Provisional Czechoslovak government Prozatímní státní zřízení československé Dočasné štátne zriadenie československé | ||||||
Government-in-exile | ||||||
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Motto Pravda vítězí ("Truth prevails") | ||||||
Anthem Kde domov můj? Nad Tatrou sa blýska ("Where is my home? Lightning over the Tatras") | ||||||
Capital | Prague (de jure) Capital in Exile Paris (1938–1939) Angers (1939) London (1939–1945) Košice (1945) | |||||
Languages | Czech • Slovak | |||||
Government | Government-in-exile | |||||
President | ||||||
- | 1938–1945 | Edvard Beneš | ||||
Prime Minister | ||||||
- | 1938–1939 | Jan Syrový | ||||
- | 1939–1945 | Jan Šrámek | ||||
- | 1945 | Václav Majer | ||||
Historical era | World War II | |||||
- | Government evacuated from Czechoslovakia and interred in Romania | 21 October 1938 | ||||
- | Government-in-exile formed in Paris | 5 November 1938 | ||||
- | Government-in-exile evacuated from France | June 1939 | ||||
- | Government-in-exile formed in London | 21 July 1939 | ||||
- | Formation of the Košice Government and declaration of the Košice Program | 4 April 1945 | ||||
- | End of exile | 8 May 1945 | ||||
- | Formation of Interim National Assembly | 28 October 1945 |
The Czechoslovak government-in-exile, officially known as the Provisional Czechoslovak Government (Czech: Prozatímní státní zřízení československé, Slovak: Dočasné štátne zriadenie československé), was the government in exile of Czechoslovakia formed in the aftermath of the Invasion of Czechoslovakia of October 1938, and the subsequent occupation of Czechoslovakia by Germany, Hungary, and Poland, which brought to an end the Czechoslovak Republic.
Despite the occupation of Czechoslovakia by hostile powers, the government-in-exile exerted considerable influence in Czechoslovakia during World War II through the structures of the Central Leadership of Home Resistance (Ústřední vedení odboje domácího, ÚVOD) and its military arm, the Obrana národa (Nation's Defence, OB) resistance. Abroad, under the authority of the government-in-exile, Czechoslovak military units that had escaped the occupation fought under their own commanders as part of Allied forces in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East.
The government-in-exile was based in France during 1938 and 1939, first in Paris and then in Angers. From 1940, following the Fall of France, the government moved to London, and remained in the United Kingdom until it relocated to Košice in April 1945, after the town had been liberated by the Soviet Red Army. After the war, the government returned to Prague and governed until the formation of the Interim National Assembly on 28 October 1945.
History[]
Establishment[]
On 21 October 1938, the President of the Czechoslovak Republic, Edvard Beneš, who was then in the town of Turčiansky Svätý Martin, issued a proclamation about relocating the Czechoslovak Government, headed by Prime Minister and General Jan Syrový, to Paris. The Hungarian entry into the war on 20 October was one of the decisive factors that convinced the Czechoslovak government that the war in Czechoslovakia was lost. Before the Hungarian attack from the south, the Czechoslovak defence plan had called for withdrawing the bulk of the Czechoslovak Army from Bohemia and offer a long-term defence against Germany along the Beskid Mountains on the Moravian-Slovak border and to await relief from an attack by the Western Allies on Germany's western border. However, the Czechoslovak government refused to surrender or to negotiate peace with Germany. Instead, it ordered all units to evacuate into either Poland or Romania and to reorganize in France.
Already on 21 October, Štefan Osuský, the Czechoslovak Ambassador to France, had together with Jan Masaryk, the Czechoslovak Ambassador to the United Kingdom, informed the French and British governments that a provisional Czechoslovak government would be established in France and submitted a proposal for the establishment of a Czechoslovak Army in exile, which would be led by a Czechoslovak general.
After avoiding capture by German and then Hungarian troops, Beneš and the Czechoslovak Government withdrew to Ruthenia, and on 25 October they crossed the border with Romania to continue the struggle abroad in France. The crossing of the Czechoslovak government into Romania prevented Czechoslovakia from having to officially surrender and allowed Czechoslovak soldiers to continue the fight against Nazi Germany. After French pressure, Romanian and Yugoslav authorities allowed for Beneš and the Government to escape to France, reaching Paris on 15 November.
On 17 November 1938, the formation of the provisional Czechoslovak government was announced in a meeting attended by President Beneš; Prime Minister Syrový; Ambassador Osuský; economist Eduard Outrata; politicians Jan Šrámek (ČSL), Jozef Lettrich and Juraj Slávik (both RSZML), Hubert Ripka (ČSNS) and Bohumil Laušman (ČSDSD); and generals Ludvík Krejčí, Lev Prchala, Sergěj Ingr and Rudolf Viest. Beneš then re-appointed General Syrový to be Prime Minister.
Wartime history[]
Cabinet[]
Office | Name | Political Party | Dates | |
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President | Edvard Beneš | Czechoslovak National Socialist Party | 18 November 1938 – 15 May 1946 | |
Prime Minister | Jan Šrámek | Czechoslovak People's Party | 18 November 1938 – 15 May 1946 | |
Minister of Defence | Gen. Jan Syrový | Independent | 18 November 1938 – 15 May 1946 | |
Minister of Foreign Affairs | Jan Masaryk | Independent | 18 November 1938 – 15 May 1946 | |
Minister for Economic Recovery | Jaromír Nečas | Czechoslovak Social Democratic Worker's Party | 18 November 1938 – 15 May 1946 | |
Minister of Finance | Eduard Outrata | Independent | 18 November 1938 – 15 May 1946 | |
Minister of the Interior | Juraj Slávik | Republican Party of Farmers and Peasants | 18 November 1938 – 15 May 1946 | |
Minister of Minority Affairs | Milan Hodža | Republican Party of Farmers and Peasants | 18 November 1938 – 15 May 1946 | |
Minister of Social Welfare | František Němec | Czechoslovak Social Democratic Worker's Party | 18 November 1938 – 15 May 1946 | |
Minister without Portfolio (In charge of the Supreme Court of Audit Office) |
Ján Bečko | Czechoslovak Social Democratic Worker's Party | 18 November 1938 – 15 May 1946 | |
Minister without Portfolio (Minister of Commerce, Industry and Trade) |
Rudolf Mlčoch | Czechoslovak Traders' Party | 18 November 1938 – 15 May 1946 | |
Minister without Portfolio | Štefan Osuský | Independent | 18 November 1938 – 15 May 1946 | |
Minister without Portfolio | Hubert Ripka | Czechoslovak National Socialist Party | 18 November 1938 – 15 May 1946 | |
Minister without Portfolio | Ján Lichner | Republican Party of Farmers and Peasants | 18 November 1938 – 15 May 1946 |
Armed Forces[]
See also[]
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