 Czechoslovakia would regain most of the disputed Zaolzie territory, but by 1948, both it and Poland would have only nominal independence, as they would fall to communist takeovers and become part of the Soviet sphere of influence.Beneš died in 1948, soon after the communists took power in the Czechoslovak coup d'état of 1948 and forced him to retire from politics.a As the details of the planned union were never finalized, it is not clear whether it would have been a federation or a confederation.