Czechoslovakia

• Prague Spring


  A series of reforms in Czechoslovakia in 1968 to improve life and introduce 'socialism with a human face'
• Antonin Novotny


  • Unpopular in Czechoslovakia because he refused to introduce reform, was slow to release political prisoners jailed under Stalin, and the Czechoslovakian economy faced numerous problems
• Causes of the Prague Spring

  1. Lack of political freedom

  2. Economic problems

  3. Rise of protests
• Warsaw Pact troops invaded Czechoslovakia on 20th August 1968
• Brezhnev Doctrine 1968


  Basically... 'you can't leave Warsaw pact, if you do we will invade you', acted as deterrent for other countries
• Brezhnev used the Brezhnev Doctrine


  To justify the invasion of Czechoslovakia
• The main consequence of the Prague Spring for Soviet control of Eastern Europe was that it strengthened the Warsaw Pact and increased the USSR's hold over the majority of its satellite states
• However, some Communist countries such as Romania and Yugoslavia reacted negatively to the USSR's invasion of Czechoslovakia and moved away from Moscow's influence