National Front (Czechoslovakia)

The National Front (in Czech: Národní fronta, in Slovak: Národný front) was the coalition of parties which headed the re-established Czechoslovakian government from 1945 to 1948. During the Communist era in Czechoslovakia (1948–1989) it was the vehicle for control of all political and social activity by the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (CPC). It was also known in English as the National Front of Czechs and Slovaks.

As World War II began, Czechoslovakia disappeared from the map of Europe. The Czech lands became the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia under direct Nazi rule, while Slovakia ostensibly became independent. At the end of World War II, Czechoslovakia was included in the sphere of influence of the Soviet Union. Postwar Czechoslovakia was organized according to a program worked out by the CPC (whose leaders were in exile in Moscow), and Edvard Beneš, representing the government-in-exile—these being the two most important groups seeking the reconstitution of the country. Part of the program was the formation of a popular anti-Nazi coalition of parties. Negotiations began in December 1943 in Moscow. The CPC and the non-Communist parties had very different ideas about this.

This coalition was finally established as the "National Front" in April 1945, when a Czechoslovak government came into being in the city of Košice, recently liberated by Soviet troops.

The National Front government was a coalition of six parties:

Later two more parties were added:

The Slovak People's Party was banned due to its collaboration with the Nazis. The government decided not to allow the re-creation of other pre-war democratic parties, such as the Republican Party of Farmers and Peasants.

...
Wikipedia