Klement Gottwald

Klement Gottwald was born on 23 November 1896, but it is unclear if in Dědice (today part of Vyškov) or in Hoštice-Heroltice. His mother was an unmarried maidservant. Before World War I he was trained in Vienna as a carpenter but also actively participated in the activities of the Social Democratic youth movement.

Military service

From 1915 to 1918 Gottwald was a soldier in the Austro-Hungarian Army. It is believed that he fought in the Battle of Zborov, which would mean that he fought there against future General and President Ludvík Svoboda, who fought on the side of the Czechoslovak Legion. Thomas Jakl of the Military History Institute called Gottwald's participation in the Battle of Zborov a legend: Gottwald was in a hospital in Vienna during the time of the battle. In the summer of 1918, Gottwald deserted from the army. After the establishment of the first Czechoslovak Republic, he served for two years in the Czechoslovak Army. From 1920 to 1921 he worked in Rousinov as a cabinetmaker.

Sports instructor and journalist

After the collapse of the Workers' Gymnastic Union, the Communist-oriented party of the organization split off in 1921 and created the Federation of Workers' Gymnastic Unions (FDTJ). Gottwald was able to unify the organization to gain considerable power in the local districts, and became the starosta of the 20th district of the FDTJ. In June 1921, he participated in the first Spartakiada in Prague. In September 1921 he moved from Rousinov to Banská Bystrica, where he became the editor of the communist magazine Hlas Ľudu ("Voice of the people" in Slovak). At the same time, he was planning FDTJ events at the Banská Bystrica district. He became the local starosta of the district, and was the managing director of the 47th district of the FDTJ. Later, he moved to Žilina and became editor in chief of Spartakus magazine. In 1922 he moved to Vrútky, where by decision of the Communist Party Central Committee, they merged a number of communist magazines and consolidated editors. In 1924, the editorial staff, along with Gottwald, moved to Ostrava.

Exile to the USSR

After the banning of the Communist Party, Gottwald emigrated to the Soviet Union in November 1938. While there, he opposed the party policy of backing the Molotov–Ribbentrop pact of 1939. After the attack on the Soviet Union in June 1941, Soviet leadership saw the front against fascism as a great opportunity to assert themselves in Czechoslovakia, promoting interest in supporting Gottwald after the liberation of Czechoslovakia. In 1943, Gottwald agreed with representatives of the Czechoslovak government-in-exile located in London, along with President Edvard Beneš, to unify domestic and foreign anti-fascist resistance and form the National Front. This proved helpful for Gottwald as it helped secure Communist influence in post-war Czechoslovakia.

Return to Czechoslovakia and events leading up to the coup

In 1945, Gottwald gave up the general secretary's post to Rudolf Slánský and was elected to the new position of party chairman. On 10 May 1945, Gottwald returned to Prague as the deputy premier under Zdeněk Fierlinger and as the chairman of the National Front. In March 1946, he became prime minister after leading the KSČ to a 38% share of the vote. This was easily the best showing for a Czechoslovak party in a free election at the time; previously, no party had ever won more than 25 percent.

Gottwald was a firm supporter of the expulsion of ethnic Germans from Czechoslovakia, gaining mainstream credibility with many Czechs through the use of nationalist rhetoric, exhorting the population to "prepare for the final retribution for White Mountain, for the return of the Czech lands to the Czech people. We will expel for good all descendants of the alien German nobility." On the contrary, when Gottwald and the Communists took power in 1948, they put an end to the policy of persecution and expulsion of minorities forwarded by the nationalists and Benes, otherwise the Germans in fact sought help from the Russians against the Czechs.

Klement Gottwald was married to Marta Gottwaldová who came from a poor family and was an illegitimate child. Although his wife stood by him through his endeavours, and was his faithful companion, she never joined the Communist Party. They had one daughter, Marta (1920–1998), who married Alexey Čepička.

Beginning of political activity

In 1926, Gottwald became a functionary of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSČ), and editor of the Communist Press. From 1926 to 1929 he worked in Prague, where he aided the Secretariat of the KSČ to form a pro-Moscow opposition against the anti-Moscow leadership then in power. From 1928 he was a member of the Comintern. Following a Comintern policy initiated by Stalin, he carried out the Bolshevization of the Party.

In February 1929, at the Fifth Congress of the KSČ, Gottwald was elected party general secretary, alongside Josef Guttmann, Jan Šverma, Rudolf Slánský, Václav Kopecký and Pavel Reiman, together known as the Karlín Boys.

In the second half of 1930, the Communist Party carried out a number of reforms in accordance and response with the changes in those of the foreign policy of the Soviet Union, namely the introduction of the policy on the formation of a popular front against fascism. In September and October 1938, Gottwald was one of the main leaders of the opposition against the adoption of the Munich Agreement.