso Gottwald becomes Prime
Ministero Ministry of interior
o Police control
o Ministry of informationo Propaganda
o …
The Communist fall
The communists lost popularity because of the way they dealt with economic issues
Because of the strong link with the USSR (friendship treaty of 1943) Benes was forced to refuse the Marshall aid
1947: refusal of the
Marshall aid
Economic difficulties
Rationing was lowered
Working class
affected
Popularity of 25% in 1948
SEQUENCE OF EVENTS
Klement Gottwald
September
1947
•Non-communist ministers vote against a communist bill
•10th: 3 of them received bombs
January 194
8
•Ministry of Interior (=communist) replaces 8 non-communist commanders of the police by communists
February 194
8
•20th: non-communist ministers’ resignation
•They wanted early elections to decrease the communist influence
The ministries’ resignation remained useless: Benes didn’t react early enough, nor did he call for early elections.
Right after this event, the communists reacted:o They used the police to control the areas they wantedo They began using mass propagandao (Thanks to the communist Ministry of Interior & of
Information)
SETTLEMENT
Benes feared a civil war and the intervention of the sovietso Some Russian troops were indeed stationing at
the Hungarian border since the end of WWII
On the 25th of February, Benes accepted the resignations, and the creation of a new government led by Gottwald & the communists
Then the communists began to consolidate their power: they fired and arrested non-communists
o 30th May 1948: absolute majority of the National Front, Communist and Social Democrats in the elections
o 2nd of June 1948: Benes resigned and died in Septembero Czechoslovakia became a communist country for more than
40 years
1948 Czechoslovak Coup in the Cold War context:
• Ideological gap between the two resistance groups in exile = ideological gap between the Eastern and the Western block
• Marshall Aid refused because of the Soviets
• Czechoslovakia became a Communist country : passed to the East of the Iron Curtain
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