Czechoslovakia Flashcards
how was Czechoslovakia unlike much of the rest of Eastern Europe?
Czechoslovakia was industrialised and had a large, unionised working class
why were Czech communists popular among the rural peasants?
they had given them land at the end of the war
who became prime minister of Czechoslovakia?
the Czech Communist Party leader, Klement Gottwald
what was Gottwald’s fatal error?
he showed willingness to accept Western economic aid in 1947
who was there growing opposition to communist leadership from?
non-communist groups
who resigned in 1948?
members of the non-communist groups who were in the government
what did the resignation of the non-communists help the communists to do?
present it as an attempt to create an alternative right-wing group
who agreed to support a communist-dominated government?
the highly respected President, Edvard Benes
what happened after Benes resigned in June 1948?
this left the pro-Moscow communists in complete control
Edvard Benes (1884-1948)
led the Czechoslovak government in exile in London during the war. He was not a communist but he was willing to work with Stalin, having decided that there was more to gain from such cooperation than an alliance with Poland. He returned as Czech president in 1946. He tried, and failed, to resist a communist-dominated government
