What was the Czechoslovakian Coup

A. The moment, in February, 1948, when the Communists took over all of Eastern Europe.

Q. Background

A. The Soviet army began to occupy Eastern Europe in 1944 after the Nazis fled. The area became a matter of discussion for the Allied leaders and many ideas put forward how the individual countries would be led after victory.

Q. Such as

A. Winston Churchill suggested the region to be divided into spheres of influence similar to how Germany was later divided. Churchill also said the governments-in-exile of these nations, which were ruling from London, should return to power in their homeland once the war was over.

Q. And that was agreed

A. No way. Soviet leader Josef Stalin had other ideas. He said it would be in the international interest to have a heavy Soviet presence in the region so Eastern Europe could serve as a buffer zone between the Soviet Union and European aggression. After all, Russia had been invaded from the west on several occasions.

In fact, Stalin had Czech and Polish nationals in Moscow who were being trained to lead their nations as Russia-backed communists after the war.

Q. Did the others fall for it

A. Yes. The other leaders allowed the Baltic states and part of Poland to come under the Soviets' influence. Stalin promised free elections in Poland, and it was implied in the other Baltic states as well, at the Yalta conference in 1945.

Q. Did that happen

A. No. A communist government was installed in Romania, the Polish elections were cancelled, the elected Bulgarian PM was forced out and a leading anti-communist was arrested and executed. Bulgaria became a people's republic in July, 1947, and Rumania that December.

Q. So what was happening in Czechoslovakia

A. Since the war, Czechoslovakia had worked to achieve a non-aligned policy that best served its national interests. When it came to foreign affairs, the Czechs tended to ally themselves with the powerful Soviet Union. Domestically the Czech government was restoring the democracy that had existed there between the wars. The Czechs also favoured accepting aid offered by America in the Marshall Plan. (Click here for a feature on that)

Q. Stalin was not impressed

A. No. He forbade them to accept an American aid and then founded the Cominform - a group of nine communist countries - to combat the Marshall Plan's 'American imperialism'. Czechoslovakia joined, reluctantly, and therefore missed out on US aid. Its economy deteriorated. Then Stalin was challenged again.

Q. How

A. The Truman Doctrine. This was announced by US President Harry S Truman in response to communists' attempt to overthrow the Greek government. Truman said America would 'provide economic and military support to Greece and Turkey and to any other country threatened by communism'.

Stalin took this as a challenge to his authority in Eastern Europe. Supported by the Soviet Army, the communists carried out a bloodless coup in Prague in February, 1948. Pro-democracy politicians were imprisoned, and the communists infiltrated the government. Edvard Benes, the Czech president, was ousted and replaced by Klement Gottwald, leader of the Czech communist party. The last independent government in Eastern Europe had become communist - and it would stay that way until the end of communism.

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Steve Cunningham