Jan Šrámek | |
---|---|
Prime Minister of Czechoslovakia in exile | |
In office 21 July 1940 – 5 April 1945 |
|
President | Edvard Beneš |
Personal details | |
Born |
Grygov, Austria-Hungary |
8 November 1870
Died | 22 April 1956 Prague, Czechoslovakia |
(aged 86)
Political party | Czechoslovak People's Party |
Alma mater | Palacký University, Olomouc |
Religion | Roman Catholicism |
Jan Šrámek (November 8, 1870, Grygov, Margraviate of Moravia – April 22, 1956, Prague) was Prime Minister of the Czechoslovak government-in-exile from July 21, 1940 to April 5, 1945. He was the first chairman of the Czechoslovak People's Party and was a Monsignor.
From 1945 on Czechoslovakia was ruled by the Communist-dominated National Front which also included Šrámek's People's Party. Šrámek and his co-partisans worried about the increasing role of the communist party. Since 1947 the popular support for communists started to diminish. In order to consolidate power, communists carried out a coup in February 1948. Mgr. Šrámek had to resign as the chairman of the People's Party. His successor Rostislav Petr, and priest Josef Plojhar, a "strong man" within the People's Party, supported unconditional collaboration with communists.
Mgr. Jan Šrámek died 22 April 1956.