Communist Party Legacy:

    After World War II, the Soviet Union began its campaign of inflitrating the Eastern Block countries with its political, social
and economic ideologies.  Czechoslovakia was by far no exception.
    The government of President Edvard Benes returned toPrague in May 1945 after a seven year exile in London.  The begininning of Soviet control is apparent even this early on: his return and his new government had been constructed in Moscow a few months prior.  Upon arrival, the Communists (under party leader, Klement Gottwald) were given four crucial misterial positions.  Even though the Communists were in obvious control, this government was one of compromise and not pure seizure of power (as in Poland).
    The Communists successfully established themselves as a political party under the heading of both the Czechoslovak and
Slovak Communists.
 

Edvard Benes		Benes and Klement Gottwald

Competing Political Parties:

    In 1945, both Communist parties formed an alliance with
three other parties, called the National Front.  It was comprised
of the aforementioned Communists, the Catholic People's party,
the non-marxist National Socialists, and the Slovak Democrats.
All other parties besides the above were eliminated on grounds
of treason and/or collaboration.
 
 
 
 
 
 

Elections and Takeover:

    On May 26, 1946, the first and subsequent last free elections (of the postwar era) were held.  The Communists (both combined) won 38%; the Social Democrats won 13%; the National Socialists won 18%; the Czech populists won 16%; and the Slovak Democrats won 14%.  Benes remained President, Jan Masaryk was named Foreign Minister, and Gottwald became the Prime Minister.  The Communists effectively held the most important ministerial positions following this election: Agriculture, Internal Trade, Social Welfare, and Finance.  They also controlled the police force.  In essence, this put them into a position where they could dominate the political arena with absolute force, and subsequently take over the government.
    The beginnings of change to the Czech government came when Benes accepted an invitation to discuss the Marshall Plan (he wanted his country to be a sort of bridge between the East and the West) in the summer of 1947.  By January 1948, the Communists had already mobilized.  The Communist held Ministry of the Interior purged the Czech security forces.  In early February, the National Socialist Ministers demanded that the Communists stop using the ministry and police to their personal advantage--by February 20, they  all resigned.  Benes refused to accept their resignations at first, but by February 25, Gottwald provided a new list of ministers, conveniently all Communists, which signaled the end of governmental takeover.  On May 9, 1948 a new Constitution
was passed by the National Assembly, which Benes refused to sign.  He resigned and Gottwald quickly succeeded him as President.  The May 1948 elections put the final nail into the Czech governments coffin when there was only a single listing on the ballot--all Communists.
 

Nationalizations:

    Upon completion of the takeover of the Czechoslovak government, the
Communists began instilling nationalization programs.  All education, which had
been largely dominated by the secular sector, was handed over to the state.
Private landholdings were reduced to 50 hectares.  A succession of 5-year plans
were installed along with a rapid deveolpment of industry, especially that of
metallurgy,  that concerning heavy machinery, and coal mining.  It is estimated that
industrial growth between 1948 and 1957 reached 170%.  Output also increased by
233%.  However, Czechoslovak goods were considered of very poor quality, which
in effect reduced their hopes of trade.  In February 1949, The Unified Agriculture
Cooperatives Act was passed, which didn't force collectivization with words--the
quotas did that.  Productivity in the agricultural sector dropped because of the
migration of labor from agriculture to industry.