Background
He was born into a peasant family in 1884 in the small town of Kožlany, Bohemia, in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. He was the son of Anna Petronila Benešová and Matěj Beneš.
(This book may well be called the memoirs of Czechoslovaki...)
This book may well be called the memoirs of Czechoslovakia. It gives the tragic account of the pressures, the broken promises, and the crises that led to Munich, dismemberment, and Nazi occupation.
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(Excerpt from Democracy Today and Tomorrow IN starting MY...)
Excerpt from Democracy Today and Tomorrow IN starting MY lectures on the problems of democracy at the University of Chicago I stressed at the very beginning the feelings with which I took on my task. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
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He was born into a peasant family in 1884 in the small town of Kožlany, Bohemia, in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. He was the son of Anna Petronila Benešová and Matěj Beneš.
Preparing systematically for the life of a diplomat and statesman, he studied in turn at the University of Prague, the Sorbonne, the Paris École des Sciences Politiques, and the universities of Dijon and Berlin.
He taught at the Commercial Academy at Prague before World War I and after the war was professor of sociology at the University of Prague. A student and disciple of Dr. Tomáš Masaryk, who later became Czechoslovakia's first president, Beneš organized an underground resistance movement in Prague in 1914-1915 and then joined Masaryk in Paris as secretary of the National Council, working for the independence of the Czechs and Slovaks. This goal was achieved through the Allied victory over Germany in World War I. From the end of the war in November 1918 until he was elected second president of Czechoslovakia on December 18, 1935, Beneš was foreign minister, serving also in 1921-1922 as premier. Beneš became one of the leading statesmen of Europe as a result of his successes at the Paris Peace Conference at Versailles in 1919. He was one of the founders of the Little Entente, author of the Geneva Protocol in 1924, and a staunch supporter of the League of Nations. On October 5, 1938, following the Munich Conference of September 28 and German occupation of Sudetenland, Beneš was forced to resign from the presidency. He left the country, and in 1939 taught for a time at the University of Chicago. Later the same year he went to England and France, and on July 21, 1940, during the early stages of World War II, he created a provisional government in London, which was recognized by the Allies as the continuation of the first Czechoslovak republic. He was largely responsible for the Soviet-Czechoslovak Pact of Friendship, Mutual Assistance, and Postwar Cooperation, signed December 12, 1943, which became the basis of Czech foreign policy. On March 9, 1945, after Soviet troops advanced into part of Czechoslovakia, the Czech government in exile left London by plane for Moscow, where on March 18 it was joined by Beneš. Conferences on reorganization of the government were held with delegates from the retaken area of Czechoslovakia, and on April 1 Beneš left Moscow for Košice, where it was proposed to set up the government. Beneš was elated with the success of his efforts and on his departure from Moscow thanked the Russians for their aid, saying: "In the future we shall go together with you, our brothers. " At Košice, Beneš was welcomed by Zdenek Fierlinger, the new leftist premier, and on May 10 Beneš and his cabinet returned in triumph to the capital at Prague, after an absence of over five years. A program of nationalization of public utilities and industry was soon under way. General elections were held in May 1946, the Communists polling 38 percent of the vote to become the country's strongest party. On June 19 the Constituent National Parliament elected Beneš president and Antonin Zápotocký, Communist leader, president of Parliament; on July 3 the Communist Klement Gottwald was named premier. As a consequence of these events, Czechoslovakia was rapidly drawn into the Soviet sphere of influence. In mid-February 1948, Communist leaders, led by Premier Gottwald, demanded a new government. On February 25, 1948, Beneš, declaring that he was acting to save his country and avert bloodshed, gave in to the demands and accepted the new government. The new cabinet was made up of twelve Communists, seven pro-Communists, and two non-Communists. Beneš, who was in poor health, became a mere figurehead and virtually a prisoner in the presidential palace. Twice within ten years, he had felt obliged to yield to the pressure of powerful neighbors in the hope of saving his country from disaster, and twice he had failed in this objective. At one time in the last stage of his long fight for the independence of his country, loyal Czech troops had been ready to impose martial law, disarm or drive out the Communists, and imprison Gottwald on charges of conspiring against the republic, but Beneš had been unwilling to give his approval because of fear of possible intervention by Soviet troops. On May 9, 1948, the Communist-dominated Parliament approved a new constitution, but Beneš would have nothing to do with it. Nevertheless, elections based on a single-list registration were held on May 30, producing a Parliament which was more than two thirds Communist in its membership. On June 7, 1948, three days after the official count was completed, Beneš resigned as president without having signed the new constitution. Gottwald, who later became Beneš successor, proposed and the cabinet agreed that Beneš, for the rest of his life, should receive an annual honorarium equal to his salary as president and have the use of the presidential country residence. Beneš died in suspicious circumstances on September 3, 1948, at his country home at Sezimovo Ústí, 60 miles south of Prague. It was widely believed at the time that he had either committed suicide or been murdered.
Edvard Beneš is a name that triggers much controversy: some people consider him a phenomenal politician dedicated to democracy while others sneer at him, pinpointing the tragedies of his political career. Beneš did make great achievements in his resistance work during both wars and was responsible for some ground-breaking events as foreign minister and president. Along with Masaryk he put Czech politics on the European and world map. Yet he was trapped in a tragic drama of international relations. He made mistakes. He put too much faith in the USSR and Russian socialism, for example. He hesitated when he should have taken action during February of 1948. Both his achievements and tragedies have to be considered within the historical context of the times as he was not once but twice defeated by ideological parties that destroyed democracy in Czechoslovakia.
(Excerpt from Democracy Today and Tomorrow IN starting MY...)
(This book may well be called the memoirs of Czechoslovaki...)
(Format Paperback Subject Literary Collections)
Edward Benes was a social reformist. In his political activities, he relied on the philosophy of positivism and the achievement of social sciences, primarily sociology, which he dealt with on a professional level. The second president of Czechoslovakia was also a supporter of the idea of the unity of the Czechoslovak people, which often led to his conflicts with the Slovak political elite.
In 1909 Eduard Benes married Hana Benešová. They had no children.
