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Eduard Benes...



Item # 561011

June 08, 1948

THE NEW YORK TIMES, June 8, 1948 

* Communism complete in Czechoslovakia 
* Eduard Benes
 

This 52 page newspaper has a two column headline on the front page: "Benes Resigns in Prague; Gottwald Likely Successor" with subhead and photo of Benes.

Eduard Benes 'resignation resulted in the Communist complete takeover in Czechoslovakia.

Other news of the day throughout. Rag edition in great condition.

wikipedia notes:
After the Prague uprising at the end of World War II, Beneš returned home and reassumed his former position as President. He was not elected President in 1945 but unanimously confirmed as the former president of the republic by the National Assembly on 28 October 1945. Under article 58.5 of the Constitution, "The former president shall stay in his or her function till the new president shall be elected." On 19 June 1946 Beneš was formally elected to his second term as President.

The Beneš decrees (officially called "Decrees of the President of the Republic"), among other things, expropriated citizens of German and Hungarian ethnicity, and paved the way for the eventual expulsion of the majority of Germans to West and East Germany and Austria. The decrees are still in force to this day and remain controversial, with the expellees demanding their repeal. The Czech government's repeated assurances that the decrees are no longer applied have been accepted by the European Commission and the European Parliament.

Beneš presided over a coalition government involving Democrats and Communists, with the Communist leader Klement Gottwald as prime minister. On 25 February 1948, the Communists assumed complete power in a coup d'état. Beneš resigned as President on 7 June 1948 and Gottwald succeeded him as President.

Category: The 20th Century