Resistance in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia

Four days of bloody street fighting ensued before the Soviet Red Army entered the nearly liberated city.

[2] The three major resistance groups that consolidated under ÚVOD were the Political Centre (Politické ústředí, PÚ), the Committee of the Petition "We Remain Faithful" (Petiční výbor Věrni zůstaneme, PVVZ), and the Nation's Defence (Obrana národa, ON).

In 1941, ÚVOD endorsed the political platform designed by the leftist group PVVZ, titled "For Freedom: Into a New Czechoslovak Republic".

[citation needed] In addition to serving as the means of communication between London and Prague, the ÚVOD was also responsible for the transmission of intelligence and military reports.

Beneš often urged the ÚVOD to relay falsely optimistic reports of the military situation to improve morale or motivate more widespread resistance.

[2] The ÚVOD's relationship with the KSČ was an important aspect of its daily functions, as Soviet-Czech relations became a central part of their resistance efforts.

In a broadcast from London on 24 June 1941 via the ÚVOD, Beneš informed his country that "the relationship between our two states thus returned to the pre-Munich situation and the old friendship.

[12] The largest and most successful group was the Jan Žižka partisan brigade, based in the Hostýn-Vsetín Mountains of southern Moravia.

After crossing the border from Slovakia in September 1944,[13] the Žižka brigade sabotaged railroads and bridges and raided the German police forces sent to hunt them down.

[15] Eventually, the Žižka brigade grew to over 1,500 people[11] and was operating in large parts of Moravia upon the liberation of the area in April 1945.

[16] On 5 May 1945, in the last moments of the war in Europe, citizens of Prague spontaneously attacked the occupiers and Czech resistance leaders emerged from hiding to guide them.

German troops counterattacked, but progress was difficult due to the defection of the Russian Liberation Army and barricades constructed by the Czech citizenry.