Czechoslovak Coup d'État

Date: February 25, 1948 • Location: Moscow, Russia

This milestone marked the outbreak and beginning of this historic period, which spanned 1948.

Fearful of civil war and Soviet intervention in recent unrest, President Edvard Beneš (pictured) ceded control of the government to the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia.

Edvard Beneš was a Czech politician and statesman who served as the president of Czechoslovakia from 1935 to 1938, and again from 1939 to 1948. During the first six years of his second stint, he led the Czechoslovak government-in-exile during World War II.