Prague Spring

• Prague Spring


  Attempt by Czechoslovakia to exert some control over their own lives and reform the communist system to create 'socialism with a human face'
• Leonid Brezhnev


  Soviet leader
• Czechoslovakia had been a communist country, controlled by Moscow, since the end of World War Two
• Khrushchev had been ousted from power, and was replaced by Leonid Brezhnev


  1964
• In 1968, the Czech people attempted to exert some control over their own lives and reform the communist system to create 'socialism with a human face'
• 'Socialism with a human face'


  Reforms to provide more freedom, less censorship, more freedom of speech, legalisation of political opposition groups, reduction in activities of secret police, and reintroduction of capitalist elements into the Czech economy
• The Prague Spring lasted for four months until it was crushed by the Soviet Red Army
• The Czech economy was in recession
• Workers remained in poor housing and had the most basic of lifestyles
• Farmers also had to follow Communist Party rules with regards to agriculture
• Students were resentful of the restrictions on their freedom
• By the 1960s there was poverty, mainly due to inflation, food shortages and falling living standards
• Alexander Dubcek became the new communist leader of Czechoslovakia


  January 1968
• Dubcek was a committed communist, but he believed that communism did not have to be as restrictive as it had been
• Dubcek agreed to introduce reforms in April 1968 which would provide 'socialism with a human face'
• The reforms, when they were introduced in April 1968, led to a greater feeling of hope among the population
• Dubcek stressed that they would remain in the Warsaw Pact and Comecon, but these reassurances were not enough to prevent a Soviet invasion
• Dubcek's reforms began to worry the Soviets because although he claimed to be a committed communist, his proposals went against their control
• 4 countries within the Iron Curtain, alongside the USSR, wrote to Dubcek to express their concern. He sent them back assurances


  July 1968
• 500,000 troops entered Czechoslovakia after Brezhnev received a letter from four Czech communists requesting help


  20 August 1968
• The Czech government called upon their people to enact passive resistance with peaceful protest tactics such as standing in front of tanks and offering flowers to soldiers
• Dubcek was arrested and taken to Moscow. When he returned he declared the Prague Spring was over
• The pro-Soviet, Gustav Husak, was installed as the new Czech leader. He quickly reversed Dubcek's reforms
• Brezhnev Doctrine


  The USSR would not allow the countries of Eastern Europe to reject communism, "even if it meant a third World War"
• The USSR feared liberal ideas would spread to other Eastern European states causing instability and threatening the security of the Soviet Union
• The USSR feared growing trade links between Czechoslovakia and West Germany would lead to an increase in Western influence in Eastern Europe
• To the USSR, it was important to hold onto Czechoslovakia which had the strongest industry in the Eastern bloc
• The Western powers did nothing to actively support the Czechs in their 'Prague Spring', although there was widespread international criticism of Moscow's actions in Czechoslovakia
• The USA accepted that the Soviets were taking this action in their own sphere of influence
• The USA was not going to consider any intervention that would constitute rollback of communism in Eastern Europe, or an 'act of war'
• The USA was more focused on the Vietnam War
• President Lyndon B Johnson did not want to provoke Moscow
• The Brezhnev Doctrine seemed to bring an end to peaceful co-existence
• Relations deteriorated further as both the USA and the USSR continued to stockpile their weapons
• Some progress was made and agreements were signed including the Helsinki Accords and SALT 1
• The USSR's action in Czechoslovakia suggested that their grip on their satellite states was weakening.