The Košice Program ( cs, Košický vládní program) was a 1945 agreement between Czechoslovak Communists who had spent the war in the Soviet Union and the

Czechoslovak government-in-exile The Czechoslovak government-in-exile, sometimes styled officially as the Provisional Government of Czechoslovakia ( cz, Prozatímní vláda Československa, sk, Dočasná vláda Československa), was an informal title conferred upon the Czechos ...

, which had been based in London. They met in the city of

Košice Košice ( , ; german: Kaschau ; hu, Kassa ; pl, Коszyce) is the largest city in eastern Slovakia. It is situated on the river Hornád at the eastern reaches of the Slovak Ore Mountains, near the border with Hungary. With a population of app ...

, which had already been liberated by the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...

. The program outlined the postwar political settlement, the National Front under which all political parties would operate, and promised the

expulsion of Germans from Czechoslovakia The expulsion of Germans from Czechoslovakia after World War II was part of a series of evacuations and deportations of Germans from Central and Eastern Europe during and after World War II. During the German occupation of Czechoslovakia, th ...

. The program was the basis of both the

Third Czechoslovak Republic The Third Czechoslovak Republic ( cs, Třetí Československá republika, sk, Tretia česko-slovenská republika), officially the Czechoslovak Republic (, ), emerged as a sovereign state after the end of World War II, from 1945 to 1948. It was ...

and, following the 1948 coup, the

Czechoslovak Socialist Republic The Czechoslovak Socialist Republic, ČSSR, formerly known from 1948 to 1960 as the Czechoslovak Republic or Fourth Czechoslovak Republic, was the official name of Czechoslovakia from 1960 to 29 March 1990, when it was renamed the Czechoslovak ...

. The program document was approved on 5 April 1945. It set out the principles of future policy and was referred to as the "program of national and democratic revolution". It shifted the orientation of Czechoslovakia further towards the

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

and "legally" anchored dependence on the USSR. It declared claims about the

collective guilt Collective responsibility, also known as collective guilt, refers to responsibilities of organizations, groups and societies. Collective responsibility in the form of collective punishment is often used as a disciplinary measure in closed insti ...

of right-wing parties and the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

and Hungarian populations for the

breakup of Czechoslovakia The dissolution of Czechoslovakia ( cs, Rozdělení Československa, sk, Rozdelenie Česko-Slovenska) took effect on December 31, 1992, and was the self-determined split of the federal republic of Czechoslovakia into the independent countries ...

and for cooperation with the

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

regime. The draft text was prepared by the

Czechoslovak Communist Party The Communist Party of Czechoslovakia ( Czech and Slovak: ''Komunistická strana Československa'', KSČ) was a communist and Marxist–Leninist political party in Czechoslovakia that existed between 1921 and 1992. It was a member of the Comint ...

(KSČ).

Preparation

In the final stages of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, negotiations were held between President

Edvard Beneš Edvard Beneš (; 28 May 1884 – 3 September 1948) was a Czech politician and statesman who served as the president of Czechoslovakia from 1935 to 1938, and again from 1945 to 1948. He also led the Czechoslovak government-in-exile 1939 to 1945 ...

and the

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

leadership of the Communist Party, led by

Klement Gottwald Klement Gottwald (; 23 November 1896 – 14 March 1953) was a Czech communist politician, who was the leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia from 1929 until his death in 1953–titled as general secretary until 1945 and as chairman from ...

, about forming a postwar government. As a result a government of the National Front of Czechs and Slovaks was established on 4 April 1945 with the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Fo ...

chairman

Zdeněk Fierlinger Zdeněk Fierlinger (11 July 1891 – 2 May 1976) was a Czechoslovak diplomat and politician. He served as the prime minister of Czechoslovakia from 1944 to 1946, first in the London-based exiled government and later in liberated Czechoslovakia. ...

as the prime minister. Officially, it was reported that the government approved the so-called Košice government program after arriving in Košice on 5 April 1945. In fact, the government program was signed on March 29 in Moscow. The parties of the London exile arrived at the Moscow meeting insufficiently prepared. Besides the Communists, only the Social Democrats submitted a proposal, which was rejected by Fierlinger (a fellow traveler of Communism who supported the coup).

Structure

The program consisted of 16 chapters dealing with various issues of social, political, and economic life, and of the international status of the liberated Czechoslovakia. The main features of the program are: * Establishing a regime of limited democracy, euphemistically called " people's democracy" * Abandonment of

Czechoslovakism Czechoslovakism ( cs, Čechoslovakismus, sk, Čechoslovakizmus) is a concept which underlines reciprocity of the Czechs and the Slovaks. It is best known as an ideology which holds that there is one Czechoslovak nation, though it might also appe ...

; recognition of Slovak self governance and of the

Slovak National Council The Slovak National Council ( sk, Slovenská národná rada (SNR)) was an organisation that was formed at various times in the 19th and 20th centuries to act as the highest representative of the Slovak nation. It originated in the mid-19th century ...

as its representative; accepting the relationship of Czechs and Slovaks on an equal footing * A new political system based on the National Front as a broad coalition for all permitted political directions, thus excluding the opposition (the most important element was banning the Agrarian Party) * Restrictions on private ownership,

nationalization Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately-owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to pri ...

of large companies, and other

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

reforms *

Denaturalization Denaturalization is the loss of citizenship against the will of the person concerned. Denaturalization is often applied to ethnic minorities and political dissidents. Denaturalization can be a penalty for actions considered criminal by the stat ...

of German and Hungarian nationals living in Czechoslovakia (with legislative exceptions) * One-sided orientation towards the Soviet Union in foreign, security and defense policy * Formation of the Czechoslovak Army on the

principles, introducing " propaganda officers".

References

{{Government of Czechoslovakia (1946–1948) April 1945 events in Europe Politics of Czechoslovakia Communism in Czechoslovakia March 1945 events in Europe 1945 in Czechoslovakia