In December 1950, Guy Mollet, French Minister of State responsible for relations with the Council of Europe, publishes an article in the journal Notre Europe, in which he sets out his concerns as to the fate that the Soviet Union has in store for European countries behind the Iron Curtain.

‘Freedom.’ On 2 April 1948, the Luxembourg cartoonist Simon criticises Communist repression in the countries of Eastern Europe.

Map illustrating the growing influence of the Soviet Union in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe.

Le 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.

On 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.

In 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.

On 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.

On 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.

On 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.

On 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.