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Provisional Czechoslovak government
Prozatímní státní zřízení československé
Dočasné štátne zriadenie československé
Government-in-exile
Czechoslovakia
1938–1945 Czechoslovakia
Flag of Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia COA small 2
Flag Coat of arms
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[]

Edvard Beneš

Edvard Beneš, President in exile.

Jan Šrámek

Jan Šrámek, Prime Minister in exile.

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
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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