Czech Statesman. As foreign minister in the post World War II Czechoslovak government, he embraced the Marshall Plan and publicly announced Czechoslovakia's desire to participate. Soviet Union Communist dictator Josef Stalin, however, called for meetings ( and told Masaryk that Czechoslovakia must refuse to participate. Masaryk said, "I left for Moscow as the minister of foreign affairs of a sovereign state. I am returning as Stalin's stooge." After the communist takeover of Czechoslovakia (February 25, 1948), Masaryk remained foreign minister until his death on March 10, 1948, at age 61. Masaryk's death is controversial: the Czechoslovak Communist Party and some scholars argue that Masaryk committed suicide by falling out of a window of the Foreign Ministry, while other scholars argue that he was murdered for political reasons by being pushed out of the window at Stalin's behest.
Czech Statesman. As foreign minister in the post World War II Czechoslovak government, he embraced the Marshall Plan and publicly announced Czechoslovakia's desire to participate. Soviet Union Communist dictator Josef Stalin, however, called for meetings ( and told Masaryk that Czechoslovakia must refuse to participate. Masaryk said, "I left for Moscow as the minister of foreign affairs of a sovereign state. I am returning as Stalin's stooge." After the communist takeover of Czechoslovakia (February 25, 1948), Masaryk remained foreign minister until his death on March 10, 1948, at age 61. Masaryk's death is controversial: the Czechoslovak Communist Party and some scholars argue that Masaryk committed suicide by falling out of a window of the Foreign Ministry, while other scholars argue that he was murdered for political reasons by being pushed out of the window at Stalin's behest.
Bio by: Erik Lander
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