The 1934 Czechoslovak presidential election took place on 24 May 1934.

Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk Tomáš () is a Czech and Slovak given name, equivalent to the name Thomas. It may refer to: * Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk (1850–1937), first President of Czechoslovakia * Tomáš Baťa (1876–1932), Czech footwear entrepreneur * Tomáš Berdyc ...

was elected for his fourth term.

Background

was 84 years old when his third term concluded. He wanted

Edvard Beneš Edvard Beneš (; 28 May 1884 – 3 September 1948) was a Czech politician and statesman who served as the president of Czechoslovakia from 1935 to 1938, and again from 1945 to 1948. He also led the Czechoslovak government-in-exile 1939 to 194 ...

to become his successor but Beneš didn't have required support and Masaryk decided to run instead of him. Masaryk had to deal with poor health and suffered a stroke prior to election.

Communist Party of Czechoslovakia The Communist Party of Czechoslovakia ( Czech and Slovak: ''Komunistická strana Československa'', KSČ) was a communist and Marxist–Leninist political party in Czechoslovakia that existed between 1921 and 1992. It was a member of the Comint ...

nominated

Klement Gottwald Klement Gottwald (; 23 November 1896 – 14 March 1953) was a Czech communist politician, who was the leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia from 1929 until his death in 1953–titled as general secretary until 1945 and as chairman fro ...

as its candidate; he would later go on to serve as president between 1948 and 1953, following the coup in 1948.

Procedure

President was elected by bicameral parliament that consisted of 300 Deputies and 150 Senators. Candidate needed 60% of votes to be elected.

Voting

418 electors voted. Masaryk received 327 votes while Gottwald received 38 votes. 53 Ballots were blank.

Aftermath

Masaryk resigned on 14 December 1935 and

was elected his successor.

References

{{Czechoslovak presidential elections Presidential

1934 Events January–February * January 1 – The International Telecommunication Union, a specialist agency of the League of Nations, is established. * January 15 – The 8.0 Nepal–Bihar earthquake strikes Nepal and Bihar with a maxi ...