Monday, February 25, 2013

65th Anniversary of Communist Coup

Communist Party Poster
Today is the 65th anniversary of the communist coup that took over Czechoslovakia.  On February 25, 1948, Czechoslovak President Edvard Beneš gave in to pressure from the Prime Minister, and Communist leader, Klement Gottwald, to accept the resignation of 12 non-communist government members and appoint communist party members.  The communists called it Vítězný únor, "Victorious February".

While it was a bloodless coup, it was a coup nonetheless.  Until then, Czechoslovakia had been the last democracy in Eastern Europe.  The Czechoslovak Communist Party (KSČ) ruled the country for 41 years until the Velvet Revolution in 1989.  

No comments:

Post a Comment