EN
The foreign policy of the post-war Third Czechoslovak Republic, based on a consensus of the democratic parties and the communists was established on the idea that co-operation between the Western powers and the USSR would continue. This was to have provided the restored state both with sufficient guarantees in the event of new aggression from Germany, something perhaps generally anticipated at that time, and also to secure the survival of the limited post-war democracy, at least within the National Front. As soon as the first serious conflicts began to occur between Moscow and the West, in particular Washington and London, in 1948, the first serious flaws in the concept became apparent. While the “Western” pillar of the notional “bridge” concept weakened, the “Eastern” pillar strengthened including at a trading and political level. This was subsequently expressed in international aspects of the communist coup in early 1948. The KSČ’s easy victory in February 1948 did nevertheless trigger a number of diplomatic and other acts from the West in other conflicts with communists, such as during the elections in Italy and the accelerated signature of Western Union’s Treaty of Brussels, and it also facilitated the initial round of discussions on the establishment of NATO.