CZECHOSLOVAKIA: Rudolf the Red-Haired Comrade

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It was the first time in all the bloody postwar history of satellite purges that a 100% Muscovite had been picked as the victim. On the surface it looked as if Gottwald had eliminated a dangerous competitor, and there were even people ready to believe that Gottwald was proving himself a potential Tito. More likely, the Kremlin had decided to jolt Czechoslovakia's rulers into meeting Soviet demands by striking down the man who had seemed safest of alL If the most loyal of them all could be convicted of disloyalty, so might men charged with even greater responsibility—President Gottwald, for example. It was entirely possible that before long, Rudolf and Klement would be teammates again—in disgrace.