Postwar Development of Czechoslovakia
The development of the Czechoslovakian society in the postwar years was an important historical break in its story. The relations in Europe changed when the European political field got two new great powers, the Soviet Union and the United States of America. They fought together to defeat Nazi Germany. After the victory, the interests of these two countries increasingly diverged until they divided into two antagonistic blocks. Czechoslovakia was attempting to become, "A bridge between East and West." It would be a country that would connect both blocks and would maintain good relations with both, whether in economical, political, or a cultural way (in fact its politics was primarily oriented with the Soviet Union). That didn't happen though and in the years from 1945-1948 Czechoslovakia was shifting more towards the Soviet Union.
The end of WWII meant great changes in the political, economic, and social sphere for Czechoslovakia. The most important change was in the population structure because the German inhabitants were displaced from the Czechoslovakian border area. This dramatically ended the co-existence of German-Czech relations, which had existed since the German colonization in the Middle Ages. The irreconcilable German attitude and longing for reward after the war arose was evident in the first part of the displacement when there were many cases of violence, inhumanity, and humiliation. The organized displacement started January 1, 1946 when the great powers gave their consent to it at the Potsdam Conference, which took place on August 2, 1945. In this way, Czechoslovakia lost more then 2.5 million German inhabitants[1], which also contributed to a huge economic problem in the border areas since the new inhabitants never filled such numbers. The population was lower in the border areas and people there were not that skilled in cultural, moral, and economic ways to fully replace the old population.
The Czechoslovakian government also tried to displace the Hungarian population living mainly in southern Slovakia. This displacement wasn't successful though, because it wasn't supported internationally.
Another consequence that was brought by the end of the war was the pursuit and punishment of those who were cooperating with the Nazi powers. In addition to the leaders of Nazi Germany who faced the Nuremberg Trials in 1945 also some Czechoslovakians were to be punished for their crimes. They were tried on the basis of retribution decree number 16. The members of the protectorate government were judged by the newly established National Court and these processes were a big political precedent and the judges' independence was affected. The collaborators who were not that high in society and other people who cooperated with the Nazi power were judged by the extraordinary people's court. In total 33,000 people were sentenced.
[1] Not only were Germans supposed to disappear, but also the names that people could remember them by. The circular of the Ministry of Internal Affairs from August 10, 1945, "The regeneration of the constitutional aspects and new legal position of Germans in Bohemian and Moravian territory requires the roaming of streets and public places. The Ministry of Internal Affairs requires (...) so that all names would be dispatched (...) reminding of the time of a lack of freedom, Nazism and its representatives, as well as any Germanization and German culture. The old names will therefore be replaced with new ones, better names." Old names that had nothing to do with Nazism were also dispatched. For example in Plzeň they renamed the Saxon bridge to Roosevelt‘s bridge or the "Empire outskirts" was renamed to Southern although these names were given during the era of monarchy and had nothing to do with Germany.