Edvard Beneš
Edvard Beneš was a founding figure in the First Czechoslovak Republic, National Socialist politician, foreign minister, prime minister, and president of Czechoslovakia.
Contents
History
Beneš received a doctorate of law in Dijon. He lectured in sociology at Charles University in Prague.
Policies
Masaryk Government
Beneš was an early Czech revolutionary and member of the National Socialists. During World War 1, he served in several ministerial roles in the provisional Czechslovak government based in Paris.
Beneš served as foreign minister to many prime ministers, throughout the entire First Republic and Masaryk presidency. For 1921-1922 he concurrently served as prime minister. He represented Czechoslovakia at Versailles and in the League of Nations.
First Beneš Government
Masaryk had effectively handed the presidency to Beneš as a chosen successor. He further centralized power in the presidency.
Following the Munich Betrayal, he resigned. This is considered the end of the First Republic.
Government in Exile
Beneš continued to coordinate significant parts of the Czechoslovak state from exile in London, especially the intelligence community, despite the Hácha presidency. He leveraged this information to retain recognition as effective head of state among the Allies.
Second Beneš Government
Once the USSR captured eastern Slovakia, Beneš returned to the country and established a new coalition government. Gottwald served as prime minister.
The Košice Program governed this coalition and guided the restructuring of Czechoslovakia as it entered the Third Republic. Germans and Hungarians had their citizenships rescinded and were expelled. A Soviet-style command economy with restricted private ownership was established. Limits were placed on multi-party democracy. Slovaks were recognized as equal and deserving of self-governance and representation within a Czechoslovak federation.
The first post-war elections were held in June 1946 and Beneš began his second official term.
Beneš supported accepting the Marshall Plan but he and Gottwald were directed by the Kremlin to reject it.
In February 1948, there was a government crisis. The non-Communist ministers resigned in protest against perceived packing of the bureaucracy by communists. Beneš tried to refuse these resignations while Gottwald pushed for a fully-Communist caretaker government. Amid the establishment of a communist militia, threats of a general strike, and violent protests in Prague, he reversed course and accepted the resignations.
Elections in March saw a new National Front government that was now fully under control by the Communists. The legislature produced the Ninth-of-May Constitution; Beneš resigned in June rather than sign it.
Legacy
Gottwald, as prime minister and leader of the National Front coalition, quickly succeeded Beneš to become president.
His health had begun failing in 1945; he died in September 1948 shortly after his resignation.