February 1948 is the name given in Czechoslovak history to a political crisis that escalated into a coup d'état. The Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSČ) seized power and established a totalitarian regime that lasted until November 1989. At the same time, the country became a firmly integrated part of the Eastern Bloc controlled from Moscow.[1] At the time, the event was referred to as the "Victorious February".[1]
Previous Developments
According to the Military History Institute, the event was not accidental but the result of a power struggle between political parties that had begun as early as 1945. The KSČ handled this struggle best, seeking to consolidate its position within the state apparatus and gain decisive influence over the armed forces. Thanks to a communist minister, it secured a decisive position within the National Security Corps, and it tried to build a similar position within the army as well.[1]
The Role of the Army
From May 1945, the army was built up, under the Košice Government Programme, as non-partisan. Political parties were not allowed to operate within it or establish organizations, and soldiers could engage in political activity only outside military facilities and off duty. The National Socialists, the People's Party, the Social Democrats, and the Slovak Democrats all observed this ban.[1]
The KSČ, by contrast, created a functioning illegal system of party confidants within the army, linked to its territorial organs. This system supplied it with information about the situation within the officer corps and the mood among the units, and reported on the activities of commanders who were not party members. Tasks for this network were assigned by defence secretaries at the regional level. Non-communist parties also tried to create a similar system, but their network never achieved comparable influence.[1]
In the autumn of 1947, the KSČ's Central Defence Commission was established. The army was represented on it by General Jaroslav Procházka, head of the Main Directorate of Education and Culture, and Colonel Bedřich Reicin, head of the 5th Department of the General Staff, which was responsible for defence intelligence. The commission directed regional, district and garrison defence commissions, which in turn controlled the network of confidants, whose lowest units were three-man cells at company level. They cooperated closely with the Main Directorate of Education and Culture and with the 5th Department, both of which were fully controlled by the communists.[1]
In this way, the communists knew what was happening at the staffs and among the troops, and gained a degree of control over the army. However, they had no guarantee of its loyalty. This was related to the political composition of the officer corps. KSČ members made up around 15 percent, and together with sympathizers, according to the institute, they did not exceed 30 percent. Most of that 15 percent of officers had joined the army only after May 1945, and therefore did not hold higher command positions. These were held by soldiers who had seen combat in the Second World War and by officers from the era of the First Republic.[1]
The Beginning of the Government Crisis
The government crisis began on 13 February 1948. At a cabinet meeting, Minister Prokop Drtina of the Czechoslovak National Socialist Party and Minister of Food Václav Majer of the Czechoslovak Social Democratic Party demanded an explanation as to why eight district commanders of the National Security Corps had been recalled in Prague. As a result, the police in the capital fell entirely into the hands of the communists. Against the votes of the KSČ ministers, the government adopted a resolution requiring Minister of the Interior Václav Nosek of the KSČ to halt these personnel changes.[1]
Four days later, on 17 February, the government was to discuss the Minister of Justice's report on the abuse of the security forces by the communists.[1]