Czechoslovakia –The coup in 1948 and the cold war

• Bismarck: ”He who governs Morovia, he governs Europe”.

• Czechoslovakia is situated in the center of our continent. Control of this country is important for any big power with great ambitions.

The Soviet ruler

• 1948 – Stalin ruled the Soviet empire.• In the Soviet Union all opposition forces had

been killed, in jail or in camps.

Czechoslovakia after the war• The republic was founded

in 1918 as a democratic republic.

• After the collapse of Germany in 1945, the country once again became a democracy.

• Edvard Benes returned from exile and regained his position as president.

• Jan Masaryk, the son of the founder of the republic, was appointed foreign minister.

But the communist party was strong...

• In 1946 after an election, the communist party came out as the strongest party in parliament.

• Leader of the party, Klement Gottwald, was appointed premier of the government.

Prague in February 1948 • Winter of 1948 the

communists began to loose popularity.

• Non-communists wanted to arrange new elections, and hoped to remove communists from government.

• Stalin told Czechoslovakia not to recieve Marshall aid from the United States.

The coup begins

• Beginning of February – the communist minister of interior replaces non-communist police officials with his own people.

• 17. of February – non-communists in the government resign as a protest.

• 19. of February – the communist party secretary Rudolf Slansky (l) gives order to mobilize all it’s forces (r).

The great demonstration• 21. of February – the

communists mobilize and arrange a big demonstration in the center of Prague.

• Party boss Gottwald makes a speech and condemns ”reactionary forces”, which meant non-communists in the government.

The communists take control

• Klement Gottwald announces a new government with people loyal to the communist party.

• The night of February 23., the communists occupy all central buildings in Prague with their own people.

• 25. of February – president Benes declares the new government as legal.

• The coup had succeeded.

Consequences of the coup• The cold war became

colder.• Czechoslovakia had been

democratic – and was now communistic.

• Western European countries were convinced that Stalin wanted to take over Europe.

• 1949 – NATO is founded.

The Prague coup and Norway• The coup in Prague made a big

impression also in Norway.• February 29. Einar Gerhardsen

makes his famous speech at Kråkerøy outside Fredrikstad.

• He said that the communist party of Norway, after the coup in Prague, was a threat to Norwegian security.

• Norway joined NATO in 1949, partly as a result of the communist take-over in Czechoslovakia.

1989 – Czechs and Slovaks are free

• Communist rule ended in Czechoslovakia in November-December 1989.

• Together with the fall of the Berlin wall, it marked the end of the cold war.

Sources

• ''Verdenshistorien etter 1945, menneskenes liv og historie, duellen uten ende'' by Erling Bjøl

• My father, Halvor Tjønn