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121-564: After the fall of Nazi Germany, the country was reformed and reassigned coterminous borders as its pre-war predecessor state, First Czechoslovak Republic ; it likewise restored the predecessor's international recognition. Due to the rise of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSČ), Czechoslovakia fell within the Soviet sphere of influence , and this circumstance dominated any plans or strategies for post-war reconstruction. Consequently,

242-671: A volte-face in foreign policy. A sign of the new foreign policy came with the order that the staff of the legation in London should remove all the portraits of President Beneš and President Masaryk from the walls. After the Munich conference, Masaryk met with Chamberlain and Halifax at 10 Downing Street where he stated: "If you have sacrificed my nation for the sake of peace, I will be the first to applaud you. But if not gentlemen, then God help your souls." On 1 October 1938, Churchill telephoned Masaryk to tell him that Beneš should delay handing over

363-524: A workers' militia . The communist-controlled Ministry of Information refused broadcasting time to noncommunist officials. Ministries held by noncommunist parties were secured by communist "action committees." The action committees also purged all governmental and political party organs of unreliable elements. Gottwald threatened to call a general strike unless Beneš appointed a new, Communist-dominated government. On 26 February, Beneš, perhaps fearing civil war and/or Soviet intervention, capitulated. He accepted

484-599: A "chivalrous and warlike aristocracy"—should have its borders truncated and that Magyars should be placed under the rule of the peoples of Romania, Czechoslovakia, and Yugoslavia, whom Rothermere described as "cruder and more barbaric races". Through primarily concerned about what he called "justice for Hungary", Rothermere also argued that the Sudetenland should go to Germany. Rothermere's leader caused much worry in Prague and Beneš rushed to London to inquire if Rothermere

605-657: A British audience. Powell wrote: "An understanding of human psychology was not one of the President's outstanding achievements, nor was his knowledge of languages. Masaryk made up for these deficiencies". Beneš's main interest as president of a government-in-exile to have the British agree to abrogate the Munich Agreement and accept that after the war the Sudetenland was to become part of Czechoslovakia again,

726-575: A caretaker government, which would presumably force Gottwald to either back down or resign. Beneš initially refused to accept the resignations and declared that no government could be formed without non-Communist ministers. However, in the days that followed, he shunned the non-Communist ministers to avoid accusation of collusion. The Czechoslovak Army remained neutral. In the meantime, the KSČ garnered its forces. The communist-controlled Ministry of Interior deployed police regiments to sensitive areas and equipped

847-504: A dispatch to Prague, Masaryk wrote: "Is there any decency left in the world? A great scandal will erupt one day when the role upon which Steffi von Hohenlohe, née Richter, played during the visit of Wiedemann is revealed. This world-famous secret agent, spy, and swindler, who is a full Jewess, constitutes today the centre of Hitler's propaganda in London. Wiedemann stayed at her place. She keeps Hitler's photograph on her desk, inscribed "To my dear Princess Hohenlohe-Adolf Hitler", and next to it

968-506: A few aristocratic landowners—mostly Germans (or Germanized Czechs – e.g. Kinsky , Czernin or Kaunitz ) and Hungarians —and the Roman Catholic Church. Half of all holdings were under 20,000 m . The Land Control Act of April 1919 called for the expropriation of all estates exceeding 1.5 square kilometres of arable land or 2.5 square kilometres of land in general (5 square kilometres to be the absolute maximum). Land reform

1089-609: A flat at Westminster Gardens, Marsham Street in London but often stayed at the Czechoslovak Chancellery residence at Wingrave or with President Beneš at Aston Abbotts , both near Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire . With the launch of Operation Barbarossa on 22 June 1941, Beneš had an unlimited faith in the potential of the Soviet Union, believing that Germany would be defeated by the spring of 1942 at

1210-695: A formal name change) under the Ninth-of-May Constitution following the 1948 coup . ČSSR; from 1969, after the Prague Spring , consisted of the Czech Socialist Republic (ČSR) and Slovak Socialist Republic (SSR). Oblast of the Ukrainian SSR . Oblast of Ukraine . Jan Masaryk Jan Garrigue Masaryk (14 September 1886 – 10 March 1948) was a Czech diplomat and politician who served as

1331-422: A former in-law named Sylvia E. Crane, and his sister Alice Masaryková — stated their belief that he had indeed killed himself, according to a letter written by Sylvia E. Crane to The New York Times , and considered the possibility of murder a "cold war cliché". However, a Prague police report in 2004 concluded after forensic research that Masaryk had indeed been thrown out of the window to his death. This report

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1452-555: A mass membership, including peasants and the petite bourgeoisie , as well as the proletariat. Between May 1945 and May 1946, KSČ membership grew from 27,000 to over 1.1 million. In the May 1946 election , the KSČ won in the Czech part of the country (40.17%), while the anti-Communist Democratic Party won in Slovakia (62%). In sum, however, the KSČ won a plurality of 38 percent of the vote at

1573-472: A murder and a third investigation in the early 1990s after the Velvet Revolution concluded that it had been a murder. In his 1981 autobiography History and Memory , US Ambassador Charles W. Yost , a friend of Masaryk who worked with him in Prague in 1947, and also a friend of Masaryk's fiancée Marcia Davenport, wrote, "The Communists used him and, when his usefulness was past, flung him out of

1694-405: A pariah, it cannot be excluded that Russia and Germany could again get together." After his speech, Masaryk had an informal question and answer session with the assembled MPs. The two MPs that Masaryk spoke to the most were Sir Austen Chamberlain and Winston Churchill . Churchill warned Masaryk that British public opinion was turning against Czechoslovakia because of the Sudetenland issue, which

1815-491: A photograph of Horthy, dedicated to the 'great stateswoman'." Starting in 1935, the Sudeten German leader Konrad Henlein had visited London four times between 1935-1938 to give speeches criticising Czechoslovakia. Masaryk realized belatedly that Czechoslovakia was losing the propaganda war as the British media became enamoured of Henlein. In late December 1936 Masaryk gave an address to a group of British MPs to make

1936-550: A population of over 13.5 million. It had inherited 70 to 80% of all the industry of the Austro-Hungarian Empire , including the porcelain and glass industries and the sugar refineries; more than 40% of all its distilleries and breweries; the Škoda Works of Plzeň , which produced armaments, locomotives , automobiles, and machinery ; and the chemical industry of northern Bohemia . Seventeen percent of all Hungarian industry that had developed in Slovakia during

2057-539: A problem in Europe. By 1938, Masaryk was reporting: "The English dislike us intensely. We are a deadweight for them and they curse the day on which we were founded." During the Sudetenland crisis in the summer and fall of 1938, Masaryk traveled between London and Prague to meet with Beneš. To resolve the Sudetenland crisis, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain visited Germany to meet Adolf Hitler in his vacation home near Berchtesgaden on 15 September 1938. At

2178-693: A radio station in New York, where in a radio address to the American people given in English, he stated: "Can I hope that this last blow to my homeland should dispel all doubts as to the future policy of the masters of central Europe? The rape of Bohemia in all its vulgarity is more than I can describe. Forgive me-". At that point, Masaryk broke down in tears. Upon regaining his composure, Masaryk stated: "I do not envy those who are perpetuating this horrible drama, either by vandal force or by turning their faces to

2299-700: A result, the Czechs had to be posted to the more backward Slovakia to take up the administrative and professional posts. The position of the Jewish community, especially in Slovakia, was ambiguous and, increasingly, a significant part looked towards Zionism . Furthermore, most of Czechoslovakia's industry was as well located in Bohemia and Moravia and there mainly in the German speaking Borderlands, while most of Slovakia's economy came from agriculture. In Carpatho-Ukraine,

2420-466: A war aim that the British were initially opposed to as the British position until August 1942 was that the Munich Agreement was still in effect. In a letter to Eden, who was again serving as Foreign Secretary, on 25 August 1941, Masaryk expressed much concern that the Atlantic Charter would mean that the Sudetenland would remain a part of Germany. Masaryk argued to Eden that Czechoslovakia and

2541-534: A window to his death." Discussions about the mysterious circumstances of his death continued for some time. Those who believe that Masaryk was murdered called it the Third (or Fourth) Defenestration of Prague , and point to the presence of nail marks on the window sill from which Masaryk fell, as well as smearings of feces and Masaryk's stated intention to leave Prague the next day for London. Members of Masaryk's family—including his former wife, Frances Crane Leatherbee,

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2662-494: Is known to have followed Masaryk to post-war Prague and lived with him there from 1945 to 1948. Following the Communist coup she returned to London , where she and Masaryk planned to be married as soon as he could join her, but only a few days later he was found dead. Masaryk was a skilled amateur pianist. In that capacity, he accompanied Jarmila Novotná in a recital of Czech folk songs issued on 78 RPM records to commemorate

2783-604: Is more friendly to us and we shall support Gottwald". Masaryk remained Foreign Minister, and was the only prominent minister in the new government who was neither a Communist nor a fellow traveller . Masaryk served as the President of the World Federation of United Nations Associations . A memorial to his memory and his presidency of the Organisation is located in Geneva, Switzerland. On 10 March 1948 Masaryk

2904-627: Is still regarded as the symbol of Czechoslovak democracy for the Czechs and Slovaks today. The Constitution of 1920 approved the provisional constitution of 1918 in its basic features. The Czechoslovak state was conceived as a parliamentary democracy , guided primarily by the National Assembly , consisting of the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies , whose members were to be elected on the basis of universal suffrage . The National Assembly

3025-523: The 1948 coup . ČSSR; from 1969, after the Prague Spring , consisted of the Czech Socialist Republic (ČSR) and Slovak Socialist Republic (SSR). Oblast of the Ukrainian SSR . Oblast of Ukraine . 50°05′00″N 14°28′00″E  /  50.0833°N 14.4667°E  / 50.0833; 14.4667 First Czechoslovak Republic The First Czechoslovak Republic ( Czech : První československá republika ; Slovak : Prvá československá republika ), often colloquially referred to as

3146-534: The Carpathian Ruthenia territory as a sort of war reparation , and a treaty was signed on 29 June 1945 annexing it to the Ukrainian SSR of the Soviet Union . Industries, employing 61.2 percent of the industrial labour force, were nationalised. 14 October 1945 saw a new provisional national assembly voted in. Beneš had compromised with the KSČ to avoid a postwar coup; he naïvely hoped that

3267-521: The Czech coup ("Victorious February" in the Eastern Bloc). Masaryk met the visiting Soviet deputy foreign minister, Zorin , who told him that he hoped that he would become a member of the "new government", which confused Masaryk as the current government had not fallen. Zorin told him that "Gottwald is our only guarantee. The government must be cleaned up. We are determined to build a new one, which

3388-570: The First Republic ( Czech : První republika ; Slovak : Prvá republika ), was the first Czechoslovak state that existed from 1918 to 1938, a union of ethnic Czechs and Slovaks . The country was commonly called Czechoslovakia ( Czech and Slovak : Československo ), a compound of Czech and Slovak ; which gradually became the most widely used name for its successor states. It was composed of former territories of Austria-Hungary , inheriting different systems of administration from

3509-543: The Foreign Minister of Czechoslovakia from 1940 to 1948. American journalist John Gunther described Masaryk as "a brave, honest, turbulent, and impulsive man". Born in Prague , he was the son of professor and politician Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk (who became the first president of Czechoslovakia in 1918) and Charlotte Garrigue , Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk's American wife. Masaryk was educated in Prague and also in

3630-737: The Little Entente (an alliance with Yugoslavia and Romania ) in 1921 to counter Hungarian revanchism and Habsburg restoration. He concluded a separate alliance with France . Beneš's Western policy received a serious blow as early as 1925. The Locarno Pact , which paved the way for Germany 's admission to the League of Nations , guaranteed Germany 's western border but provided no such promise for its eastern frontier, which meant that it would remain subject to negotiation. When Adolf Hitler came to power in 1933, fear of German aggression became widespread in eastern Central Europe. Beneš ignored

3751-695: The Marshall Plan . The Soviet Union responded immediately to the Czechoslovak move to continue the Western alliance: Stalin summoned Gottwald to Moscow . Upon his return to Prague, the KSČ reversed its decision. In subsequent months, the party demonstrated a significant radicalisation of its tactics. The KSČ argued that a reactionary coup was imminent, and that immediate action was necessary to prevent it. Through media and police means, they intensified their activity. Originally announced by Gottwald at

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3872-521: The Sudeten German vote. As a consequence, diplomatic relations between the Germans and the Czechs deteriorated further. ČSR; boundaries and government established by the 1920 constitution . Annexed by Nazi Germany . ČSR; included the autonomous regions of Slovakia and Subcarpathian Ruthenia. Annexed by Hungary (1939–1945). ČSR; declared a "people's democracy" (without

3993-557: The Sudeten German Party led by Konrad Henlein and the Hlinka's Slovak People's Party led by Andrej Hlinka . The German minority living in the Sudetenland demanded autonomy from the Czechoslovak government, claiming they were suppressed and repressed. In the 1935 Parliamentary elections, the newly founded Sudeten German Party, led by Konrad Henlein and mostly financed by Nazi German money, received over two-thirds of

4114-562: The Sudetenland . Their incorporation into Nazi Germany would leave the rest of Czechoslovakia powerless to resist subsequent occupation. To a large extent, Czechoslovak democracy was held together by the country's first president, Tomáš Masaryk . As the principal founding father of the republic, Masaryk was regarded similar to the way George Washington is regarded in the United States . Such universal respect enabled Masaryk to overcome seemingly irresolvable political problems. Masaryk

4235-662: The United States , where he lived for a time as a drifter and for a time as a steelworker. Because of his youth in the United States, Masaryk always spoke both Czech and English with a strong American accent. He returned home in 1913 and served in the Austro-Hungarian Army during the First World War . Masaryk served in Galicia and learned Polish during his wartime career. The fact that his father

4356-707: The University Players , a summer stock company in Falmouth, Massachusetts , in 1928 with Bretaigne Windust . He married Mary Lee Logan (1910-1972), younger sister of Joshua Logan , who became one of the co-directors of the University Players in 1931. In 1945 the exile Masaryk became close to the American writer Marcia Davenport , whom he felt had a strong affinity to Czechs and to the city of Prague, depicted in several of her books. Davenport had in 1944 divorced her husband Russell Davenport and

4477-467: The " Pětka " ( pron. pyetka ) (The Five). The Pětka was headed by Antonín Švehla , who held the office of prime minister for most of the 1920s and designed a pattern of coalition politics that survived until 1938. The coalition's policy was expressed in the slogan "We have agreed that we will agree." German parties also participated in the government in the beginning of 1926. Hungarian parties, influenced by irredentist propaganda from Hungary, never joined

4598-469: The Anglo-French plan for ceding the Sudetenland to Germany, telling Chamberlain that the Sudetenland needed to be annexed to Germany before 1 October 1938 rather than after October 1 as the Anglo-French plan called for. The Bad Godesberg summit pushed Europe to the brink of war. On 25 September 1938, Masaryk arrived at 10 Downing Street to tell Chamberlain that through Beneš had accepted the results of

4719-597: The Berchtesgaden summit, he rejected the German timetable for handing over the Sudetenland put forward at the Bad Godesberg summit. Much to Masaryk's annoyance, both Chamberlain and the Foreign Secretary, Lord Halifax , seemed more angry at Beneš for not withdrawing Czechoslovak troops from the border forts in the Sudetenland rather than at Hitler, leading Masaryk in a dispatch to Beneš recounting

4840-638: The Berchtesgaden summit, it was agreed that the Sudetenland would "go home to the Reich " as Hitler had been demanding ever since the Nazi Party Congress at Nuremberg ( Reichsparteitag ) on 12 September 1938. In an attempt to sway British public opinion against the policy of the Chamberlain government, Masaryk, together with the Soviet ambassador Ivan Maisky , was in contact with Clement Attlee ,

4961-431: The British now regarded Czecho-Slovakia (as the country had been renamed) as a German satellite state. In the letter announcing his resignation as minister on 30 December 1938, Masaryk wrote of the "prophylactic measures towards establishing permanent peace in Europe" where "my country was subjected to surgical appeasement with unprecedented vigor and not the slightest trace of anesthetic." Masaryk then left Britain to visit

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5082-562: The Communists. This act marked the onset of out-and-out Communist rule in Czechoslovakia. ČSR; boundaries and government established by the 1920 constitution . Annexed by Nazi Germany . ČSR; included the autonomous regions of Slovakia and Subcarpathian Ruthenia. Annexed by Hungary (1939–1945). ČSR; declared a "people's democracy" (without a formal name change) under the Ninth-of-May Constitution following

5203-480: The Czech secret police StB in the 1950s (in an unrelated case); but later denied it. Jandečková argues that this confession cannot be so easily dismissed as has been believed, especially since Bydžovský certainly was not hallucinating or drugged, and the interrogators seem to have been surprised by his confession (at his trial, the Masaryk murder was not "used" or even mentioned, although a separate re-investigation by

5324-413: The Czechoslovak government but were not openly hostile: Edvard Beneš , Czechoslovak foreign minister from 1918 to 1935, created the system of alliances that determined the republic's international stance until 1938. A democratic statesman of Western orientation, Beneš relied heavily on the League of Nations as guarantor of the post war status quo and the security of newly formed states. He negotiated

5445-432: The Czechoslovak level. Beneš continued as president of the republic, and Jan Masaryk , son of the revered founding father, continued as foreign minister. Gottwald became prime minister. Most important, although the communists held only a minority of portfolios, they were able to gain control over such key ministries as information, internal trade, finance and interior (including the police apparatus). Through these ministries,

5566-604: The February coup. Backed by all non-communist parties, the National Social ministers said that the communists were using the Ministry of Interior's police and security forces to suppress non-communists, and demanded a halt to this. Prime Minister Gottwald, however, repeatedly forestalled discussion of the police issue. On 21 February, National Socialists resigned from the cabinet in protest. The Catholic People's Party and

5687-691: The Foreign Office were openly hostile towards Czechoslovakia and considered the nation a mistake that should never have been allowed to happen. On 21 June 1927, under the influence of his Hungarian mistress, Princess Stephanie von Hohenlohe , the British press baron Lord Rothermere published a leader (editorial) in The Daily Mail newspaper calling for Hungary to regain lands lost under the Treaty of Trianon . Rothermere deemed it unjust that Hungary—a nation dominated by what he admiringly called

5808-751: The German government "would be able to use against us". In May 1937, the Foreign Secretary, Anthony Eden , introduced Masaryk to the newly crowned king, George VI . Eden told the king that "the political and economic situation in Czechoslovakia, Sir, is good and firm." At the same audience, Ribbentrop greeted the king by giving him the Nazi salute, to which the king responded to with a bemused smile. The interaction between Ribbentrop and George left Masaryk uncertain to regard this as either silly or sinister. Masaryk reported to Prague that it would be unwise to place too much trust in Britain, which regarded Czechoslovakia as

5929-474: The Jews of members of the postwar government, he was given the task of "appeasing Jewish organisations in the west" in terms of the government's plans to expel the country's German population , including German-speaking Jews. In February 1948 the majority of the non-communist cabinet members resigned, hoping to force new elections, but instead a communist government under Gottwald was formed in what became known as

6050-700: The KSČ Central Committee meeting in November 1947, news of the "reactionary plot" was disseminated throughout the country by the communist press. From June of that year, and especially after the outbreak of the 1947–1948 civil war in Mandatory Palestine in November, Czechoslovakia began to sell arms to the Palestinian Jewish Haganah defense force. It was the only foreign state to do so. This policy, continued after

6171-549: The Munich Agreement, he did not believe that this was very likely. Unknown to both Churchill and Masaryk, their phones had been tapped by MI5, and the conversation recording Churchill's attempt to sabotage the Munich Agreement was passed on to Chamberlain, who was not impressed. In October 1938, the Sudetenland was occupied by Germany and Masaryk resigned as ambassador in protest, although he remained in London. Other government members including Beneš also resigned. In his last dispatch to Prague on 5 December 1938, Masaryk reported that

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6292-625: The Protectorate of Bohemia-Moravia, but that did not stop people from tuning in to the BBC every Wednesday night to hear him speak on a radio program entitled Volá Londýn ( London Calling ). On 8 September 1939, Masaryk gave his first radio broadcast on the Volá Londýn show, where he called for "a free Czechoslovakia in a free Europe". During the war, the Volá Londýn radio show was the most popular radio program in Czechoslovakia and Masaryk

6413-670: The Republican Party of Farmers and Peasants (RSZML), were prevented from resuming activities in the postwar period. Certain acceptable nonsocialist parties were included in the coalition; among them were the Catholic People's Party (in Moravia) and the Slovak Democratic Party. The government moved back to Prague after its liberation on 10 May. Beneš was pressured by the Soviet Union to grant them

6534-671: The Slovak Democratic Party followed suit. The twelve noncommunist ministers resigned, in part, to induce Beneš to call for early elections. Communist losses were anticipated owing to popular disapproval of recent KSČ tactics. A January poll indicated a 10-percent decline in Communist electoral support. Yet the Czechoslovak National Socialists made their move without adequate coordination with Beneš. The democratic parties, in addition, made no effort to rally popular support. The non-Communists believed that Beneš would refuse to accept their resignations and keep them in

6655-420: The Soviet Union, but that Czechoslovakia would retain its independence and democracy. Masaryk remained Foreign Minister following the liberation of Czechoslovakia as part of the multi-party, communist-dominated National Front government. The Communists under Klement Gottwald saw their position strengthened after the 1946 elections but Masaryk stayed on as Foreign Minister. He was concerned with retaining

6776-663: The Soviet armies of liberation benefited the KSČ. Czechs, bitterly disappointed by the West at the Munich Agreement , responded favourably to both the KSČ and the Soviet alliance. Communists secured strong representation in the popularly elected national committees, the new organs of local administration. The KSČ organised and centralised the trades union movement; of 120 representatives to the Central Council of Trades Unions, 94 were communists. The party worked to acquire

6897-418: The StB continued for more than a year). A new investigation that opened in 2019 included a new expert opinion regarding the mechanics of the fall, and an old tape by the policeman who was among the first at the crime scene, testifying the body had been already moved when he arrived. The investigation closed in 2021, with murder, accident or suicide all possible. From 1924 until their divorce in 1931, Masaryk

7018-465: The Sudetenland issue. In a 1943 speech on the Volá Londýn radio show to celebrate the Jewish new year, Masaryk urged people in the Protectorate of Bohemia-Moravia to assist the Jewish community, saying it was incumbent to extend a helping hand to the "most wretched of the wretched" as he called the Jews of the protectorate, saying that he wanted ordinary Czechs to be able say after the war that "we remained decent people". A supporter of Zionism, Masaryk

7139-468: The United States, where he gave speeches criticizing appeasement. In a speech in January 1939, he argued that the Munich Agreement would have been justified if it brought about "permanent peace" in Europe, but he argued that it was very unlikely to do so. On 15 March 1939, Germany occupied the remaining parts of the Czech provinces of Bohemia and Moravia , and a puppet Slovak state was established in Slovakia . The next day, 16 March 1939, Masaryk went on

7260-566: The ball, as the German embassy lacked people able to translate the various replies. During the Abdication crisis , Masaryk was hostile to the new king Edward VIII , whom he described as a Nazi sympathizer, writing in a dispatch to Prague that the king "felt closer to fascism and Nazism than democracy, which he found slow and boring." Masaryk was equally hostile towards the king's mistress, Mrs. Wallis Simpson , whom he reported has stated she felt at home in Vienna and Budapest while loathing Prague. When Edward abdicated to marry Mrs. Simpson, Masaryk

7381-472: The border forts in the Sudetenland for the next 48 hours, as he was convinced that "a great reaction against the betrayal committed on us" would occur within the 48 hours that would topple the Chamberlain government and presumably install Churchill as prime minister. Masaryk did not believe this, and advised Beneš to disregard Churchill's advice, warning that Churchill was reckless and that however he much he hoped that Chamberlain's government might fall because of

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7502-451: The case for Czechoslovakia. Much of the address concerned defending the decision on part of Beneš to sign an alliance with the Soviet Union in 1935, which was unpopular in Britain. Masaryk argued that the alliance was necessary as it brought the Soviet Union around to defending the international order created by the Treaty of Versailles instead of trying to undermine it as had previously been the case. Masaryk concluded: "If we treat Russia as

7623-406: The cause of an European Risorgimento , a breakaway from isms of every kind. A Free Germany in a Free Europe; and besides her the Czechoslovakia of St. Wenceslas , Hus , Comenius , Palacký , Smetana , Masaryk and Čapek ...A Free Czechoslovakia in a Free Europe". When a Czechoslovak government-in-exile was established in Britain in July 1940, Masaryk was appointed Foreign Minister . He had

7744-449: The communists were able to suppress noncommunist opposition, place party members in positions of power, and create a solid basis for a takeover attempt. The year that followed was uneventful. The KSČ continued to proclaim its national and democratic orientation. The turning point came in the summer of 1947. In July, the Czechoslovak government, with KSČ approval, accepted an Anglo - French invitation to attend preliminary discussions of

7865-489: The declaration of the State of Israel the following year, would play an important role in the victory of the Jewish state in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War . In January 1948, the communist-controlled Ministry of Interior proceeded to purge the Czechoslovak security forces, substituting noncommunists with communists. Simultaneously, the KSČ began agitating for increased nationalisation and for a new land reform limiting landholdings to fifty hectares . A cabinet crisis precipitated

7986-449: The democratic process would restore a more equitable distribution of power. Beneš had negotiated the Soviet alliance, but at the same time he hoped to establish Czechoslovakia as a "bridge" between East and West, capable of maintaining contacts with both sides. The KSČ leader Klement Gottwald , however, professed commitment to a "gradualist" approach, that is, to a KSČ assumption of power by democratic means. The popular enthusiasm evoked by

8107-423: The end of the Third Republic. The Third Republic came into being in April 1945 with the creation of the Košice Programme . All of the remaining German armed forces also surrendered to the Allies on 8 May 1945. President Beneš flew from his exile in London to Košice in eastern Slovakia , which had been taken by the Red Army and which became the temporary capital . In Košice the new National Front government

8228-498: The establishment of Czechoslovakia towards the world, because otherwise the statistical majority of the Czechs as compared to Germans would have been rather weak, and there were more Germans in the state than Slovaks . National minorities were assured special protection; in districts where they constituted 20% of the population, members of minority groups were granted full freedom to use their language in everyday life, in schools, and in matters dealing with authorities. The operation of

8349-419: The fate of Europe with no involvement from the small powers. Halifax told Masaryk that Vojtěch Mastný , the Czechoslovak minister-plenipotentiary in Berlin, would be allowed to attend the Munich conference only as an "observer" for "information only" with no power to be actually involved in the conference. The resulting Munich Agreement of 30 September 1938 put an end to the crisis. Though the Munich Agreement

8470-403: The formerly Austrian ( Bohemia , Moravia , a small part of Silesia ) and Hungarian territories (mostly Upper Hungary and Carpathian Ruthenia ). After 1933, Czechoslovakia remained the only de facto functioning democracy in Central Europe , organized as a parliamentary republic . Under pressure from its Sudeten German minority , supported by neighbouring Nazi Germany , Czechoslovakia

8591-411: The friendship of the Soviet Union, but was dismayed by the veto they put on Czechoslovak participation in the Marshall Plan . Czechoslovakia sold arms to Israel during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War . The deliveries from Czechoslovakia proved important for the establishment of Israel. Masaryk personally signed the first contract on 14 January 1948. Because Masaryk was viewed as the most sympathetic to

8712-517: The journalist Wickham Steed and the historian Robert Seton-Watson , both of whom were staunch supporters of Czechoslovakia and longtime friends of his father, President Masaryk. Masaryk provided the funds to make the writings of Steed and Seton-Watson available to the widest possible audience. The faculty and students at the School of East European and Slavonic Studies at King's College London tended to be very sympathetic towards Czechoslovakia, which

8833-510: The late 19th century also fell to the republic. Czechoslovakia was one of the world's 10 most industrialized states. The Czech lands were far more industrialized than Slovakia. In Bohemia , Moravia , and Silesia , 39% of the population was employed in industry and 31% in agriculture and forestry . Most light and heavy industry was located in the Sudetenland and was owned by Germans and controlled by German-owned banks. Czechs controlled only 20 to 30% of all industry. In Slovakia, 17.1% of

8954-515: The latest. Masaryk told the other cabinet members: "he [Beneš] now only has Russia on his mind. We must hold him, so that he won’t fly off to the sky". In 1942 Masaryk received an LL.D. from Bates College . Beneš had lived in France for much of his life, and was described as someone who "knew France" well, but in contrast, he found the British to be something of a "mystery". Masaryk who lived in London for so long often made suggestions to appeal to

9075-819: The leader of the Labour Party, which was the Official Opposition to the Conservative-dominated National Government. Maisky and Masaryk encouraged Attlee to challenge the government's policy in the House of Commons . Masaryk was also in contact with Charles Corbin , the French ambassador in London . As a further step, Beneš had a large sum of money transferred to the Czechoslovak legation for Masaryk to spend on winning over British public opinion. Masaryk donated much of

9196-604: The legation in London. In 1922, he became secretary to the Czechoslovak foreign minister Edvard Beneš . In 1925, he was made minister-plenipotentiary to Britain. The British scholar Robert Powell described Masaryk as "the most unconventional of diplomats. None was less tied to protocol. Witty, shrewd, with an abundance of common sense, he often triumphed over circumstances, which baffled others more intellectually cleverer, but lacking his psychological insight... He could be disconcertingly direct in his conversation and he considerably embarrassed certain types of English people. His manner

9317-424: The meeting to call both Chamberlain and Halifax "stupid". To resolve the crisis on 28 September 1938, it was announced that an emergency summit would be held in Munich the next day to be attended by Hitler, Chamberlain, Benito Mussolini , and Édouard Daladier . To Masaryk's fury, the Munich conference was a return to the congress diplomacy of the 19th century where the leaders of the great powers would meet to decide

9438-488: The money to Churchill's group "The Focus". Unknown to Masaryk, the Forschungsamt ("Research Office") had broken the Czechoslovak diplomatic codes. Hermann Göring who was a close friend of Sir Nevile Henderson , the British ambassador to Germany, informed him that Masaryk was donating money to Churchill, information which Henderson in turn passed on to Chamberlain. The British historian Victor Rothwell noted that

9559-642: The most important role on the continent". In an unauthorised act, Fierlinger in July 1944 sent out a public telegram to Edward Osóbka-Morawski , celebrating the entry of the Polish People's Army onto Polish soil, which led Beneš to rebuke Fierlinger for an act that implied support for the Soviet puppet Lublin government . Masaryk wanted to fire Fierlinger for that letter, complaining he was no longer representing Czechoslovakia in Moscow in any meaningful sense of

9680-578: The nations we wish to see safeguarded and assured, should be accorded the freest opportunity to autonomous development." The full boundaries of the country and the organization of its government was finally established in the Czechoslovak Constitution of 1920 . Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk had been recognized by World War I Allies as the leader of the Provisional Czechoslovak Government, and in 1920 he

9801-603: The new Czechoslovak government was distinguished by stability. Largely responsible for this were the well-organized political parties that emerged as the real centers of power. Excluding the period from March 1926 to November 1929, when the coalition did not hold, a coalition of five Czechoslovak parties constituted the backbone of the government: Republican Party of Agricultural and Smallholder People, Czechoslovak Social Democratic Party, Czechoslovak National Social Party, Czechoslovak People's Party, and Czechoslovak National Democratic Party. The leaders of these parties became known as

9922-611: The old Austrian empire or expropriations of big estates did not support the coherence within the state. Nevertheless still in 1929, for example, in the Carlsbad district, a mainly Bavarian speaking area, 46% still voted for Socialists and Communists. This is especially interesting, because the German Speaking community of the Bohemian Countries is often and from many side blamed for being nationalist and fascist. But

10043-417: The other neighbors of Germany needed a situation after the war that "would enable them to defend peace for themselves and for the world against any future attempts by aggression by Germany", which in turn required a defensible frontier (i.e. returning the Sudetenland to Czechoslovakia). Masaryk as foreign minister was regarded by the Foreign Office as the more reasonable than Beneš who was viewed as obstinate on

10164-423: The point of living in the or one of the most industrialized areas of Europe also brings a big support for Communist and Socialist Parties, which from another point of view may also be explained by heavy and long lasting traditions of mining industries in the area. Still, nationalism arose amongst the non-Czech nationalities, and several parties and movements were formed with the aim of broader political autonomy, as

10285-712: The political and economic organisation of Czechoslovakia became largely a matter of negotiations between Edvard Beneš and the Communist Party members exiled in Moscow . In February 1948, the Communist Party seized full power in a coup d'état . Despite the country's official name remaining the Czechoslovak Republic until 1960, when it was changed to the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic , events of February 1948 are considered

10406-479: The population was employed in industry, and 60.4% worked in agriculture and forestry. Only 5% of all industry in Slovakia was in Slovak hands. Carpathian Ruthenia was essentially without industry. In the agricultural sector, a program of reform introduced soon after the establishment of the republic was intended to rectify the unequal distribution of land. One-third of all agricultural land and forests belonged to

10527-536: The possibility of a stronger Central European alliance system, remaining faithful to his Western policy. He did, however, seek the participation of the Soviet Union in an alliance to include France. (Beneš's earlier attitude towards the Soviet regime had been one of caution.) In 1935, the Soviet Union signed treaties with France and Czechoslovakia. In essence, the treaties provided that the Soviet Union would come to Czechoslovakia's aid only if French assistance came first. In 1935, when Beneš succeeded Masaryk as president,

10648-769: The prime minister Milan Hodža took over the Ministry of Foreign Affairs . Hodža's efforts to strengthen alliances in Central Europe came too late. In February 1936, the foreign ministry came under the direction of Kamil Krofta , an adherent of Beneš's line. The Czechoslovak Republic sold armament to Bolivia during the Chaco War (1932–35) and sent, close to the end of the war, an unofficial training mission, to support Bolivia in its Chaco war with Paraguay and advance Czechoslovak interest in Bolivia. The new nation had

10769-474: The resignations of the dissident ministers and appointed a new cabinet from a list submitted by Gottwald. The new cabinet was dominated by Communists and pro-Soviet Social Democrats. Members of the People's, National Socialist and Czech Democratic parties were also included, so the government was still nominally a coalition. However, the ministers using those labels were fellow travellers working hand in glove with

10890-713: The rest of Czechoslovakia in March 1939. The independence of Czechoslovakia was proclaimed on 28 October 1918 by the Czechoslovak National Council in Prague . Several ethnic groups and territories with different historical, political, and economic traditions were obliged to be blended into a new state structure. The origin of the First Republic lies in Point 9 of Woodrow Wilson 's Fourteen Points : "The peoples of Austria-Hungary, whose place among

11011-516: The revelation that Masaryk was subsidising Chamberlain's domestic critics such as Churchill made an extremely bad impression upon Chamberlain, and that much of the hostility that Chamberlain displayed towards Masaryk was due to this revelation. Under very strong Anglo-French pressure, President Beneš agreed to the terms of the Berchtesgaden summit on 19 September 1938. However, at the Bad Godesberg summit on 24 September 1938, Hitler rejected

11132-562: The situation was even worse, with basically no industry at all. Therefore the Borderlands were also more heavily hit by the world economic crisis. This fact, and the fact that the central government did little to help out and even supported more the Czech companies led to the fact, that unemployment among the German community was the double, than it was among the Czech. Further steps like the loss of jobs for German speaking state employees, who did not speak Czech, which were employed earlier in

11253-462: The strong presidencies of Masaryk and his successor, Beneš. The constitution of 1920 provided for the central government to have a high degree of control over local government. From 1928 to 1940, Czechoslovakia was divided into the four "lands" ( Czech : "země" , Slovak : "krajiny" ): Bohemia , Moravia - Silesia , Slovakia , and Carpathian Ruthenia . Although in 1927 assemblies were provided for Bohemia, Slovakia, and Ruthenia, their jurisdiction

11374-521: The superiority of Germany. Masaryk responded to this gross violation of diplomatic protocol by giving his reply to Ribbentrop's letter in Czech, instead of German as Ribbentrop had expected. The other ambassadors did likewise with the Japanese ambassador responding in Japanese and the Turkish ambassador responding in Turkish, which caused chaos at the German embassy as nobody was certain who was attending

11495-440: The term. On 28 July 1944, the entire Czechoslovak cabinet recommended to Beneš that he sack Fierlinger as ambassador in Moscow and appoint a new ambassador who would represent the interests of the government-in-exile instead of the Soviet Union, advice that Beneš refused to accept. In April 1945, Beneš and Masaryk travelled to Moscow to meet Stalin, where it was agreed that the foreign policy of Czechoslovakia would be aligned with

11616-428: The time, it was widely assumed that he was murdered at the behest of the nascent Communist government. On the other hand, many of his close associates (e.g. his secretary Antonín Sum , his press assistant Josef Josten , his sister Olga or Viktor Fischl ) have always defended the suicide story. In a second investigation taken in 1968 during the Prague Spring , Masaryk's death was ruled an accident, not excluding

11737-533: The victims of the Nazi eradication of Lidice . He is reputed to have had an exquisite sense of humour. It is reported that when he was a young Czechoslovak Ambassador to the US, he attended many parties and once the hostess invited him to play the violin. Accepting graciously, he played a Czech nursery song to enthusiastic applause from the audience. Leaving the party with a friend, he was asked why had he been asked to play

11858-411: The violin, to which he replied: "Oh, it's all very simple-- don't you see? They have mixed me up with my father; they mixed him up with Paderewski . And they mixed the piano up with the violin." Jan Masaryk was active in many societies, among those he was active freemason. The Honorary Silver Medal of Jan Masaryk (Czech: Stříbrná medaile Jana Masaryka ) is awarded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of

11979-616: The wall. They have committed sins against God." In July 1939, Masaryk returned to London, where he rented a flat in Westminster. During the war he regularly made broadcasts over the BBC to occupied Czechoslovakia starting in September 1939 and ending in April 1945. Masaryk's speeches on the BBC's Czech language station made him into a national hero. It was illegal to listen to the BBC in

12100-426: The war that Czechoslovakia move closer to Poland rather than the Soviet Union. Between 17 October 1943 – 10 February 1944, Masaryk went on a lengthy speaking tour of the United States, which removed him from the meetings of the Czechoslovak cabinet. In December 1943, Beneš went to Moscow to sign a treaty creating a 25-year military alliance between Czechoslovakia and the Soviet Union. Upon his return to London, Masaryk

12221-471: Was American rather than English, his racy language often shocking to people who had not the wit or patience to look beyond the actual expressions used." By contrast, the Czech historian Zbyněk Zeman and the German historian Rainer Karlsch described Masaryk as a weak man who drifted during his time in the United States, was psychologically unstable, and needed someone to guide him through life. His father resigned as president in 1935 and died two years later. He

12342-451: Was a friend of Dr. Chaim Weizmann . In June 1943, Masaryk spoke with Philip Nichols of the Foreign Office and expressed much doubt about a proposed treaty to create a military alliance between Czechoslovakia and the Soviet Union that was being energetically championed by Zdeněk Fierlinger , the Czechoslovak ambassador in Moscow. Through Masaryk did not oppose the proposed treaty outright, he hinted to Nichols that he preferred that after

12463-451: Was acting on behalf of the British government. To counter the pro-Hungarian articles in The Daily Mail , the hostility of the Foreign Office, and the indifference of the British people to Czechoslovakia, Masaryk had money given to British journalists who wrote pro-Czechoslovak articles to make these articles widely available in a bid to influence British public opinion. The two most important British intellectuals whom Masaryk supported were

12584-403: Was actually a compromise as Hitler dropped the demand to have the Sudetenland before 1 October 1938, it was agreed that the Sudetenland would go to Germany in stages over the course of October 1938. Without the natural defensive barrier posed by the mountains of the Sudetenland, Czechoslovakia was defenseless against Germany, and as such the new Czechoslovak president Emil Hácha promptly performed

12705-558: Was elected the country's first president. He was re-elected in 1925 and 1929, serving as President until 14 December 1935 when he resigned due to poor health. He was succeeded by Edvard Beneš . Following the Anschluss of Austria by Germany in March 1938, the Nazi leader Adolf Hitler 's next target for annexation was Czechoslovakia . His pretext was the privations suffered by ethnic German populations living in Czechoslovakia's northern and western border regions, known collectively as

12826-545: Was forced to accept the fait accompli . In a radio speech on 16 February 1944, Masaryk stated that the Soviet-Czechoslovak alliance "was approved of in America", though "there were a few reactionaries who hide their own selfish interests behind the pretense of the fear of Bolshevism". Masaryk added that "that we should get used to calling it the Soviet empire. Because it will be the Soviet empire which will play

12947-690: Was forced to cede its Sudetenland region to Germany on 1 October 1938 as part of the Munich Agreement . It also ceded southern parts of Slovakia and Carpathian Ruthenia to Hungary and the Trans-Olza region in Silesia to Poland . This, in effect, ended the First Czechoslovak Republic. It was replaced by the Second Czechoslovak Republic , which lasted less than half a year before Germany occupied

13068-567: Was formed, based on discussions dating back to 1943, with Beneš remaining president, Zdeněk Fierlinger becoming prime minister with Klement Gottwald as deputy premier. In the National Front coalition three socialist parties—KSČ, Czechoslovak Social Democratic Party, and Czechoslovak National Social Party —predominated. The Slovak Popular Party was banned as collaborationist with the Nazis. Other conservative yet democratic parties, such as

13189-593: Was found dead, dressed only in his pajamas, in the courtyard of the Foreign Ministry (the Černín Palace in Prague) below his bathroom window. Jan Masaryk's remains were buried next to his parents in a plot at Lány cemetery, where in 1994 also the ashes of his sister Alice Masaryková were laid to rest. The Ministry of the Interior claimed that he had committed suicide by jumping out of the window, but at

13310-486: Was in exile, working for Czech independence from the Austrian empire, made him the subject of bullying and hazing during his military service as the son of a "traitor". His unhappy military service made him unwilling to speak very much of his time as a soldier after the war as it held too many painful memories. He then joined the diplomatic service and became chargé d'affaires to the US in 1919 and then as counselor to

13431-567: Was just as alarming to Belgrade as it was to Prague. When Joachim von Ribbentrop arrived in London in October 1936 as the new German ambassador to the Court of St. James, he sent out invitations to the other ambassadors to attend a ball to introduce himself as was the normal practice at the time. Instead of using French (the language of diplomacy) in his invitations, which was the standard protocol, Ribbentrop insisted on using German as way to show

13552-418: Was limited to adjusting laws and regulations of the central government to local needs. The central government appointed one third of the members of these assemblies. The constitution identified the "Czechoslovak nation" as the creator and principal constituent of the Czechoslovak state and established Czech and Slovak as official languages . The concept of the Czechoslovak nation was necessary in order to justify

13673-532: Was married to Frances Crane Leatherbee (1887-1954). An heiress to the Crane piping, valves and elevator fortune, and the former wife of Robert Leatherbee, she was a daughter of Charles R. Crane , a U.S. minister to China; and a sister of Richard Teller Crane II , a U.S. ambassador to Czechoslovakia. By that marriage, Masaryk had three stepchildren: Charles Leatherbee, Robert Leatherbee Jr., and Richard Crane Leatherbee. Stepson Charles Leatherbee (Harvard 1929) co-founded

13794-448: Was one of them. Czech historian Václava Jandečková has tentatively suggested in her 2015 monograph "Kauza Jan Masaryk: Nový pohled" (The Jan Masaryk Case: A New Perspective) that Masaryk might have been murdered by Jan Bydžovský and František Fryč, who believed they were working for the British intelligence service SIS , but most probably fell victim to NKVD agents. Bydžovský confessed to murdering Masaryk when interrogated in prison by

13915-489: Was relieved, writing that Ribbentrop had "lost in Mrs. Simpson a dangerous ally". Unlike Beneš, Masaryk understood that the pro-Hungarian slant of The Daily Mail was caused by influence on Lord Rothermere of Princess von Hohenlohe, whom Masaryk also knew was the mistress of Fritz Wiedemann , the adjunct to Adolf Hitler . Masaryk described Rothermere as dominated by Hohenlohe, writing that he would do anything to please her. In

14036-475: Was responsible for legislative initiative and was given supervisory control over the executive and judiciary as well. Every seven years it elected the president and confirmed the cabinet appointed by him. Executive power was to be shared by the president and the cabinet; the latter, responsible to the National Assembly, was to prevail. The reality differed somewhat from this ideal, however, during

14157-548: Was seemingly corroborated in 2006 when a Russian journalist claimed that his mother knew the Russian intelligence officer who threw Masaryk out of the window of the west bathroom of Masaryk's flat. The highest-ranking Soviet Bloc intelligence defector, Lt. Gen. Ion Mihai Pacepa , claimed he had a conversation with Nicolae Ceauşescu , who told him about "ten international leaders the Kremlin killed or tried to kill". Jan Masaryk

14278-418: Was seen as a model democracy, and Masaryk often provided the funds to publicise their work. In 1930, when Steed's journal The Review of Reviews went bankrupt, Masaryk granted him enough money to keep his journal afloat. As part of his cultural diplomacy, Masaryk sometimes worked with Yugoslav diplomats to provide the money for journalists willing to challenge the pro-Hungarian slant of The Daily Mail , which

14399-548: Was succeeded by Edvard Beneš . Masaryk had been dominated by his father, and afterward by Beneš, who played the role of a surrogate father. Right from his arrival in London, Masaryk in his reports to Prague warned that many officials in Great Britain's Foreign Office were in the grip of nostalgia for the Austrian empire, haunted by what he called the "ghost of the Habsburg empire". Masaryk expressed concern that many in

14520-659: Was the most popular speaker on the show. In an article published in Central European Observer on 1 February 1940, Masaryk declared his war aims as: "My conviction is that our little country is not going to be saved by any of these grand 'isms'-neither Fascism nor Bolshevism, Pan-Germanism or Pan-Slavism...I am definitely a Slav, but I hope an European first. I am convinced that the fate of our people cannot be separated from that of other Central European and Danubian peoples, whether they are Slavs or not...Narrow nationalism should disappear...An equal partnership in

14641-590: Was to proceed on a gradual basis; owners would continue in possession in the interim, and compensation was offered. 1921 ethnonational census National disputes arose due to the fact that the more numerous Czechs dominated the central government and other national institutions, all of which had their seats in the Bohemian capital Prague. The Slovak middle class had been extremely small in 1919 because Hungarians, Germans and Jews had previously filled most administrative, professional and commercial positions in, and as

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