Governmental Crisis and the Communists Taking Over

The main change for the newly growing Eastern Bloc came in 1947.  In this year the relations among the Great Powers became more tense and Communists openly demonstrated their plans for domination.  However, one positive event was the adoption of the Marshall Plan in July 1947.  The U.S.A. decided to support European democracy and economics.  In June 1947 the Secretary of State, George C. Marshall, introduced the new plan for economic help to countries destroyed by war.  Czechoslovakia also wanted to participate because it could foresee the great and fast recovery of the economy, so it accepted the  invitation in Paris.  The Soviet Union refused to participate in this plan and that meant that the Czechoslovakian foreign policies were standing against the policies of the Soviet Union.  Participation in the Marshall Plan determined the country’s development for many years and influenced which side of the Cold War the country would join. On July 9 the Czechoslovakian delegation, composed of Klement Gottwald, Secretary of State Jan Masaryk, Minister of Defense Prokop Drtina, Secretary to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Arnošt Heidrich, Chief of Staff Reiman, and the Ambassador Borek left.  On the same day at 11pm they were accepted at Stalin's office.  This night ended with the Kremlin's ultimatum:  If Czechoslovakia doesn't call off its agreement with the Marshall Plan by July 10, at 4pm there will be serious consequences between the relations for both countries.  The final decision was decided by the Czechoslovakian government.  A special meeting was called early in the morning on July 10.  After a long procedure the Czechoslovakian government called off the invitation to Paris.  Jan Masaryk, the son of the first Czechoslovakian President, Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk, commented after returning from Moscow, "To Moscow I left as a Czechoslovakian Minister, but I came back as Stalin's plowboy."  Accepting Stalin's ultimatum acknowledged that Czechoslovakia came under the power of Moscow and it was just a matter of time until the last remains of democratic principles would be taken away and the country would fall under the control of the "Proletariat."  

 In the fight for power the Communist Party used the secret state police as its main support.  This secret state police was under the control of the Communist Party.  On February 17, 1948 the government crisis started in Czechoslovakia.  The big meeting of government started in the morning.  The main point of the program was a report from the Minister of Justice.  This report was connected with government's resolution that was given out on February 13 and which gave commands to the Communist Minister of Internal Affairs to stop the personnel changes in state police.  It was connected with eight non-Communist officers who were supposed to be transferred to other positions.  This government resolution was not fulfilled and so the ministers of three non-Communist parties, National Social Party, People's Party, and the Democratic Party decided to resign.  They were relying on the fact that they would be supported by another party, the Social Democrats and also by the President, who could refuse their resignation or rename a new government. However, the Communists used other instruments, the whole party "mobilized" and started to strongly influence the public.  So one part of the population was threatened and the other part was supporting its politics.  The whole crisis then started to snowball, after one week everything was settled.  The Communist party became the leading political power in Czechoslovakia. 

During this big week in February 1948 a new powerful organizations were established; they were called the Action Committees of the National Front.  Their members were mainly Communist and they were destroying the positions of their political rivals.  The People's Militia was established by factory workers and controlled by the Communist Party: these were armed units, which usually do not have a place in democratic systems.  These units were right under the direct command of the Communist Party and its main commander was the General Secretary of the Czechoslovak Communist Party.  Their ammunitions were stored right in the industrial organizations.  The one-hour general strike to support Gottwald happened on February 24.  The Prime Minister Gottwald, with his cabinet, refused to resign.  Two Social Democrats and two independent ministers named Jan Masaryk[1] and Ludvík Svoboda[2] stayed.  Gottwald offered to President Beneš that he would fill the missing positions in his cabinet with members of other parties whose ministers resigned recently.  President Beneš did not have a clue though, that the Communist had their fellows in these parties as well.  Three parties on the left were relying on the final word of the President to solve this government crisis.  However, President Benes gave in to the suggestion of Gottwald.  Right after the Presidential signature, Klement Gottwald came to Wenceslas Square where he presented on a stage to thousands of supporters and said, "I am just coming back from the castle, from the President of the state.  This morning I gave him the suggestions to accept the resignations of several ministers who resigned February 20 and at the same time I also recommended to him a list of people who should replace them and help reconstruct the government.  I can tell you that the President accepted all of my suggestions exactly the way they were put to him."  During this February revolution the Communist Party opened its way to the full control of the state[3].  

The chasing and locking up of political protestors started.  Many of the soldiers who fought in the West during World War II, politicians, priests, nuns, businessmen, but also farmers and workers were disappearing behind the gates of prisons and working camps beginning in February 1948.  With internment they were also punishing people without due process.  Many thousands of men and women were forced to work in forced labor camps for years without charging them with a crime.  To get into the forced labor camp one didn't have to do any criminal act, suspicion was reason enough to send one preventively into the forced labor camp.  Some of the reasons people were put into the camps include, "...having contacts abroad, his sister is Austrian, doesn't have a positive attitude toward the regime, listening to the foreign radio, didn't agree to nationalization, was spreading false messages, owned a luxurious residence, in touch with stockholders, he is a gambler, he is avoiding work, wife was against nationalization, ..."Any one could be sent to the forced labor camps between 18 and 60 years of age for a time of 3 months up to 2 years.  Many Communists in power used this as retaliation against their political enemies. 

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