Communist overthrow in Prague

On 20 February 1948 Prague, twelve ministers of the „National Front“, consisting of Communists and Democrats, resign from office. With that move they protest the continuous Communist infiltration of the police and the State Security Service by Interior Minister Václav Nosek (CP). Immediately afterward, Communists and labour unions use strikes and mass demonstrations to exert pressure on State President Eduard Beneš. He finally grants Prime Minister Klement Gottwald (CP) permission to form a new government in which the Communists have the upper hand. Through a variety of constitutional amendments, Gottwald begins to restructure Czechoslovakia into a „Peoples’ Democracy“ according to the Soviet model. When Beneš opposes these plans, he is forced to cede his office as State President to Gottwald.

Source: Radio Prague Propaganda poster showing Prime Minister Klement Gottwald together with Josef Stalin