The development of the institute of Presidency in the Czechoslovak republic in 1918-1919

Abstract

The article reflected the development of the president’s institution in the Czechoslovak republic in 1918-1919. Based on published sources and scientific works, the distinction between the approaches of representatives of the Czechoslovak emigration and the internal liberation movement in relation to the institution of the head of state, which, in accordance, defended the models of presidency in the USA and France. In this article are revealed the views of T. G. Masaryk on the personality of the president as a politically active person, the process of the emergence and evolution of the institute of Presidency in the Czechoslovak Republic in 1918-1919 was explored and the role of T. G. Masaryk in this article was highlighted. In this context, there were analyzed such important aspects of the development of this institution as the definition of the powers of the President in the Provisional Constitution from November 13, 1918 and the law on the change of the temporal constitution from May 23, 1919. It is emphasized that due to the expansion of the president’s powers, the institution of the state’s head has become a powerful stabilizing element in the state. Also there was covered the creation of the Office of the President of the Republic as an institutional support for the functions of the head of state. It was noted that with the creation of the President’s Office of the Republic, the formation of T. G. Masaryk's group of close politicians, known as the Grad group, began to form. In constructing the institute of Presidency, T. G. Masaryk gained and realized the opportunity to direct the political development of Czechoslovakia as a stable democratic state.