The last democratic president, who tried to topple a government with resignations and instead handed it to Gottwald
On 25 February 1948, with Communist militias controlling Prague and civil war imminent, Beneš accepted the resignations of twelve non-Communist ministers.
Beneš was a central figure in the Czechoslovak independence movement, co-founding the Czechoslovak National Council with Masaryk and Štefánik during the First World War. As foreign minister for 17 years from 1918, he shone at the League of Nations, built the Little Entente with Romania and Yugoslavia, and forged alliance treaties with France and the Soviet Union. Elected president in 1935, he resigned after Munich and led the government-in-exile in London, securing Britain's repudiation of the Munich Agreement. In February 1948, he accepted the resignations of non-Communist ministers and sanctioned Gottwald's Communist-dominated government, a decision that sealed Czechoslovakia's entry into the Soviet bloc.
Career Timeline
- 1915–1918Secretary of the Czechoslovak National Council
- 1918–1935Foreign Minister of Czechoslovakia
- 1921–1922Prime Minister of Czechoslovakia
- 1935–1938President of Czechoslovakia
- 1940–1945President of the Czechoslovak government-in-exile
- 1945–1948President of Czechoslovakia