Memories of Hungary's attempted revolution in 1956 were still vivid in the Kremlin. And so, on August 20, the tanks were sent in and the freewheeling discussions, the avant-garde plays and the uncensored newspapers were snuffed out. The leadership was soon replaced with a new crop of yes-men. The genie was forced back into the bottle - or sarcophagus, as some would have it. Wandering onto Wenceslas Square today, where the American Express and McDonald's outlets disgorge flocks of tourists and cell-phoned businessmen cruise in their BMWs, it's hard to conjure that time.
Tourists take photos, and move on to the T-shirt stands.
Ten years ago, with public opinion muzzled, and Soviet troops still occupying Czechoslovakia, the 20th anniversary of the 1968 invasion held deep resonance. It was a signal of change to come and a year later the students marched again, this time leading a full-blown revolution. Zacek, a student activist at the time, recalls that the crushing of the Prague Spring served as an inspiration for the 1989 Velvet Revolution. So you could see in that a certain continuity. Today, even the Velvet Revolution seems an increasingly distant memory.