Consequently, the political and economic organisation of Czechoslovakia became largely a matter of negotiations between Edvard Beneš and the Communist Party members exiled in Moscow.

President Beneš flew from his exile in London to Košice in eastern Slovakia, which had been taken by the Red Army and which became the temporary capital.

[3] In Košice the new National Front government was formed, based on discussions dating back to 1943,[4] with Beneš remaining president, Zdeněk Fierlinger becoming prime minister with Klement Gottwald as deputy premier.

[8] Beneš had compromised with the KSČ to avoid a postwar coup; he naïvely hoped that the democratic process would restore a more equitable distribution of power.

Beneš had negotiated the Soviet alliance, but at the same time he hoped to establish Czechoslovakia as a "bridge" between East and West, capable of maintaining contacts with both sides.

Czechs, bitterly disappointed by the West at the Munich Agreement, responded favourably to both the KSČ and the Soviet alliance.

Most important, although the communists held only a minority of portfolios, they were able to gain control over such key ministries as information, internal trade, finance and interior (including the police apparatus).

Through these ministries, the communists were able to suppress noncommunist opposition, place party members in positions of power, and create a solid basis for a takeover attempt.

In July, the Czechoslovak government, with KSČ approval, accepted an Anglo-French invitation to attend preliminary discussions of the Marshall Plan.

The Soviet Union responded immediately to the Czechoslovak move to continue the Western alliance: Stalin summoned Gottwald to Moscow.

Originally announced by Gottwald at the KSČ Central Committee meeting in November 1947, news of the "reactionary plot" was disseminated throughout the country by the communist press.

From June of that year, and especially after the outbreak of the 1947–1948 civil war in Mandatory Palestine in November, Czechoslovakia began to sell arms to the Palestinian Jewish Haganah defense force.

In January 1948, the communist-controlled Ministry of Interior proceeded to purge the Czechoslovak security forces, substituting noncommunists with communists.

Simultaneously, the KSČ began agitating for increased nationalisation and for a new land reform limiting landholdings to fifty hectares.

The communist-controlled Ministry of Interior deployed police regiments to sensitive areas and equipped a workers' militia.

Members of the People's, National Socialist and Czech Democratic parties were also included, so the government was still nominally a coalition.