How to Pronounce Klement Gottwald

Meaning and Context

Klement Gottwald, a foundational figure in the history of Czechoslovak communism, served as the Prime Minister from 1946 and was elected as the first communist President of Czechoslovakia in June 1948, following the successful 1948 Czechoslovak coup d'état, often termed the "Victorious February." As a staunch Stalinist, Gottwald orchestrated the country's transformation into a Soviet-aligned communist state, integrating it firmly into the Eastern Bloc during the early Cold War period. His leadership was marked by the consolidation of a one-party state, widespread political purges, and the implementation of a Soviet-style command economy, which collectively set the nation on a rigid ideological course for decades. The era of Gottwald's regime is synonymous with the onset of political repression, show trials, and the systematic dismantling of democratic institutions, leaving an indelible and controversial mark on Czechoslovak history and its 20th-century political trajectory.

Common Mistakes and Alternative Spellings

The name "Klement Gottwald" is relatively straightforward in spelling, but several common errors and variations occur, primarily due to phonetic interpretations and the challenges of Czech orthography for non-native speakers. The most frequent typo is the omission of the 'd' at the end, resulting in "Gottwal." Another common mistake is misspelling the first name as "Clement," the English equivalent, instead of the Czech "Klement." Some may also incorrectly add an 'e' in the surname, writing "Gottewald" or "Gottweald," or confuse the double 't' with a single 't' as in "Gotwald." In historical texts, one might encounter the fully accented Czech form, "Klement Gottwald," though the diacritics are often dropped in English-language publications. It is also important to distinguish him from other communist leaders, ensuring the surname is not mistakenly written as "Gottwaldová," which is the feminine form in Czech.

Example Sentences

Following the 1948 Czechoslovak coup d'état, Klement Gottwald proclaimed the beginning of a new, proletarian era from the balcony of Prague's Kinský Palace.

Historians often debate the extent to which Gottwald's slavish adherence to Stalinist doctrine directly precipitated the severe political purges of the early 1950s.

The town of Zlín was renamed Gottwaldov in 1949 to honor the president, a designation it retained for over four decades.

In a symbolic gesture of the regime's brutality, Gottwald's funeral in 1953 was marred by the collapse of the monument's crane, an incident secretly interpreted by many citizens as a dark omen.

Today, his mummified body, initially displayed in a mausoleum, serves as a macabre footnote to the cult of personality he cultivated.

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