Editing Klement Gottwald (section)

==Career==

=== Sports instructor and journalist ===
{{Unreferenced section|date=March 2024}}
After the collapse of the {{ill|Workers' Gymnastic Union|cs|Dělnická tělovýchovná jednota}}, the Communist-oriented party of the organization split off in 1921 and created the {{ill|Federation of Workers' Gymnastic Unions|cs|Federace dělnických tělocvičných jednot}} (FDTJ). Gottwald was able to unify the organization to gain considerable power in the local districts, and became the {{lang|cs|[[starosta]]}} of the 20th district of the FDTJ. In June 1921, he participated in the first [[Spartakiad]]a in [[Prague]]. In September 1921 he moved from [[Rousínov|Rousinov]] to [[Banská Bystrica]], where he became the editor of the communist magazine {{lang|sk|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 {{lang|cs|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 {{lang|cs|Spartakus}} magazine. In 1922 he moved to [[Vrútky]], where by decision of the [[Communist Party of Czechoslovakia|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]].

=== Beginning of political activity ===
[[File:Gottwald (EKI).jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.5|Gottwald's identification card during his time in the Comintern, 1935]]
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 [[Communist International|Comintern]].  Following a Comintern policy initiated by Stalin, he carried out the [[Bolshevization]] of the Party.<ref>{{cite journal |first=H. Gordon |last=Skilling |title=Gottwald and the Bolshevization of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (1929-1939) |journal=American Slavic and East European Review |volume=20 |issue=4 |year=1961 |pages=641–655|doi=10.2307/3004097 |jstor=3004097 }}</ref>

In February 1929, at the {{ill|Fifth Congress of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia|cs|V. sjezd KSČ|lt=Fifth Congress}} of the KSČ, Gottwald was elected party general secretary, alongside {{ill|Josef Guttmann|cs|de}}, [[Jan Šverma]], [[Rudolf Slánský]], [[Václav Kopecký]] and {{ill|Pavel Reiman|cs|de}}, together known as the {{ill|Karlín Boys|cs|Karlínští kluci}}.

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]].

=== Exile to the USSR ===
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After the banning of the Communist Party, Gottwald emigrated to [[Soviet Union|the Soviet Union]] in November 1938. While there, he opposed the party policy of backing the [[Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact|Molotov–Ribbentrop pact of 1939]]. After the [[Operation Barbarossa|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|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 (Czechoslovakia)|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 (Czechoslovakia)|National Front]]. In March 1946, he became prime minister after leading the KSČ to a 38% share of the vote.<ref>{{cite book |first=Jean-Baptiste |last=Duroselle |title=Histoire Diplomatique de 1919 à nos jours |at=pt. 3, ch. 2, par. 5, p. 256 |publisher=Dalloz |year=1993 |location=Paris}}</ref> 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 Germans from Czechoslovakia|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 [[Battle of White Mountain|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."<ref>{{cite book |last=Applebaum |first=Anne |title=Iron Curtain: The Crushing of Eastern Europe 1944–56 |location=London |publisher=Penguin |year=2013}}</ref>