Timeline Tuesday 17 February 1948

Events on Tuesday 17 February 1948 1

• 1948 Communist coup in Czechoslovakia Communist Party seizes full control of the government Between February 17 and 25, 1948, the Czechoslovak Communist Party, backed by Moscow, forced the resignation of non-communist ministers and consolidated total power. President Edvard Beneš resigned soon after rather than sign further communist legislation. The coup ended Czechoslovakia's postwar coalition government and pulled the country firmly into the Soviet bloc.