Alan Paul Benes, (born January 21, 1972 in Evansville, Indiana), was a Major League Baseball pitcher who pitched for three teams over the course of eight seasons.

Benes attended Lake Forest High School in Illinois and Creighton University, where he was part of Creighton's NCAA College World Series appearance (1991). He began his major league career in 1995, pitching in three games for the St. Louis Cardinals. His highlight years included the 1996 and 1997 seasons with the Cardinals, when he won a combined 22 games and struck out 291 batters over 353 innings. His performance during the 1996 season helped the Cardinals reach the playoffs for the first time since 1987. During the 1996 post-season, Alan posted an 0–1 record with an 2.84 ERA.

In 1997, batters hit only .219 against him, and Benes had 160 strikeouts in 161.2 innings. His 2.89 ERA would have placed him tied for the sixth-best ERA than year, but he fell just 1/3 of an inning short of of the 162 required innings when he had a shoulder injured that ended his season in late July. At the time of this injury he ranked third in the league in strikeouts.^[1]

Benes sat out the majority of the 1998 and 1999 seasons with an arm injury, which would never allow him to return to top form. From 2000 through 2003, he pitched a combined 123 innings with St. Louis Cardinals, Chicago Cubs and Texas Rangers. After various stints in the minor leagues following the 2003 season, Alan retired before the 2007 season and is currently serving as an instructor to the St. Louis Cardinals.

He is the younger brother and former teammate of retired major league pitcher Andy Benes, and the older brother of former minor league pitcher Adam Benes and the uncle of minor league pitcher Drew Benes.

References[link]

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)

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Jim Hendry (born July 27, 1955, Dunedin, Florida) is currently a special assistant for New York Yankees GM Brian Cashman, and is a former Vice President/General Manager of the Chicago Cubs. Hendry was promoted to GM on July 5, 2002 by former Cubs President/CEO Andy MacPhail. He worked for the Cubs from 1995 to 2011. Prior to his promotion to GM, he was named Assistant GM/Player Personnel Director on October 12, 2001, and previously the Director of Player Development, in charge of both Scouting and Minor League Operations.

Early life[link]

Hendry graduated from Spring Hill College, where he had majored in communications and journalism. He could not find a job in broadcasting, and took a job as a high school teacher and baseball coach in Miami. This led to a job at Creighton University in 1983, and he was promoted to head coach in the middle of the 1984 season. Following Creighton's NCAA College World Series appearance (1991), Hendry was named National Coach of the Year. He left Creighton later that year to become special assistant to then Florida Marlins GM Dave Dombrowski, and also coached minor league teams in 1993 and '94. Jim has two kids, Lauren and John.

Tenure with Cubs[link]

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Hendry's tenure as general manager produced mixed results. In 2003, the Cubs made their first playoff appearance in the Hendry era, but just three years later, Hendry's Cubs had the worst record in the National League. One of his first moves provided fodder for critics and boosters alike: late in spring training 2002, he dealt Julian Tavarez and Dontrelle Willis to the Florida Marlins for pitchers Matt Clement and Antonio Alfonseca. The deal produced mixed results; Clement was the Cubs' most consistent pitcher in 2002 and continued to be valuable in 2003, while Tavarez's volatile behavior was a distraction to the Cubs in 2001. On the downside, Alfonseca struggled while a Cub, and the minor league pitcher traded to the Marlins was Dontrelle Willis, the 2003 Rookie of the Year.

The Cubs did not contend in 2002, and Hendry fired manager Don Baylor in July, replacing him with Iowa Cubs manager Bruce Kimm on an interim basis. The Cubs staggered to the end of the season in 2002, and Hendry purged several veterans from the roster. One veteran, Todd Hundley, a free agent acquisition before the 2001 season, struggled on the field, feuded with fans, and had even begun to tarnish the image of his father Randy Hundley, a member of the Cubs teams of the 1960s and 1970s. Hundley's large contract would have made trading him difficult, so the only way that he could leave the team would be if Hendry released him. Nevertheless, former Los Angeles Dodgers general manager Dan Evans, offered second baseman Mark Grudzielanek and first baseman Eric Karros. Grudzielanek and Karros were also high-priced veterans with their careers waning. But the two players managed productive seasons in 2003, also providing veteran leadership.

Hendry made his biggest splash in the 2002–2003 offseason when he hired former San Francisco Giants manager Dusty Baker to manage the club just days after Baker's Giants lost in seven games to the Anaheim Angels in the World Series.

2003 Cubs: Only five outs away[link]

The Cubs started 2003 well, but stumbled after center fielder Corey Patterson injured his knee in June. A little more than two weeks after his injury, Hendry sent prospect Bobby Hill and veteran José Hernández to the Pittsburgh Pirates for a center fielder who could replace Patterson for the remainder of the season, Kenny Lofton. The Cubs also received third baseman Aramis Ramirez in the trade, ending the revolving door that had been at 3B ever since Ron Santo was traded to the White Sox. Ramirez blossomed into a star with the Cubs, and Lofton provided the spark at the top of the lineup that the Cubs needed.

The Cubs won the National League Central Division title in 2003, and beat Atlanta in the National League Division Series, their first postseason series victory since 1908. They then came within five outs from their first World Series appearance since 1945. They were up three games to one on the Florida Marlins in the NLCS and ended up losing the last three games, including the infamous Game 6 involving fan Steve Bartman followed by an error by Alex Gonzalez on a routine double play ball that would have ended the inning with the score 3-1 in favor of the Cubs.

The Disappointment of 2004[link]

After failing to close out the 2003 NLCS against the Florida Marlins, Hendry made several acquisitions, picking up first baseman Derrek Lee for Hee Seop Choi in a trade with the Marlins, acquiring catcher Michael Barrett in a three-way trade with the Oakland Athletics, giving up Damian Miller in the process and Montreal Expos, signing free agents LaTroy Hawkins, Todd Walker and Greg Maddux. On March 25, 2004, he sent prospect pitchers Juan Cruz and Steve Smyth to the Atlanta Braves for two minor leaguers, pitcher Andy Pratt and infielder Richard Lewis.^[1]

The Cubs were Sports Illustrated's preseason choice to win the World Series in 2004. Injuries to key players like Mark Prior, Sammy Sosa, Kerry Wood, Joe Borowski, and Alex Gonzalez hindered the Cubs during the early part of the season. On July 31, Hendry made a four-team deal with the Montreal Expos, Minnesota Twins and Boston Red Sox, sending Gonzalez and prospects Brendan Harris and Francis Beltrán to the Expos and prospect Justin Jones to the Minnesota Twins. In return, the Cubs received All-Star shortstop Nomar Garciaparra from Boston, along with prospect Matt Murton.

Garciaparra missed several games down the stretch because of an injury to his groin, forcing Hendry to sign Neifi Perez off of waivers. Meanwhile, the Cubs' bullpen became a bigger and bigger source of concern. With Borowski out for the season, the Cubs made Hawkins the closer, and Hawkins struggled down the stretch, blowing two key games the last week of the season. The Cubs led the Wild Card race by 1½ games with nine to go before fading to three games behind the eventual Wild Card winner, the Houston Astros.

As the Cubs saw their lead in the Wild Card race disintegrate, the Cubs became mired in controversy regarding the treatment of the team by television announcers Chip Caray and Steve Stone. After the 2004 season, Chip Caray signed a deal to broadcast Atlanta Braves games (with his father, Skip Caray) while Stone eventually decided not to return as Cubs' color commentator. Meanwhile, slugger Sammy Sosa walked out on his team twice at the end of the season. The first time came during an extra-inning loss to the Montreal Expos at Wrigley Field when Sosa, who did not start because of back spasms, decided to leave the ballpark in the seventh inning to beat traffic on Lake Shore Drive back to his condominium at Lake Point Towers. With Sosa not on the bench available to pinch-hit, Baker called on Ramon Martinez to pinch-hit with the tying run on base in the 12th inning of a 7–6 loss. The second time came the last game of the season, when Sosa left the park moments after learning he wasn't in the starting lineup. When Sosa claimed he stayed until the seventh inning of the game, Hendry released a surveillance tape showing Sosa leaving the park shortly after the 1:20 first pitch.

As a result, the first priority of the 2004–2005 offseason was unloading Sosa. After in-depth talks with the New York Mets and Washington Nationals, the Cubs sent Sosa to the Baltimore Orioles, getting utility player Jerry Hairston Jr., second baseman Mike Fontenot and pitcher David Crouthers. Hendry then signed veteran Jeromy Burnitz to replace Sosa in right field. He signed middle reliever Chad Fox and traded Kyle Farnsworth to the Detroit Tigers for Roberto Novoa and minor-leaguers Scott Moore and Bo Flowers.

2006 Cubs: A Season of Disarray[link]

After a sub-.500 season marred by injuries in 2005, the Cubs made few major moves going into the 2006 season.

Before the 2006 season, Hendry received a two-year contract extension from the Tribune Company. That gives Hendry financial security the next two seasons, but it doesn't guarantee he will remain with the club. The biggest move was trading three young pitchers, Ricky Nolasco, Sergio Mitre and Renyel Pinto to the Marlins for center fielder Juan Pierre. In November, 2005, Hendry attempted to shore up his bullpen with relievers Scott Eyre and Bob Howry. The Cubs also signed free agent Jacque Jones to play right field. He signed injured free agent starter Wade Miller to a one-year, $1 million contract with $1 million in incentives. Hendry also re-signed journeymen players like Glendon Rusch and Neifi Perez to multi-year deals. Again, injuries marred the 2006 season with Lee going down with a broken wrist just 14 games into the season. Mark Prior and Kerry Wood again went down with frequent injuries. Another factor in the Cubs' poor performance in 2006 was their finishing last in the major leagues in walks.

As the Cubs struggled into July, Hendry announced that he was going to evaluate the coaching staff's performance at the All-Star Break, causing many pundits to speculate that Baker, as well as coaches Gene Clines, Gary Matthews, Larry Rothschild and Dick Pole, were in jeopardy of losing their jobs. Hendry responded that he was not necessarily firing anyone, and that he would not necessarily finish his evaluation over the four-day break. On July 26, Hendry announced manager Dusty Baker would stay on for the rest of the season. At the end of July Hendry traded Maddux to the Los Angeles Dodgers for shortstop Cesar Izturis, and Walker to the San Diego Padres for pitching prospect Jose Ceda, both of which were announced after the deadline had actually passed, but were completed before the deadline. Wade Miller made his first start of the season on September 9, 2006, making five starts total and finishing the season 0–2 with a 4.57 ERA. He filed for free agency after the season and has subsequently re-signed with a contract extension.

On October 2, 2006, Hendry announced that the Cubs would not offer manager Dusty Baker a contract extension. The Cubs finished the 2006 season with 66 wins and 96 losses, finishing 17½ games behind division winner and eventual 2006 World Series Champions St. Louis Cardinals and last place in the National League Central Division. It was the first time the Cubs finished in last place during Hendry's tenure as General Manager and first time as a team since 2000.

Preparing for 2007[link]

Hendry began a huge offseason spending spree starting on October 17, 2006 when Hendry hired veteran manager Lou Piniella to replace Dusty Baker as the Cubs manager for at least the next three seasons with a club option for a fourth season.^[2] On November 19, Hendry signed^[3] former Washington Nationals superstar Alfonso Soriano to an 8 year, $136 million contract to play outfield for the Cubs. Third baseman Aramis Ramirez opted out of his current contract and filed for free agency, but subsequently signed a new contract with the Cubs, a five year $73 million deal.

In other moves, Hendry inked Wade Miller to an incentive laden, one-year $1.5 million extension to stay with the Cubs.^[4] He also signed free agent second baseman and utility player Mark DeRosa (previously of the Texas Rangers) to a three-year, $13 million deal on November 14, 2006.^[5] On November 16, 2006. he completed a trade sending relievers David Aardsma and prospect Carlos Vásquez to the cross-town rival Chicago White Sox for left-handed setup man Neal Cotts.^[6] On December 6, 2006, the Cubs agreed to a four-year, $40 million deal with free agent pitcher Ted Lilly, who played the previous season for the Toronto Blue Jays, beating out the New York Yankees,^[7] while Hendry was being hospitalized for chest pains. On December 9, it was reported that Hendry signed free agent Jason Marquis to a three-year, $20 million contract. Marquis had last pitched for St. Louis.^[8] On December 15, the Cubs also announced their signing of backup first baseman and outfielder Daryle Ward.^[9] Hendry also signed outfielder/1B veteran Cliff Floyd, a Chicago native, to a one-year, $3 million deal on January 24, 2007.^[10] Hendry inked Mark Prior to a one-year, $3.575 million contract for 2007 as well.

The Cubs sent utility outfielder prospect Freddie Bynum to the Baltimore Orioles for a player to be named later^[11] (right-handed pitcher Kevin Hart). They selected former number-one Rule 5 draft pick Josh Hamilton from the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and immediately traded him to the Cincinnati Reds for cash considerations. In the draft, the Cubs also selected right-handed pitcher James Henderson from Washington, and lost: left-handed pitcher Edward Campusano to the Milwaukee Brewers, right-handed pitcher Lincoln Holdzkom to the Houston Astros, infielder Richard Lewis to the Kansas City Royals, and shortsop Jason Smith to Toronto.^[12]

While at the Winter Meetings, Hendry felt chest pains and was taken to the hospital where he had an angioplasty; he finalized the Lilly deal from his hospital bed. By the start of Spring Training, Hendry spent $300 million dollars in new contracts.

2007 Season[link]

With new ownership coming at the end of the 2007 season and with the Cubs falling in the standings in May and June, Hendry's chances of staying as the General Manager remained an open question at mid season.

On May 28, 2007, Jim Hendry stated that his team was underachieving. At the time, the Cub had a 22–26 record and were five games behind division-leading Milwaukee.

After June 2, the Chicago Cubs went on to put up the best record in baseball as they chased after a playoff spot. Help arrived when Jim Hendry made it clear that the team was a buyer and not a seller with the acquisitions of Jason Kendall, Craig Monroe and Steve Trachsel. On September 28, 2007, the Cubs clinched the National League Central for the first time since 2003 with an 84–76 record.

The Cubs were swept by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the first round of the 2007 NLDS. In October 2008, the Cubs extended Hendry's contract for an additional four years.^[13] Rich Harden was acquired from Oakland mid way through the 2008 season, and proved to be a key trade in thir 08 success.

2008 Season[link]

In 2008, the Cubs led the Central Division nearly the entire year, ended with the best record in the National League (97 wins), but were once again swept in the NLDS by the Los Angeles Dodgers. This was the year that Japanese superstar Kosuke Fukudome made his arrival to the U.S. and was signed by Hendry to a 4-year $48 Million contract to play Right Field. Fukudome began the season with strong play, but cooled down and left fans disappointed as the season wore on.

Final years with the Cubs (2009-2011)[link]

Despite consistently having a team with one of the highest payrolls in baseball, the Cubs have struggled in recent seasons. Many of big contracts that Hendry handed out have come back to haunt the Cubs. From 2009 through 2011, the Cubs have had the 2nd, 1st, and 2nd highest payrolls in the National League respectively. Prior to 2009, Hendry signed enigmatic OF Milton Bradley to a 3 year/$30 million contract. The Cubs finished 2009 barely above .500 at 83-78 and Bradley was a major bust. He finished the year suspended by the team. In 2010, for most of the season they were one of the worst teams in the baseball. Despite finishing the season strongly, they ended up at 75-87. In 2011, the Cubs once again possessed one of the worst records in baseball, finishing at 71-91, 25 games behind the first-place Cardinals.

Cubs Chairman Tom Ricketts notified Hendry on July 22, 2011, that he wouldn't be retained as general manager. Hendry was allowed to remain with the team to help get the Cubs’ draft picks signed. He was relieved of his duties on August 19, 2011 and replaced on an interim basis by assistant general manager Randy Bush.

Hendry was the only general manager in Cubs history to oversee three postseason clubs (2003, 2007, 2008) and was the first Cubs general manager to lead the franchise to consecutive postseason berths since the 1930s. Under his tenure, the Cubs were 749-748. He was the third longest serving general manager in the history of the club.

New York Yankees (2012-Present)[link]

On January 31, 2012 Hendry agreed to a multi-year deal to become a special assistant to Yankees GM Brian Cashman. Hendry was excited about the new opportunity and stated he would get straight to work on digging up Lou Gehrig's corpse so Hendry's good friend Mike Quade could wear the clothes Gehrig was buried in.^{[citation needed]}

References[link]

External links[link]

• Jim Hendry Bio on The Cubdom
• Jim Hendry on Baseball America's Executive Database
• Chicago Cubs General Managers
• Jim Hendry Interview at Baseball Digest Daily

Andy Benes
Pitcher
Born: (1967-08-20) August 20, 1967 (age 44) Evansville, Indiana
Batted: Right	Threw: Right
MLB debut
August 11, 1989 for the San Diego Padres
Last MLB appearance
September 29, 2002 for the St. Louis Cardinals
Career statistics
Win–loss record	155–139
Earned run average	3.97
Strikeouts	2,000
Teams
San Diego Padres (1989–1995) Seattle Mariners (1995) St. Louis Cardinals (1996–1997) Arizona Diamondbacks (1998–1999) St. Louis Cardinals (2000–2002)
Career highlights and awards
All-Star selection (1993)

Medal record
Baseball
Competitor for the  United States
Olympic Games
Gold	1988 Seoul	Team
Baseball World Cup
Silver	1988 Rome	Team

Andrew Charles Benes (born August 20, 1967 in Evansville, Indiana) is a former Major League Baseball right-handed pitcher. During a 14-year career from 1989 to 2002. Benes played for four different teams: the San Diego Padres, the Seattle Mariners, the St. Louis Cardinals and the Arizona Diamondbacks. His brother Alan also pitched in the Major Leagues, and was his teammate in 1996–97 and 2000–01. He and his brother Alan attended Evansville Lutheran School and Evansville Central High School.

Career[link]

Benes was the first person selected in the 1988 Major League Baseball Draft after playing college baseball at the University of Evansville.^[1] Benes pitched well enough in his first year to make it to the majors and be named National League Rookie Pitcher of the Year by The Sporting News.^[1] Benes was an All-Star in 1993^[1] after a 15–15 season with the Padres, and led the Majors in losses with 14 and in strikeouts with 189 the next season. Benes finished third in the Cy Young Award balloting in 1996 after a 18–10, 3.83 earned run average season. After the 1997 season, Benes agreed to sign a 5-Yr / 30 Million dollar contract to return to the Cardinals. Unfortunately, the contract was signed after the deadline for players to re-sign with their 1997 teams. Benes would then have to wait until May 1 to re-sign^[2] Instead, Benes became one of the first players in Diamondbacks history when he signed as a free agent prior to the 1998 season and threw out the first pitch in the history of the franchise.^[1]

In a 2004 column for The Sporting News, pitcher Todd Jones wrote that Benes had a habit of gritting his teeth when preparing to throw a slider, a tell that some hitters exploited.^[3]

See also[link]

• List of Major League Baseball leaders in career wins

References[link]

External links[link]

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)

Nathan Funk (born November 7, 1983 in Sioux City, Iowa) is a 6'3" (192 cm) American basketball player who recently finished his collegiate basketball career at Creighton University.

Funk was born and raised in Sioux City, Iowa where he attended Blessed Sacrament Middle School and Bishop Heelan Catholic High School.

He is the son of Timm and Jean Funk and has two siblings, Justin and Sara.

Player profile[link]

As a fifth-year senior, Funk recently led the 22-10 Jays to the 2007 Missouri Valley Conference title with a victory over rival Southern Illinois. After scoring 66 points in three tournament wins in St. Louis, Funk was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player. Currently, he is sixth on Creighton's all-time scoring list, behind fifth-place Kyle Korver. Funk also holds the all-time record for games played as a Bluejay.

His junior year, Funk led the team in both scoring and rebounding with averages of 17.8 and 5.1, respectively. During the 2005-06 season, he was forced to sit out the rest of the season and undergo surgery after injuring his labrum while diving for a loose ball. Creighton University requested an extra year of eligibility for Funk due to his injury. This request was approved by the NCAA. Funk's career-high in scoring, 38 points, came during a victory over Dayton four days before he received his season-ending injury. He was both named to the all-MVC team and was runner-up for Valley Player of the Year Award in 2005 and 2007.

Nate Funk played one season for Germany's Eisbären Bremerhaven basketball team. He was one of the top scorers on the team. Nate currently plays professional basketball in Turkey for Erdemir Zonguldak.

Trivia[link]

• Nate Funk was the last active Creighton Bluejay player that played in an official regular season game at the Omaha Civic Auditorium.
• Nate played in 135 games in his collegiate career, which is the career record at Creighton.
• Nate's 1,754 career points placed him sixth all-time on the Creighton Bluejays career scoring chart. He also ranked 31st on the Missouri Valley Conference career scoring chart.
• Nate Funk is one of Bill Simmons' "Reggie Cleveland All-Stars" for white players with black sounding names.
• After one season Nate Funk leaves Bremerhaven.

See also[link]

• Bill Simmons

References[link]

• GoCreighton.com
• GoCreighton.com

Edvard Beneš
President of Czechoslovakia
In office 18 December 1935 – 5 October 1938
Preceded by	Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk
Succeeded by	Emil Hácha
President of Czechoslovakia in exile
In office 1940 – 2 April 1945
President of Czechoslovakia
In office 28 October 1945 – 7 June 1948
Preceded by	Emil Hácha
Succeeded by	Klement Gottwald
Prime Minister of Czechoslovakia
In office 26 September 1921 – 7 October 1922
Preceded by	Jan Černý
Succeeded by	Antonín Švehla
Personal details
Born	(1884-05-28)28 May 1884 Kožlany, Bohemia
Died	3 September 1948(1948-09-03) (aged 64) Sezimovo Ústí, Czechoslovakia
Political party	Czech National Social Party
Spouse(s)	Hana Benešová

Edvard Beneš with wife 1921, autochrome portrait by Josef Jindřich Šechtl

Edvard Beneš with his wife 1934

Statue of Edvard Beneš in front of headquarters of Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Prague

Edvard Beneš (Czech pronunciation: [ˈɛdvart ˈbɛnɛʃ] ( listen)) (28 May 1884 – 3 September 1948) was a leader of the Czechoslovak independence movement, Minister of Foreign Affairs and the second President of Czechoslovakia. He was known to be a skilled diplomat.

Youth[link]

Edvard Beneš was born into a peasant family in the small town of Kožlany, Bohemia, ca. 60 km west of Prague. His brother was a Czechoslovak politician Vojta Beneš, grandfather of Emilie Benes Brzezinski. He spent much of his youth in Vinohrady district of Prague, where he attended a grammar school from 1896 to 1904. During this time he played football for Slavia Prague.^[1] After studies at the Faculty of Philosophy of the Charles University in Prague, he left for Paris and continued his studies at the Sorbonne and at the Independent School of Political and Social Studies (École Libre des Sciences Politiques). He completed his first degree in Dijon, where he received his Doctorate of Laws in 1908. Then he taught for three years at the Prague Academy of Commerce, and after his habilitation in the field of philosophy in 1912, he became a lecturer in sociology at Charles University. He was involved in Scouting.^[2]

First exile[link]

During World War I, Beneš was one of the leading organizers of an independent Czechoslovakia abroad. He organized a Czech pro-independence anti-Austrian secret resistance movement called "Maffia". In September, 1915, he went into exile where in Paris he made intricate diplomatic efforts to gain recognition from France and the United Kingdom for the Czechoslovak independence movement, as he was from 1916–1918 a Secretary of the Czechoslovak National Council in Paris and Minister of the Interior and of Foreign Affairs within the Provisional Czechoslovak government.

In May 1918 Beneš, Masaryk, and Stefanik were reported to be organizing a Czecho-Slovak army to fight for the Western Allies in France, recruited from among Czechs and Slovaks able to get to the front and also from the large emigrant populations in the United States, said to number more than one and a half million.^[3]

Czechoslovakia[link]

From 1918–1935, Beneš was first and the longest serving Foreign Minister of Czechoslovakia, and from 1920–1925 and 1929–1935 a member of the Parliament. He represented Czechoslovakia in talks of the Treaty of Versailles. In 1921 he was a professor and also from 1921–1922 Prime Minister. Between 1923–1927 he was a member of the League of Nations Council (serving as president of its committee from 1927–1928). He was a renowned and influential figure at international conferences, such as Genoa 1922, Locarno 1925, The Hague 1930, and Lausanne in 1932.

Beneš was a member of the Czechoslovak National Socialist Party (until 1925 called Czechoslovak Socialist Party) and a strong Czechoslovakist - he did not consider Slovaks and Czechs to be separate ethnicities.

In 1935, Beneš succeeded Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk as President. He opposed Nazi Germany's claim to the German-speaking so-called Sudetenland in 1938. In October, the Sudeten Crisis brought Europe on the brink of war, which was averted only as France and Great Britain signed the Munich Agreement, which allowed for the immediate annexation and military occupation of the Sudetenland by Germany.

After this event, which proceeded without Czechoslovakian participation, Beneš was forced to resign on 5 October 1938 under German pressure and Emil Hácha was chosen as President. In March 1939, Hácha's government was bullied into authorising the German occupation of the remaining territory of Czechia. (Slovakia had declared its independence by then.)

Second exile[link]

On 22 October 1938 Beneš went into exile in Putney, London. In November 1940 in the wake of London Blitz, Beneš, his wife, their nieces, and his household staff moved to The Abbey at Aston Abbotts near Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire. The staff of his private office, including his Secretary Edvard Táborský and his chief of staff Jaromír Smutný, moved to The Old Manor House in the neighbouring village of Wingrave, while his military intelligence staff headed by František Moravec was stationed in the nearby village of Addington.

In 1940 he organized the Czechoslovak Government-in-Exile in London with Jan Šrámek as Prime Minister and himself as President. In 1941 Beneš and František Moravec planned Operation Anthropoid, with the intention of assassinating Reinhard Heydrich.^[4] This was implemented in 1942, and resulted in brutal German reprisals such as the execution of thousands of Czechs and the eradication of two villages of Lidice and Ležáky.

Although not a Communist, Beneš was also on friendly terms with Stalin. Believing that Czechoslovakia has more to gain from an alliance with the Soviet Union than in Poland, he torpedoed the plans for the Polish-Czechoslovakian confederation and in 1943 he signed the entente between Czechoslovakia and the Soviet Union.^[5][6][7] According to British writer Nigel West's book on the Venona project, Edvard Beneš was Soviet source codename "19".^[8] Identity of Soviet source codename "19" is unclear. Military historian Eduard Mark^[9] and American authors Herbert Romerstein and Eric Breindel concluded that source codename "19" was Roosevelt's aide Harry Hopkins.^[10] According to American authors John Earl Haynes and Harvey Klehr source codename "19" could be someone from British delegation at the Washington Conference in May 1943.^[11]

Second presidency[link]

After the Prague uprising at the end of World War II, Beneš returned home and reassumed his former position as President. He was unanimously confirmed as the president of the republic by the National Assembly on 28 October 1945. Under article 58.5 of the Constitution, "The former president shall stay in his or her function till the new president shall be elected." On 19 June 1946 Beneš was formally elected to his second term as President.^[12]

The Beneš decrees (officially called "Decrees of the President of the Republic"), among other things, expropriated citizens of German and Hungarian ethnicity, and paved the way for the eventual expulsion of the majority of Germans to West and East Germany and Austria. The decrees are still in force to this day and remain controversial, with the expellees demanding their repeal. The Czech government's repeated assurances that the decrees are no longer applied have been accepted by the European Commission and the European Parliament.

Beneš presided over a coalition government, from 1947 headed by Communist leader Klement Gottwald as prime minister. On 25 February 1948, under pressure from Gottwald, Beneš appointed a Communist-dominated government--in effect, giving legal sanction to a Communist coup d'état.

Shortly afterward, the Communist-dominated National Assembly drafted the Ninth-of-May Constitution. Rather than sign it, Beneš resigned as President on 7 June 1948 and Gottwald succeeded him.

Death[link]

Beneš had been in poor health since suffering two strokes in 1947, and he was rendered a broken man after seeing a situation come about that he had made his life's work to avoid. He died of natural causes at his villa in Sezimovo Ústí, Czechoslovakia on 3 September 1948. He is interred along with his wife (who lived until 2 December 1974) in the garden of his villa and his bust is part of the gravestone.

See also[link]

• Hrad
• History of Czechoslovakia
• Beneš decrees

Footnotes[link]

References[link]

This article includes a list of references, but its sources remain unclear because it has insufficient inline citations. Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (November 2008)

• Milan Hauner *(ed.): Edvard Beneš’ Memoirs: the days of Munich (vol.1), War and Resistance (vol.2), Documents (vol.3). First critical edition of reconstructed War Memoirs 1938-45 of President Beneš of Czechoslovakia (published by Academia Prague 2007. ISBN 978-80-200-1529-7)
• Rees, Neil (2005). The Secret History of the Czech Connection: The Czechoslovak Government in Exile in London and Buckinghamshire During the Second World War. Buckinghamshire: Neil Rees. ISBN 0-9550883-0-5. OCLC 62196328. 
• Zbyněk Zeman, Antonín Klimek: The Life of Edvard Beneš 1884-1948: Czechoslovakia in Peace and War, Oxford University Press / Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1997, ISBN 0-19-820583-X ISBN 978-0198205838
  book review by Richard Crampton
• Zinner, Paul E. (1994). "Czechoslovakia: The Diplomacy of Eduard Benes". In Gordon A. Craig and Felix Gilbert. The Diplomats, 1919-1939. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. pp. 100–122. ISBN 0-691-03660-8. OCLC 31484352. 
• John Wheeler-Bennett Munich : Prologue to Tragedy, New York : Duell, Sloan and Pearce, 1948.

External links[link]

• [1] www.czechsinexile.org President Benes in exile in England during World War II
• Biography at the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Czech)
• "Sons of Death". Time Magazine. 26 September 1938. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,788783,00.html. Retrieved 14 August 2008.  (English) - an article published in Time on 26 September 1938 - free archive
• Pictures of Edvard Beneš funeral (1) - lying in state (in the opened coffin)
• Pictures of Edvard Beneš funeral (2) - funeral procession with wreaths and laying of coffin into grave
• Pictures of Edvard Beneš and his wife - archive of Šechtl and Voseček Museum of Photography