Czechoslovakia Coup d'état of 1948

In the aftermath (à la suite de) of World War II, the communists began to lose some of their popularity, and, as the 1948 election approached, their public support began to decline.

→ The Communist Party of Czechoslavakia's leader was Klement Gottwald, During the winter of 1947-48, in the parliament, tension between the Communists and their opponents led to increasingly bitter conflict.
In early February 1948, the Communist minister of the interior, Václav NOSEK, illegally extended his powers by trying to purge remaining non-Communist elements in the National Police Force. The security and police were being transformed into instruments of the Communist Party, endangering basic civic freedoms.
The communists staged a coup d'état rather than wait for the May election: communist regime was installed.
On February 12, the non-Communists demanded punishment for the offending Communists in the government but Vaclav NOSEK refused. He and his fellow Communists threatened to use force.

→ On February 21, twelve non-Communist ministers protested after NOSEK refused to reinstate eight non-Communist senior police officers despite a majority vote of the cabinet in favour of doing so. They assumed that President BENES would refuse to accept their resignations, but BENES initially insisted that no new government could be formed which did not include ministers from the non-Communist parties.

→ However, an atmosphere of tension, coupled with massive Communist-led demonstrations occurring throughout the country, convinced BENES to remain neutral over the issue, for fear the KSČ foment an insurrection and give the Red Army a pretext to invade the country and restore order.
Had BENES held his line, Gottwald's ministers would not have been able to form a government, the only non-violent means of crisis resolution being to give way to the non-Communists or to risk defeat in early elections which the KSČ. The