prague spring

• Antonin Novotny


  Leader of Czechoslovakia from 1957, remained a hard-line communist and did not implement many reforms
• Czechoslovakia suffered economic problems in the 1960s, standard of living fell
• Soviet Union forced Czechoslovakia to produce steel and sell it at a loss, banned Czechoslovakia from making consumer goods for ordinary people
• People were watched by the secret police so many didn't speak out
• Alexander Dubcek


  Politician who wanted reforms to help Czechoslovakia, challenged Novotny's leadership and invited Brezhnev to see life in Czechoslovakia
• Prague Spring reforms


  1. More democracy and multi-party system

  2. More political freedom - free speech and free press

  3. Reduce power of secret police

  4. Allow workers to be represented and strike

  5. End travel restrictions
• Dubcek's goal


  "Socialism with a human face" - keep the best bits of communism and remove the worst bits
• Dubcek wanted to modernise and improve communism in Czechoslovakia to win support, as communism was doomed unless reformed
• The Prague Spring and Hungarian Uprising were similar but different events
• Czechoslovakia


  Eastern European nation under control of USSR, loyal member of Warsaw Pact and Comecon
• Dubcek's reforms allowed people to demand more freedoms and speak out against communism


  Brezhnev was unhappy, worried it would create a "hole" in the buffer zone of Eastern European nations and lead to other nations abandoning communism
• Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia

  1. Thousands of Soviet and Eastern European troops invaded on 20-21 August 1968

  2. Ordinary people protested, students tore down street names

  3. Czechoslovakian army did not fight back, fewer than 100 killed

  4. Dubcek and politicians arrested and forced to abandon reforms, extreme communists put in place

  
• Brezhnev Doctrine justified the invasion, declaring USSR had right to invade any communist nation where communism was threatened

  
• Consequences of Brezhnev Doctrine

  • Dubcek forced to resign, Czechoslovakia became hard-line communist again
  • USA protested but did nothing, agreed not to interfere
  • Western Europe's communist parties declared independence from Soviet-style communism
  • China, Yugoslavia, Romania condemned USSR actions and formed alliances