Rudolf Beran (28 December 1887 – 23 April 1954) was a

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

who served as

prime minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

before its occupation by

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

and shortly thereafter, before it was declared a

protectorate A protectorate, in the context of international relations, is a State (polity), state that is under protection by another state for defence against aggression and other violations of law. It is a dependent territory that enjoys autonomy over ...

. A leader of the Agrarian Party from 1933, he was appointed prime minister by President

Emil Hácha Emil Dominik Josef Hácha (; 12 July 1872 – 27 June 1945) was a Czech lawyer, the president of Czechoslovakia from November 1938 to March 1939. In March 1939, after the breakup of Czechoslovakia, Hácha was the nominal president of the newly ...

on 1 December 1938. Beran was somewhat ambivalent toward democracy. In the hope of appeasing the Germans after the

Munich Agreement The Munich Agreement was reached in Munich on 30 September 1938, by Nazi Germany, the United Kingdom, the French Third Republic, French Republic, and the Kingdom of Italy. The agreement provided for the Occupation of Czechoslovakia (1938–194 ...

, he gathered most of the nonsocialist parties in the Czech lands into the Party of National Unity, with himself as its leader. He also subjected the press to tough censorship, but he presided over granting the Slovaks and Ruthenians' longstanding demands for autonomy. None of the measures was enough to prevent

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

from seceding on 14 March, or Germany from occupying the remainder of the country a day later. He then served as the first prime minister of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia until his retirement on 27 April 1939. After he retired, he settled on his farm. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he had contacts with members of the

Czech resistance Czechoslovak resistance to the German occupation of Czechoslovakia, German occupation of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia during World War II began after the occupation of the rest of Czechoslovakia and the formation of the protectorate o ...

. He was arrested in May 1941 by the Germans and spent years in various concentration camps. While he was in custody of the Gestapo in Prague, he had to answer several written questions submitted to him by K. H. Frank, Hitler's ''Staatsminister'' of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia. After the war, Beran was arrested as a collaborator by the

Communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

authorities, and in a manipulated political trial was sentenced to twenty years in prison. He died in Leopoldov Prison in 1954.

References

External links

* * * Literature: KULÍŠEK, Vítězslav, Politika druhé republiky (1938–1939): aneb první kolaps československé demokracie, Brno 2020, * https://kulisek-spisovatel.webnode.cz/politikadruherepubliky/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Beran, Rudolf 1887 births 1954 deaths People from Strakonice District People from the Kingdom of Bohemia Republican Party of Farmers and Peasants politicians Party of National Unity (Czechoslovakia) politicians National Partnership politicians Prime ministers of Czechoslovakia Prime ministers of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia Members of the Revolutionary National Assembly of Czechoslovakia Members of the Chamber of Deputies of Czechoslovakia (1920–1925) Members of the Chamber of Deputies of Czechoslovakia (1925–1929) Members of the Chamber of Deputies of Czechoslovakia (1929–1935) Members of the Chamber of Deputies of Czechoslovakia (1935–1939) Czech anti-communists Czech collaborators with Nazi Germany Czech people of World War II Prisoners who died in Czechoslovak detention Czechoslovak people who died in prison custody