List of presidents of Czechoslovakia

Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates The president of Czechoslovakia (Template:Langx, Template:Langx) was the head of state of Czechoslovakia, from the creation of the First Czechoslovak Republic in 1918 until the dissolution of the Czech and Slovak Federative Republic on 1 January 1993.

In periods when the presidency was vacant, most presidential duties were assumed by the prime minister.

The second section lists the leaders of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSČ) from 1948 to 1989. The post was titled as chairman from 1948 to 1953, first secretary from 1953 to 1971, and general secretary from 1971 to 1989. After the 1948 coup d'état, the KSČ's leader held the real executive power in the country. However, three party leaders (Klement Gottwald, Antonín Novotný, and Gustáv Husák) also served as president at some point in their tenures.

Presidents of Czechoslovakia (1918–1992)

Political parties

  Czechoslovak National Social Party (ČSNS)

  Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSČ)

  Civic Forum (OF)

Other factions

  Independent

No.	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Ethnicity	Election	Term of office			Political party		Ref.
					Took office	Left office	Time in office
First Czechoslovak Republic (1918–1938)
1	File:Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk 1925.PNG	Tomáš Masaryk (1850–1937)	Czech	1918 1920 1927 1934	14 November 1918	14 December 1935	Template:Ayd	style="background:Template:Party color"|	Independent
2	File:Edvard Beneš.jpg	Edvard Beneš (1884–1948)	Czech	1935	18 December 1935	5 October 1938	Template:Ayd	style="background:Template:Party color"|	Czechoslovak National Social Party
Second Czechoslovak Republic (1938–1939)
3	File:Emil Hácha 5.jpg	Emil Hácha (1872–1945)	Czech	1938	30 November 1938	15 March 1939	Template:Ayd	style="background:Template:Party color"|	Independent
Occupation (1939–1945) File:Greater arms of Bohemia and Moravia (1939-1945).svg Emil Hácha became State President of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, a de iure autonomous region incorporated into Nazi Germany. File:Middle coat of arms of Czechoslovakia.svg Edvard Beneš proclaimed himself President of the Czechoslovak government-in-exile, which was the government of Czechoslovakia recognized by the Allies during World War II. File:Coat of Arms of the Slovak State (1939-1945).svg Jozef Tiso became President of the quasi-independent, pro-Nazi and clero-fascist Slovak Republic. File:Karptska Ukraina COA.svg Avgustyn Voloshyn became President of Carpatho-Ukraine few days before invasion and occupation by the Kingdom of Hungary.
Third Czechoslovak Republic (1945–1948)
(2)	File:Edvard Beneš.jpg	Edvard Beneš (1884–1948)	Czech	1946	4 April 1945	7 June 1948	Template:Ayd	style="background:Template:Party color"|	Czechoslovak National Social Party
Communist Era (1948–1989) Czechoslovak Republic (1948–1960), Czechoslovak Socialist Republic (1960–1989)
4	File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-R90009, Budapest, II. Weltfestspiele, Festumzug, tschechische Delegation (cropped KG).jpg	Klement Gottwald (1896–1953)	Czech	1948	14 June 1948	14 March 1953	Template:Ayd	style="background:Template:Party color"|	Communist Party of Czechoslovakia
5	File:Portret Antonín Zápotocký, Bestanddeelnr 902-7903.jpg	Antonín Zápotocký (1884–1957)	Czech	1953	21 March 1953	13 November 1957	Template:Ayd	style="background:Template:Party color"|	Communist Party of Czechoslovakia
6	File:Antonín Novotný 1968.jpg	Antonín Novotný (1904–1975)	Czech	1957 1964	19 November 1957	22 March 1968	Template:Ayd	style="background:Template:Party color"|	Communist Party of Czechoslovakia
7	File:Ludvík Svoboda 1968.JPG	Ludvík Svoboda (1895–1979)	Czech	1968 1973	30 March 1968	29 May 1975	Template:Ayd	style="background:Template:Party color"|	Communist Party of Czechoslovakia
8	File:Gustáv Husák - oříznuto.JPG	Gustáv Husák (1913–1991)	Slovak	1975 1980 1985	29 May 1975	10 December 1989	Template:Ayd	style="background:Template:Party color"|	Communist Party of Czechoslovakia
Post–Communist Era (1989–1992) Czechoslovak Socialist Republic (1989–1990), Czech and Slovak Federative Republic (1990–1992)
9	File:Vaclav Havel.jpg	Václav Havel (1936–2011)	Czech	1989 1990	29 December 1989	20 July 1992	Template:Ayd	style="background:Template:Party color"|	Civic Forum

General secretaries of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (1948–1989)

Except for the final office-holder, the leader of the KSČ was de facto the most powerful person in the country during this period.

Title: Chairman (1948–1953) and first secretary (1953–1971).

No.	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Ethnicity	Term of office			Ref.
				Took office	Left office	Time in office
1	File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-R90009, Budapest, II. Weltfestspiele, Festumzug, tschechische Delegation (cropped KG).jpg	Klement Gottwald (1896–1953)	Czech	February 1948	14 March 1953	Template:Ayd
2	File:Antonín Novotný 1968.jpg	Antonín Novotný (1904–1975)	Czech	14 March 1953	5 January 1968	Template:Ayd
3	File:Dubček in 1990 (Fortepan 138485).jpg	Alexander Dubček (1921–1992)	Slovak	5 January 1968	17 April 1969	Template:Ayd
4	File:Gustáv Husák - oříznuto.JPG	Gustáv Husák (1913–1991)	Slovak	17 April 1969	17 December 1987	Template:Ayd
5	File:M Jakeš Praha 2014.JPG	Miloš Jakeš (1922–2020)	Czech	17 December 1987	24 November 1989	Template:Ayd
6	File:No image.png	Karel Urbánek (born 1941)	Czech	24 November 1989	20 December 1989	Template:Ayd

Timeline

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id:Independent value:rgb(0.8,0.8,0.8) legend: Independent
id:CSNS        value:lightorange      legend: Czechoslovak_National_Social_Party
id:KSC         value:red              legend: Communist_Party_of_Czechoslovakia
id:OF          value:blue             legend: Civic_Forum

 id:gray1  value:gray(0.85)
 id:gray2  value:gray(0.95)

DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1918 till:01/01/1993 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal ScaleMajor = gridcolor:gray1 unit:year increment:5 start:1920 ScaleMinor = gridcolor:gray2 unit:year increment:1 start:1918

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 text:"Political affiliation:"

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 bar:9

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 width:5 align:left fontsize:S shift:(5,-4) anchor:till

 bar:1
from: 14/11/1918 till: 14/12/1935 color:Independent text:"Masaryk" fontsize:10
 bar:2
from: 18/12/1935 till: 05/10/1938 color:CSNS
from: 04/04/1945 till: 07/06/1948 color:CSNS        text:"Beneš" fontsize:10
 bar:3
from: 30/11/1938 till: 15/03/1939 color:Independent text:"Hácha" fontsize:10
 bar:4
from: 14/06/1948 till: 14/03/1953 color:KSC         text:"Gottwald" fontsize:10
 bar:5
from: 21/03/1953 till: 13/11/1957 color:KSC         text:"Zápotocký" fontsize:10
 bar:6
from: 19/11/1957 till: 22/03/1968 color:KSC         text:"Novotný" fontsize:10
 bar:7
from: 30/03/1968 till: 28/05/1975 color:KSC         text:"Svoboda" fontsize:10
 bar:8
from: 29/05/1975 till: 10/12/1989 color:KSC         text:"Husák" fontsize:10
 bar:9
from: 29/12/1989 till: 20/07/1992 color:OF          text:"Havel" fontsize:10

</timeline>

Presidential standards

• 1918–1939, 1945–1960
  1918–1939, 1945–1960
• 1960–1990
  1960–1990
• 1990–1992
  1990–1992

See also

• List of heads of the Czech state
  • List of Bohemian monarchs
  • Lists of political office-holders in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia
  • List of prime ministers of Czechoslovakia
  • President of the Czech Republic
    • List of presidents of the Czech Republic
  • Prime Minister of the Czech Republic
    • List of prime ministers of the Czech Republic
  • President of Slovakia
  • Prime Minister of Slovakia
• List of Czech presidential pets