The Košice Program, or Košice Government 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 (; ), was an informal title conferred upon the Czechoslovak National Liberation Committee (; ), initially by Government of the Unit ...

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

Košice Košice 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 approximately 230,000, Košice is the second-largest cit ...

, which had already been liberated by the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

. 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 broader series of Flight and expulsion of Germans (1944–1950), evacuations and deportations of Germans from Central and Eastern Europe during and after World War II. ...

. The program was the basis of both the

Third Czechoslovak Republic The Third Czechoslovak Republic, officially the Czechoslovak Republic, was a sovereign state from April 1945 to February 1948 following the end of World War II. After the fall of Nazi Germany, the country was reformed and reassigned coterminous ...

and, following the 1948 coup, the

Czechoslovak Socialist Republic The Czechoslovak Socialist Republic, (Czech language, Czech and Slovak language, Slovak: ''Československá socialistická republika'', ČSSR) known from 1948 to 1960 as the Czechoslovak Republic (''Československá republika)'', Fourth Czecho ...

. 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 Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

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

collective guilt Collective responsibility or collective guilt is the responsibility of organizations, groups and societies. Collective responsibility in the form of collective punishment is often used as a disciplinary measure in closed institutions, e.g., boa ...

of right-wing parties and the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

and Hungarian populations for the breakup of Czechoslovakia and for cooperation with the

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

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 Comi ...

(KSČ).

Preparation

In the final stages of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, 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 1939 to 1948. During the first six years of his second stint, he led the Czec ...

and the

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

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 f ...

, 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 Form ...

chairman Zdeněk Fierlinger 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 A fellow traveller (also fellow traveler) is a person who is intellectually sympathetic to the ideology of a political organization, and who co-operates in the organization's politics, without being a formal member. In the early history of the Sov ...

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

multi-party In political science, a multi-party system is a political system where more than two meaningfully-distinct political parties regularly run for office and win elections. Multi-party systems tend to be more common in countries using proportional r ...

democracy on the principle of

national unity government A national unity government, government of national unity (GNU), or national union government is a broad coalition government consisting of all parties (or all major parties) in the legislature, usually formed during a time of war or other na ...

, broadly declared as " people's democracy" * Abandonment of

Czechoslovakism Czechoslovakism (, ) is a concept which underlines reciprocity of the Czech people, Czechs and the Slovak people, Slovaks. It is best known as an ideology which holds that there is one Czechoslovak nation, though it might also appear as a politi ...

; recognition of Slovak self governance and of the

Slovak National Council The Slovak National Council (, 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 a focus for Slovak nationali ...

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 contrasts with p ...

of large companies, and other

socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

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 state ...

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 The Czechoslovak Army (Czech and Slovak: ''Československá armáda'') was the name of the armed forces of Czechoslovakia. It was established in 1918 following Czechoslovakia's declaration of independence from Austria-Hungary. History In t ...

on the

principles, introducing " propaganda officers".

References

{{Authority control April 1945 in Europe Slovakia during World War II Communist Party of Czechoslovakia March 1945 in Europe 1945 in Czechoslovakia Party platforms