Vladimír Clementis

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Vladimír Clementis (1902-1952) was a Slovak politician. A Communist MP, his criticism in 1939 of the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact forced him to spend the war in London, where he broadcast radio speeches calling for all Slovaks to fight the Nazis. Returning in 1945, he became Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs under the first post-war government. After the 1948 coup, which he helped organize, he succeeded Jan Masaryk as Foreign Minister. In 1950 he was forced to resign amid charges of being a "deviationist." After being convicted in a show trial, he was hanged, along with Rudolf Slansky.