The Daily Alaska empire., 1948-02-25
COM MES HAVE WON
 IN PRAGUE
President Benes Accepts New Dictator 6otfwaId
 with His Cabinet
lBY A. J. GoLpBERGl

PRAGUE, Fet. 25.-tRi-President ESiuard Benes announced tonight he has accepted new cabinet pre- scented by Communist Premier Kle- ment Gottwald. composed chiefly of communists and their Left Wing supporters.
 The Government radio announced shortly before that the President
 had capitulated to Communist de-
 mands, indicating the last obstacle to iron Communist control of the entire nation had been swept away. The new cabinet includes Social Democrats, who swung back to Com munist support this week after sev eral months of arrangement. Other parties also are represented Growing demonstrations brought
 the city to it's highest pitch thus far in the crisis, with the threat of Communicated genera. strike to enforce the demands increasing hourly. Soldiers armed with sub machine guns joined police patrol ling the Capital as crowds damned the public square.
 The radio. now in Communist hands, said the President had ac- cepted the resignations of l2 anti Communist ministers from the coal
 ition cabinet. This would clear she
 way for the Communist seizure of complete power
 The presldents olIlce declined to make any statement immediately but did not deny the report. Communist Premier Element Got twald went to the Presidential Pal ace to present list of ministers for ! a new cabinet. The radio said an announcement of new Govern
 ment was expected momentarily 1 The Communists clamped a grip ion communications as the coup rush.
 ed to climax. Nowhere, now. do the opposition parties have chance to oppose Gottwald publicly. j. Immediately after the announce
 ment that the frail Benes had cap | itulated. the Government radio 1 broadcast a proclamation of the So- cial Democratic Party, key to the crisis. denying q split in its ranks. The broadcast said the proclama- ton was signed ty Zdenek Fierlinger, pro- Communist former Premier who was deposited last November as the Party's Chairman when it declared independence from the Communists. Fierlinger vaulted into Party control yesterday.
 The ether signer was Bohumil Lausman. former Minister of Indus- try, who had succeeded Fferlinger. Element Gottwald. who emerged today as middle Europe's newest dic- tator, is veteran of a quarter cen
 tury of the Communist struggle for power.
 Czechoslovakia's Premier, now 5l, sometimes is referred to as the na- tion's own copy of Joseph Stalin. He has been a tested servant ot the Moscow line and one of the elite of
 Eurcpe's Communist leaders. Gottwald was one of the 10 top ranking Communists who signed. the , l943 declaration dissolving the : Comitern tCommunist Internation- aD. His name was first on the list ! Among the other signers were i Georgi Dimitrov. now in complete control of Bulgaria, Maurice Thorez, l Militant Communist leaAier in ] France; and Andre Zhandov. who ! in l947 was to sign the Poland Dec | laration setting up the Cominiofm,
 q successor to the Ccmiterl.
 Gottwald. calm. deliberate man
 who bears some physical resen1b-
 lance to Stalin. became Premier oi '. .Czechoslovakia after the Communist
 triumph in the first postwar cleo l ton.
 ! Gottwald was born of peasant , family in Moravia, Nov. 23, i896-St : Elements Day. Tn World War l he
 was drafted into the Austrian artil-
 lery. but he was considered unre-
 liable and was shifted to search
 light brigade.