During the winter of 1947–48, both in…
February 1948 CE
During the winter of 1947–48, both in the Czechoslovakian cabinet and in parliament, tension between the Communists and their opponents has led to increasingly bitter conflict.
Matters come to a head in February 1948, when the Communist minister of the interior, Václav Nosek, illegally extends his powers by attempting to purge remaining non-Communist elements in the National Police Force.
The security apparatus and police are being transformed into instruments of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSČ), endangering basic civic freedoms.
On February 12, the non-Communists in the cabinet demand punishment for the offending Communists in the government and an end to this subversion but Nosek, backed by Gottwald, refuses; he and his fellow Communists threaten to use force and, in order to avoid defeat in parliament, mobilize groups of their supporters in the country.
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