Edvard 叠别苍别拧 was born May 28, 1884, in Kozlany, Bohemia during the rule of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. He graduated with a doctorate degree in Law first in Dijon in 1908 and another in Prague in 1909, where he then taught for three years at the Prague University of Commerce. Having become influenced by Tom谩拧 Masaryk and his desire for a free and independent nation for the Czechs and Slovaks, 叠别苍别拧 joined with Masaryk and Milan 艩迟别蹿谩苍颈办 in forming what would eventually become the Czechoslovak provisional government on October 14, 1918. In the aftermath of the Great War, and the subsequent collapse of Austria-Hungary, the state of Czechoslovakia would be born with Tom谩拧 Masaryk as its first president and 叠别苍别拧 as its foreign minister.

Edvard 叠别苍别拧 (right) with Tom谩拧 Masaryk (left)

During his time as foreign minister, 叠别苍别拧 served as the council chairman for the League of Nations six times and worked hard to reestablish a balance of powers in eastern Europe, creating what would be known as the 鈥淟ittle Entente鈥� with Romania and Yugoslavia in 1921. The intention of this alliance, originally oriented against Hungary, focused its attention on Germany instead when France joined in 1924.

Edvard 叠别苍别拧 with leaders of the Little Entente, 1936

Succeeding Masaryk as president of Czechoslovakia in 1935, 叠别苍别拧 was faced with the threat of Germany, something he was all too familiar with during his time as the Minister of Foreign Affairs. Despite his best efforts to resolve the issue surrounding the Sudetenland, he was not successful in avoiding the inevitability that would be the Munich Agreement, which would see Hitler appeased. Pressured by European great powers, 叠别苍别拧鈥檚 Little Entente had no choice but to back down and relinquish the Sudetenland. Following that, in 1938, 叠别苍别拧 resigned from his position as president and went into exile. This was not, however, the end for 叠别苍别拧.

When the Second World War broke out, despite 鈥渁ppeasement,鈥� 叠别苍别拧 set up a government-in-exile for Czechoslovakia in France, which he would later move to London in 1940 after France fell. During the war, Benes worked with Frantisek Moravec and the Czech resistance in occupied Czechoslovakia on a plan that would lead to the assassination of the high-ranking Nazi official named Reinhard Heydrich in what was known as Operation Anthropoid. Though the operation was a success, the consequences were brutal and lead to the destruction of the towns of Lidice and 尝别啪谩办测. Eventually, the war was won by the Allied forces, and Czechoslovakia was freed from German occupation. 叠别苍别拧 returned to his homeland in 1945, where he served his second term as president.

As part of his presidency in post-war Czechoslovakia, 叠别苍别拧 instituted what was called the 鈥湹鸩员鹋� decrees,鈥� which stripped the Germans living in the country of their citizenship and confiscated their property, forcing them out of the nation along with the Hungarians. Unfortunately for 叠别苍别拧, his time as president was not smooth sailing. The growing influence of the Soviet Union in Eastern Europe led to Czechoslovakia having to cooperate with them and in turn led to the growing power of the communist party in the nation. With 叠别苍别拧 suffering from two strokes in 1947 and becoming increasingly ill, communist prime minister Klement Gottwald swooped in to demand a communist-dominated cabinet, leading in turn to a communist-dominated government in 1948. Faced with this and refusing to sign the new constitution they had established, 叠别苍别拧 resigned from his position as president on June 7, 1948, a position that Klement Gottwald took in his place. Three months later, Edvard 叠别苍别拧 died of his illnesses at his villa in Sezimovo Usti, where he was subsequently buried.

Written by James Travis

Citations:

Britannica, T. Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Edvard 叠别苍别拧." Encyclopedia Britannica, August 30, 2022. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Edvard-Benes.

Burns, Tracy A. 鈥淓dvard Benes - Czechoslovak Statesman.鈥� Private Prague Guide, 2023. https://www.private-prague-guide.com/article/edvard-benes.

鈥淐zech Presidents, Edvard Benes.鈥� Livingprague.com, 2023. https://livingprague.com/politics-and-history/edvard-benes-president.

K眉pper, Ren茅. 鈥湹鸩员鹋�, Edvard.鈥� 1914-1918-online: International Encyclopedia of the First World War, Eds. Ute Daniel, Peter Gatrell, Oliver Janz, Heather Jones, Jennifer Keene, Alan Kramer, and Bill Nasson (Freie Universit盲t Berlin, Berlin, 2014.)
DOI: 10.15463/ie1418.10077.

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