The coup d'état in Czechoslovakia
"La Tchécoslovaquie en crise" dans Die Welt (24 février 1948)
TextLe 24 février 1948, le quotidien allemand Die Welt s'inquiète de la nouvelle position dominante des communistes au sein du gouvernement tchécoslovaque et s'interroge sur l'avenir de la Tchécoslovaquie.
'President Benes has given in to the demands of Mr Gottwald' from Le Monde (26 February 1948)
TextOn 26 February 1948, the French daily newspaper Le Monde recounts the events which took place the previous day in Prague and which led to the resignation of President Edvard Benes following pressure from Klement Gottwald supported by the Soviet Union.
'The new Czechoslovak Government' from the Luxemburger Wort (26 February 1948)
TextOn 26 February 1948, the Luxembourg daily newspaper Luxemburger Wort recounts the events of the ‘Prague Coup’, which gave Czechoslovak Communists the majority in Klement Gottwald’s Government at the expense of the Democrats led by Jan Masaryk.
‘The lesson of Prague’ from Il nuovo Corriere della Sera (26 February 1948)
TextOn 26 February 1948, drawing lessons from the ‘Prague coup’ which placed the Czechoslovak communists at the head of Klement Gottwald’s government to the detriment of the democrats led by Jan Masaryk, the Italian daily newspaper Il nuovo Corriere della Sera deplores Moscow’s stranglehold on the country and recalls the recent efforts for democratisation and openness in Czechoslovakia.
‘“Clean-up”’ operations in Czechoslovakia' from the Luxemburger Wort (27 February 1948)
TextOn 27 February 1948, the Luxembourg daily newspaper Luxemburger Wort comments on the purges carried out in Czechoslovakia by the new Government led by Klement Gottwald with a view to stabilising the Communist power structure.
'The sound of silence' from the Süddeutsche Zeitung (28 February 1948)
TextOn 28 February 1948, the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung speculates on the consequences of the ‘Prague Coup’ which culminates in the establishment of a Communist Government in Czechoslovakia led by Klement Gottwald.
Georges Bidault, From one Resistance to another: extract on the Prague coup
TextIn his memoirs, Georges Bidault, former French Foreign Minister, is concerned at the consequences of the ‘Prague coup’, which led to the Czech Communists seizing power from the democrats led by Jan Masaryk, and emphasises the threat that the USSR represents for Western Europe.
Crisis in Czechoslovakia (February 1948)
ImageIn February 1948, crowds demonstrate in the streets of Prague against the ‘Prague Coup’, during which the Communists, led by Klement Gottwald, sidelined the other political parties in the democratically elected Parliament and became the dominant power.
Front page of the Daily Mail on the events in Czechoslovakia (11 March 1948)
TextOn 11 March 1948, the British daily newspaper Daily Mail leads with the consequences of the ‘Prague coup’, which led to the establishment of a Communist government in Czechoslovakia led by Klement Gottwald, and speculates on the death in suspicious circumstances of the Czech Foreign Minister, Jan Masaryk, the previous day.