Soviets Invade Czechoslovakia - Aug 20, 1968 - HISTORY.com Soviets Invade Czechoslovakia Publisher A+E Networks On the night of August 20, 1968, approximately 200,000 Warsaw Pact troops and 5,000 tanks invade Czechoslovakia to crush the “Prague Spring”–a brief period of liberalization in the communist country. Czechoslovakians protested the invasion with public demonstrations and other non-violent tactics, but they were no match for the Soviet tanks. The liberal reforms of First Secretary Alexander Dubcek were repealed and “normalization” began under his successor Gustav Husak. Pro-Soviet communists seized control of Czechoslovakia’s democratic government in 1948. Soviet leader Joseph Stalin imposed his will on Czechoslovakia’s communist leaders, and the country was run as a Stalinist state until 1964, when a gradual trend toward liberalization began. However, modest economic reform was not enough for many Czechoslovakians, and beginning in 1966 students and intellectuals began to agitate for changes to education and an end to censorship.

First Secretary Antonin Novotny’s problems were made worse by opposition from Slovakian leaders, among them Alexander Dubcek and Gustav Husak, who accused the central government of being dominated by Czechs. In January 1968, Novotny was replaced as first secretary by Alexander Dubcek, who was unanimously elected by the Czechoslovakian Central Committee. To secure his power base, Dubcek appealed to the public to voice support for his proposed reforms. The response was overwhelming, and Czech and Slovak reformers took over the communist leadership. In April, the new leadership unveiled its “Action Program,” promising democratic elections, greater autonomy for Slovakia, freedom of speech and religion, the abolition of censorship, an end to restrictions on travel, and major industrial and agricultural reforms. Dubcek declared that he was offering “socialism with a human face.” The Czechoslovakian public greeted the reforms joyously, and Czechoslovakia’s long stagnant national culture began to bloom during what became known as the Prague Spring. In late June, a popular petition called the “Two Thousand Words” was published calling for even more rapid progress to full democracy.

The Soviet Union and its satellites Poland and East Germany were alarmed by what appeared to be the imminent collapse of communism in Czechoslovakia. Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev warned Dubcek to halt his reforms, but the Czechoslovakian leader was buoyed by his popularity and dismissed the veiled threats. Dubcek declined to attend a special meeting of the Warsaw Pact powers in July, but on August 2 he agreed to meet with Brezhnev in the Slovakian town of Cierny. The next day, representatives of European Europe’s communist parties met in the Slovakian capital of Bratislava, and a communiquÉ was issued suggesting that pressure would be eased on Czechoslovakia in exchange for tighter control over the press. However, on the night of August 20, nearly 200,000 Soviet, East German, Polish, Hungarian, and Bulgarian troops invaded Czechoslovakia in the largest deployment of military force in Europe since the end of World War II. Armed resistance to the invasion was negligible, but protesters immediately took to the streets, tearing down streets signs in an effort to confuse the invaders. In Prague, Warsaw Pact troops moved to seize control of television and radio stations.

At Radio Prague, journalists refused to give up the station and some 20 people were killed before it was captured. Other stations went underground and succeeded in broadcasting for several days before their locations were discovered. Dubcek and other government leaders were detained and taken to Moscow. Meanwhile, widespread demonstrations continued on the street, and more than 100 protesters were shot to death by Warsaw Pact troops. Many foreign nations, including China, Yugoslavia, and Romania, condemned the invasion, but no major international action was taken. Much of Czechoslovakia’s intellectual and business elite fled en masse to the West. On August 27, Dubcek returned to Prague and announced in an emotional address that he had agreed to curtail his reforms. Hard-line communists assumed positions in his government, and Dubcek was forced gradually to dismiss his progressive aides. He became increasingly isolated from both the public and his government. After anti-Soviet rioting broke out in April 1969, he was removed as first secretary and replaced by Gustav Husak, a “realist” who was willing to work with the Soviets. Dubcek was later expelled from the Communist Party and made a forest inspector based in Bratislava.

In 1989, as communist governments collapsed across Eastern Europe, Prague again became the scene of demonstrations for democratic reform. In December 1989, Gustav Husak’s government conceded to demands for a multiparty parliament. Husak resigned, and for the first time in nearly two decades Dubcek returned to politics as chairman of the new parliament, which subsequently elected playwright and former dissident Vaclav Havel as president of Czechoslovakia. Havel had come to fame during the Prague Spring, and after the Soviet crackdown his plays were banned and his passport confiscated. Related Videos Milestones: 1961–1968 - Office of the Historian Milestones: 1961–1968 Soviet Invasion of Czechoslovakia, 1968 On August 20, 1968, the Soviet Union led Warsaw Pact troops in an invasion of Czechoslovakia to crack down on reformist trends in Prague. Although the Soviet Union’s action successfully halted the pace of reform in Czechoslovakia, it had unintended consequences for the unity of the communist bloc.

Czech youths holding Czechoslovakian ﬂags stand atop of an overturned truck as other Prague residents surround Soviet tanks in downtown Prague on Aug. 21, 1968. (AP Photo/Libor Hajsky/CTK) Before the Second World War , the nation of Czechoslovakia had been a strong democracy in Central Europe, but beginning in the mid 1930s it faced challenges from both the West and the East. In 1938, the leadership in Great Britain and France conceded the German right to takeover the Sudetenland in the Munich Agreement, but the Czech government condemned this German occupation of its western-most territory as a betrayal. In 1948, Czech attempts to join the U.S.-sponsored Marshall Plan to aid postwar rebuilding were thwarted by Soviet takeover and the installation of a new communist government in Prague. For the next twenty years, Czechoslovakia remained a stable state within the Soviet sphere of influence; unlike in Hungary or Poland, even the rise of de-Stalinization after 1953 did not lead to liberalization by the fundamentally conservative Czech government.

In the 1960s, however, changes in the leadership in Prague led to a series of reforms to soften or humanize the application of communist doctrines within Czech borders. The Czech economy had been slowing since the early 1960s, and cracks were emerging in the communist consensus as workers struggled against new challenges. The government responded with reforms designed to improve the economy. In early 1968, conservative leader Antonin Novotny was ousted as the head of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, and he was replaced by Alexander Dubcek. The Dubcek government ended censorship in early 1968, and the acquisition of this freedom resulted in a public expression of broad-based support for reform and a public sphere in which government and party policies could be debated openly. In April, the Czech Government issued a formal plan for further reforms, although it tried to liberalize within the existing framework of the Marxist-Leninist State and did not propose a revolutionary overhaul of the political and economic systems. As conflicts emerged between those calling for further reforms and conservatives alarmed by how far the liberalization process had gone, Dubcek struggled to maintain control. Soviet leaders were concerned over these recent developments in Czechoslovakia.

Recalling the 1956 uprising in Hungary, leaders in Moscow worried that if Czechoslovakia carried reforms too far, other satellite states in Eastern Europe might follow, leading to a widespread rebellion against Moscow’s leadership of the Eastern Bloc. There was also a danger that the Soviet Republics in the East, such as the Ukraine, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia might make their own demands for more liberal policies. After much debate, the Communist Party leadership in Moscow decided to intervene to establish a more conservative and pro-Soviet government in Prague. The Warsaw Pact invasion of August 20–21 caught Czechoslovakia and much of the Western world by surprise. In anticipation of the invasion, the Soviet Union had moved troops from the Soviet Union, along with limited numbers of troops from Hungary, Poland, East Germany and Bulgaria into place by announcing Warsaw Pact military exercises. When these forces did invade, they swiftly took control of Prague, other major cities, and communication and transportation links. Given the escalating U.S. involvement in the conflict in Vietnam as well as past U.S. pronouncements on non-intervention in the East Bloc, the Soviets guessed correctly that the United States would condemn the invasion but refrain from intervening.

Although the Soviet crackdown on Czechoslovakia was swift and successful, small-scale resistance continued throughout early 1969 while the Soviets struggled to install a stable government. Finally, in April of 1969, the Soviets forced Dubcek from power in favor of a more conservative administrator. In the years that followed, the new leadership reestablished government censorship and controls preventing freedom of movement, but it also improved economic conditions, eliminating one of the sources for revolutionary fervor. Czechoslovakia once again became a cooperative member of the Warsaw Pact. The Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia was significant in the sense that it delayed the splintering of Eastern European Communism and was concluded without provoking any direct intervention from the West. Repeated efforts in the UN Security Council to pass a resolution condemning the attacks met with opposition from the Soviet Union, and the effort finally died away. The invasion did, however, temporarily derail progress toward détente between the Soviet Union and the United States. The NATO allies valued the idea of a lessening of tensions, and as a result they were determined not to intervene. Still, the invasion forced U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson to cancel a summit meeting with Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev.

Although Brezhnev knew this was the most likely outcome of the invasion, he considered maintaining Soviet control in the East Bloc a higher priority in the short-term than pursuing détente with the West. As it turned out, the progress on arms control agreements were only delayed by a few years in the aftermath of the Prague Spring. There were also long-term consequences. After the invasion, the Soviet leadership justified the use of force in Prague under what would become known as the Brezhnev Doctrine, which stated that Moscow had the right to intervene in any country where a communist government had been threatened. This doctrine, established to justify Soviet action in Czechoslovakia, also became the primary justification for the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, and even before that it helped to finalize the Sino-Soviet split, as Beijing feared that the Soviet Union would use the doctrine as a justification to invade or interfere with Chinese communism. Because the United States interpreted the Brezhnev Doctrine and the history of Soviet interventions in Europe as defending established territory, not expanding Soviet power, the aftermath of the Czech crisis also lent support to voices in the U.S. Congress calling for a reduction in U.S. military forces in Europe.

Prague Spring 1968 - Prague Minos Guide Digital Urbal Legends Prague Minos Guide Web encyclopedia of GPS Digital Guide available in mobile devices around Prague for hire or for download during your visit. Period of political freedom in Czechoslovakia Significant photo Photogallery Description The Prague Spring was a period of opening and political reforms within Communist Czechoslovakia that was ended violently through the intervention of the Warsaw Pact troops. After Stalin's death in 1953, and after the trend set by Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev in the USSR, tough regimes in the Eastern Block slightly eased their grip on society. This was quite clear in Czechoslovakia especialy from the early sixties. Because of an economic recession, President Antonín Novotný´s position got weaker and reformators started to slowly be accepted at higher levels of command inside the party. On January 5th 1968, Alexander Dubček became First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Czechoslovak Communist Party and a number of reforms were pushed forward once President Novotný had resigned.

Such reforms helped to consolidate the liberal trend, the press got more freedom and there was a gradual preparation of plans aiming at a multi-party governance. In April 1968, Dubček announced his political program, the so-called "Socialism with a Human Face" that led to the activation of anti-regime forces (anti-communist), which tried to join and form new political parties. In addition, the Social Democratic Party was reinstated. The situation intensely alarmed Leonid Ilich Brezhnev, the Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet, who in July invited Dubček and his colleagues for bilateral negotiations in the small town of Čierna nad Tisou. The negotiations ended with a compromise, later confirmed at a conference in Bratislava, that was supposed to limit the political opposition in Czechoslovakia. The second round of negotiations was completed in August, but Dubček objected to the pressure put on by the Soviets as well as that coming from some of his conservative party colleagues. Thus, the negotiations ended unsuccessfully as far as the Soviets were concerned and Brezhnev began to consider military action.

However, this was also the result of mistakes Dubček made, he was the actual reformist leader of the Czechoslovak Communist Party and he suffered from serious psychological problems. Dubček enjoyed strong support from the leadership of the Communist Party of Hungary; nevertheless, in July, as a sign of protest, he decided not to attend an important conference in Warsaw, Poland. As a result he also set against himself many of his own allies at high places inside the Warsaw Pact. Finally, in the night between August 20th and 21st 1968, the armies of the Warsaw Pact countries began invading Czechoslovakia, perhaps also because of Dubček´s lack of diplomatic skills. This invasion ended the Prague Spring (as was this era of liberation later called by the international press) as well as the faith of the Czechoslovak citizens in the Soviet Union. It is important to say that the invasion was called in by opponents of Dubček, who prior to the invasion stated that they would support it. That happened without exceptions. A tough period called Normalization followed. Dubček was expelled from the Communist Party and was sent to Slovakia working as a forestemployee.

Nonetheless, Leonid Ilich Brezhnev for some time considered bringing him back because all of a sudden there were very few individuals within the Czechoslovak society supporting the invasion. However, in the end, Dubček was replaced by Gustav Husák, who was a loyal conservative and started to immediately enforce the politics of Normalization. This lasted for much of the seventies with various degrees of intensity. In people´s consciousness, the Prague Spring came to symbolize resistance against totality and the possibility to mobilize the nation. After all, twenty-years later, a similar process occurred in the USSR under the wand of Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev, which subsequently led to the fall of the entire Eastern Block and the Soviet Union. Related points Czechoslovakia 1918-1968 (1969) - IMDb (Portland, Oregon, USA) – See all my reviews Robert Fresco's and Denis Sanders's "Czechoslovakia 1968" looks mainly at Czechoslovakia's history from its founding through the Warsaw Pact invasion that eviscerated the political liberalization.

Consisting entirely of footage with no dialogue, it shows the country's days as a predominantly agricultural society, and then the Nazi occupation, and then Soviet takeover. A good trick that the documentary uses is to slow the background music right before the 1968 invasion. Beyond this, the events shown in the documentary need to get seen in the context of everything that happened in 1968. The Vietnam War dominated the international scene, and the liberalization in Czechoslovakia - commonly known as Prague Spring - reflected the hippie movement and anti-war movement in the US. The assassinations of Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy caused much of the Civil Rights Movement to collapse. There was also the student uprising in Paris that the DeGaulle government crushed. One of the most important events was the demonstration outside the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, protesting the election of the pro-war Hubert Humphrey. In fact, Richard Daley called in the Illinois National Guard at almost the same time that Soviet tanks entered Prague. And then there were the Olympics in Mexico City.

A number of students saw that the world's attention would be focused on the city, and so they wanted to draw attention to political issues in Mexico (in particular the government's ban on protests). When they converged in Tlatelolco, the Mexican army opened fire on them. Despite the government's hope that this would suppress anything political at the games, John Carlos and Tommie Smith raised their fists to draw attention to racism in the US, and Věra Čáslavská looked down while the Soviet anthem played to protest the invasion of her country. And finally, Nixon got elected president. Nineteen sixty-seven had seen the Summer of Love, and then the following year ended the era of idealism. Alexander Dubček's reforms gave way to full-scale authoritarianism. It's for these reasons that I often say that the Eastern and Western Blocs had more in common than most people admit. Anyway, it's a good documentary. What happened in the world in 1968 must never get forgotten. 1 of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you?

Yes August 21, 1968: The Soviet-Led Invasion Of Czechoslovakia August 21, 1968: The Soviet-Led Invasion Of Czechoslovakia August 21, 2015 Forty-seven years ago, Soviet troops and their Warsaw Pact allies invaded Czechoslovakia to bring an end to that country's brief period of political liberalization, called the Prague Spring. About 500,000 troops were involved in the invasion and occupation, during which 108 Czechoslovaks died and some 500 were wounded. The invasion ended the political and economic reforms led by Alexander Dubcek and reasserted dominant Soviet and Communist authority in Czechoslovakia. It also helped establish the Brezhnev Doctrine, which Moscow said allowed the U.S.S.R. to intervene in any country where a Communist government was under threat. (Photos from the Czech Press Agency archives) 1 Soviet tanks are surrounded by crowds of Czechs protesting against the invasion on Prague's Wenceslas Square on August 21, 1968.

2 A young Prague resident climbs on a Soviet T-54 tank on Vinohradska Sreet near the state radio building. 3 Invading Soviet tanks with white markings deploy near the Communist Party headquarters in Prague. 4 A Czechoslovak woman talks to Soviet soldiers on a tank as she protests against the invasion in Prague. 5 Young women watch as tanks approach the state radio headquarters. 6 Buses and trucks used as a barricade by protesters were reduced to rubble by fire and Soviet tanks. 8 A protester holds a bloodstained Czechoslovak flag in front of a Soviet tank. 9 Soviet soldiers try to extinguish a burning tank set on fire by protesters near the Czechoslovak Radio headquarters in Prague. 10 A photographer approaches a Soviet tank to take a photo on central Wenceslas Square. 11 Protesters throw stones at the Soviet tanks entering Prague. 12 A Soviet tank rams a city bus after protesters set up a barricade to block Soviet forces near the Czechoslovak radio headquarters. 13 Soviet tanks and armored vehicles guard an area of Republic Square in downtown Prague. 14 Mourners attend the funeral of 20-year-old Milan Kadlec, who was killed during the invasion.

15 The Velvet Revolution: A Peaceful End to Communism in Czechoslovakia | Tavaana Case Study The Velvet Revolution: A Peaceful End to Communism in Czechoslovakia The Velvet Revolution Vision and Motivation By the second half of the 1980s, the political atmosphere in the Soviet Union and its satellite states was more relaxed than it had been in previous decades, due to Mikhail Gorbachev's introduction of two new governmental policies: Glasnost, a government effort to make the country's governance transparent and open to debate, and Perestroika, the restructuring of the Soviet political and economic system. Many historians cite the introduction of these two policies as a catalyst for many of the nonviolent democratic revolutions that erupted in Soviet-bloc countries. [1] Czechoslovakia's Communist Party took efforts to prevent Gorbachev's reforms from being enacted at home, where an autocratic political system prevailed, government dissent was not tolerated, and political activists were punished harshly through the second half of the 1980s. [2] Through purges of suspected dissidents and their family members, the Communist government established tight control over its citizens.

The Communist Party of Czechoslovakia continued to carry out these policies in the aftermath of the fall of the Berlin Wall and the subsequent democratic transition of other Soviet-bloc countries such as Poland and Hungary. These politically repressive conditions, combined with the collapse of the Soviet Union, inspired the Czechoslovaks to demand change from their government. In the last six weeks of 1989, opposition activists staged what became known as the "Velvet Revolution," to overthrow the Communist government in Czechoslovakia. Velvet is associated with Czechoslovakia's democratic revolution because it was a peaceful movement ending in compromise, not violence; Havel and his activist movement had a strategic preference for nonviolent action that facilitated the movement's success. While Slovak members of the activist movement referred to the democratic transition as the Gentle Revolution, Havel and his Czech compatriots continue to refer to it as the Velvet Revolution. Some argue that Lou Reed's Velvet Underground catalyzed the adoption of velvet by Czech civic activists, after a rare copy of the band's first record was snuck into Prague in 1968.

The Velvet Underground later influenced The Plastic People of the Universe, close friends of Vaclav Havel who were an underground rock band that musically embodied Czech's opposition movement from 1968 to 1989. [3] Goals and Objectives The Velvet Revolution began somewhat spontaneously on November 17, 1989, with a student march organized to mark the 50th anniversary of a protestor's death in a student demonstration against the Nazi occupation. However, it quickly turned into an anti-government protest, with students carrying banners and chanting anti-Communist slogans. [4] Although the student protest was conducted in a peaceful manner, 167 student protestors were hospitalized after being beaten by police. [5] The demonstration and its accompanying violence inspired workers' unions and other civic groups to organize for a free and democratic Czechoslovakia. [6] Following the student demonstration, mass protests were held in several cities across Czechoslovakia. Actors and playwrights were prominent within the dissident movement, so theaters became meeting places where activists devised their political strategies and held public discussions.

[7] During a discussion held in a Prague theatre on November 19, a group called the Civic Forum was established as a collection of spokespeople of the democratic movement. [8] The group demanded "the resignation of the Communist government, the release of prisoners of conscience, and investigations into the November 17 police action." [9] Leadership The Civic Forum, the heart of Czechoslovakia's democratic movement, was led by Vaclav Havel. Havel, an author, playwright, and poet, used his talent to craft the movement's messaging, challenging the government in a way that captured the public's confidence and imagination. "I really do inhabit a system in which words are capable of shaking the entire structure of government, where words can prove mightier than ten military divisions," Havel has said. [10] In plays like The Garden Party, The Memorandum, and The Interview, Havel showed the effects of a repressive government bureaucracy on ordinary people and their private lives and relations.

[11] He had been active during the "Prague Spring" period of liberalization in Czechoslovakia in 1968, when the country's leader, Alexander Dubček, lifted restrictions on freedom of speech and state controls on industry. For a few months, Czechoslovaks were able to openly criticize Soviet rule, travel about the country more freely, and form new political clubs not affiliated with the Communist Party. However, that summer Soviet troops were sent into the country to stop the reforms, causing Havel to speak out against the invasion on Radio Free Czechoslovakia. As a result of his human rights activism, his plays were banned from Czechoslovak theaters, and in 1977, he was sentenced to four and a half years of hard labor. [12] A strong believer in both liberal democracy and non-violent protest, Havel was also known as one of the founders of Charter 77, a civic initiative created in 1977. This group wrote a manifesto calling on the regime to live up to its international human rights commitments; this prompted the government to imprison its members and ban the Charter 77 document.

On November 19, 1989, Havel founded the Civic Forum. [13] Under his leadership, prominent members of Charter 77 came together with other dissident groups to form the Civic Forum, which was intended to unite the Czechoslovak opposition in order to overthrow the Communist regime. Successfully having orchestrated a series of public demonstrations and strikes over the next three weeks, Havel became the face of the Czech opposition and led the group in talks with the government in early December 1989. After successful negotiations with the Communist government, Havel was appointed president of Czechoslovakia in 1989, and then elected president in June 1990, holding the office until 2003. For his civic activism and political leadership he has received numerous awards including Liberal International's Prize for Freedom, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Philadelphia Medal, the Order of Canada and the International Gandhi Prize. In addition to innumerable awards and distinctions, Havel has become an inspiration to democratic movements across the globe. Civic Environment Under the Communist regime, Czechoslovakians were offered little space to express political dissent.

The Communist Party successfully persecuted political dissidents before the Velvet Revolution, most notoriously after the Prague Spring of 1968, when hundreds of thousands of Soviet troops invaded Czechoslovakia to put an end to political reforms and strengthen the Party's authority. Even small signs of non-conformity were taken seriously; one man recalls that his grandfather, a university lecturer, was reported to the authorities for referring to his students as "ladies and gentlemen" rather than "comrades." [14] The regime's attempts to place restrictions on free speech, which had been used against Czech opposition groups in the past, failed to muzzle the zeal of Havel and the Civic Forum. During the initial November 17 nonviolent protest, student activists offering flowers to police were brutally beaten; however, the subsequent marches, protests, and strikes that took place in the following week could not be silenced by police brutality. The barrage of nonviolent activism had such a profound effect on the Czechoslovak people, including police and members of internal security institutions, that protests and strikes increasingly grew larger and faced less government repression. Nonviolent protestors led by Havel and the Civic Forum catalyzed a significant shift in the civic environment of Czechoslovakia.

Message and Audience During the first opposition protest of the Velvet Revolution on November 17, student organizers directed their message demanding the government's resignation to both the Czechoslovak people and the government via banners and posters. With the formation of the Civic Forum less than 48 hours later, most university students, theatre employees and actors went on strike instantaneously, yet Havel knew that many more would have to join them in strike in order for the movement to grow and bear fruit. Havel and his cohort agreed to continue pushing for the government to resign; however, in order to bolster national support for his movement, a new message needed to be crafted for the Czech people. Havel, who determined that methods of economic and social noncooperation in the form of strikes would be most effective against the government, sought to organize a general strike for November 27 that would span across Czechoslovakia. During the next several days, Havel and the Civic Forum coordinated mass demonstrations throughout the country, using the platform both to openly express its displeasure with the government and to spread word about the November 27 general strike.

Together, tens of thousands gathered in protest, chanting in the streets, "It's finally happening!" [15] The democratic movement in Czechoslovakia built a broad base of democratic consciousness; the demonstrations in Prague on November 25 and 26 drew an estimated crowd of nearly 750,000 people. [16] The daily protests gave way to meetings between the Civic Forum and Prime Minister Ladislav Adamec, in which the Prime Minister personally guaranteed that no violence would be used against Czech citizens. [17] Then, on November 27, a reported 75% of the Czech population participated in a two-hour general strike, showing the mass support that had gathered behind the Civic Forum. The strike, which bolstered the demands put forth by the opposition movement, ended the "popular" phase of the Velvet Revolution as Havel and the Civic Forum successfully showed the Communist regime that the Czech people would no longer obey. Outreach Activities Discredited and powerless against the demands of protestors, the Communist Party was pushed into talking with Havel and the Civic Forum, ushering in a new political climate.

The Communist Party officially ceded its monopoly on political power in Czechoslovakia to allow for multi-party rule on November 28, just one day after the citizens' general strike. On December 10, Communist President Gustav Husak resigned, and on December 29, the Czech Parliament appointed Vaclav Havel to the presidency of a free Czechoslovakia. As the last president of Czechoslovakia and the first of the Czech Republic, Havel helped facilitate the state's historic transition to democracy, marked by free and fair elections in June 1990, the first since 1946. The new government liberalized Czechoslovak law with respect to both politics and the economy, creating an open and free society. Czechoslovakia: History Czechoslovakia History The Emergence of Czechoslovakia The creation of Czechoslovakia was the culmination of the long struggle of the Czechs against their Austrian rulers. It was largely accomplished by the nation's first and second presidents, T. G. Masaryk and Eduard Beneš . The union of the Czech lands and Slovakia was officially proclaimed in Prague on Nov. 14, 1918; the Treaty of St.

Germain (Sept., 1919) formally recognized the new republic. Ruthenia was added by the Treaty of Trianon (June, 1920). Because Czechoslovakia inherited the greater part of the industries of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, it was economically the most favored of the Hapsburg successor states. Benefiting from a liberal, democratic constitution (1920) and led by able statesmen, the new republic appeared to have a bright future. Redistribution of some of the estates of the former nobility and the church generally improved the living conditions of the peasantry. In foreign policy Czechoslovakia relied on its friendship with France and on its Little Entente with Yugoslavia and Romania. Yet the new state was far from being a stable unit. With its antagonistic and nationalistic ethnic elements, it reflected the inherent weakness of the Hapsburg empire. The Czechs and Slovaks had separate histories and greatly differing religious, cultural, and social traditions. The constitution of 1920, which set up a highly centralized unitary state, failed to take into account the important problem of national minorities.

The Germans and Magyars of Czechoslovakia openly agitated against the territorial settlements. Although the constitution provided for autonomy for Ruthenia, in practice autonomy was constantly postponed. The Slovak People's party accused the Czech government of having denied Slovakia promised autonomous rights. Hitler's rise in Germany, the German annexation of Austria, the resulting revival of revisionism in Hungary and of agitation for autonomy in Slovakia, and the appeasement policy of the Western powers left Czechoslovakia without allies, exposed to hostile Germany and Hungary on three sides and to unsympathetic Poland on the fourth. The nationality problem led to a European crisis when the German nationalist minority, led by Konrad Henlein and vehemently backed by Hitler, demanded the union of the predominantly German districts with Germany. Threatening war, Hitler extorted through the Munich Pact (Sept., 1938) the cession of the Bohemian borderlands (Sudetenland). Poland and Hungary obtained territorial cessions shortly thereafter. Beneš resigned the presidency in October and was succeeded by Emil Hacha.

In Nov., 1938, the truncated state, renamed Czecho-Slovakia, was reconstituted in three autonomous units—Bohemia and Moravia, Slovakia, and Ruthenia. The War Years In Mar., 1939, Hitler forced Hacha to surrender Czecho-Slovakia to German control and made Bohemia and Moravia into a German "protectorate." Slovakia gained nominal independence as a satellite state. Ruthenia was awarded to Hungary. After the outbreak of World War II, Beneš set up a provisional government in London, and Czech units fought with the Allied forces. Except for the brutalities of the German occupation, Czechoslovakia suffered relatively little from the war. In Apr., 1944, Soviet forces, accompanied by a Czech coalition government headed by Beneš, and American troops entered Czechoslovakia; the fall (May 12, 1945) of Prague marked the end of military operations in Europe. Soviet and American troops were withdrawn later in the year.

At the Potsdam Conference of 1945 the expulsion of about 3,000,000 Germans from Czechoslovakia and an exchange of minorities between Czechoslovakia and Hungary were approved. The country's pre-1938 territory was restored, except for Ruthenia, which was ceded to the USSR. In the elections of 1946 the Communists emerged as the strongest party (obtaining one third of the votes) and became the dominant party in the coalition headed by the Communist Klement Gottwald. Beneš was elected president. Soviet pressure prevented Czechoslovakia from accepting Marshall Plan aid (June, 1947). The Communist Era During the summer of 1947, the Communists began a campaign of political agitation and intrigue that gave them complete control of the government in Feb., 1948. In March, Jan Masaryk , the non-Communist foreign minister, died in suspicious circumstances. After the adoption of a new constitution (Beneš resigned rather than sign it), a new legislature was elected and enacted a program for nationalizing the economy. Czechoslovakia became a Soviet-style state.

Political and cultural liberty was curtailed, and purge trials were conducted from 1950 to 1952. Riots occurred in 1953, reflecting economic discontent. A very modest liberalization trend was begun in response but was reversed in Nov., 1957, when Antonin Novotný became president. In 1960 a new constitution was enacted. Another cautious movement toward liberalization was initiated in 1963. Restrictions on the press, education, and cultural activities were eased, and local authorities received increased economic autonomy. Profit considerations were introduced into the economy. Czechoslovakia became celebrated internationally for its experimental theater work and its many fine films. But political power remained the exclusive possession of a small circle in the Communist party. That factor, the sluggishness of the economy (despite the reforms), and Slovak resentment over Novotný's Czech-dominated administration, produced the startling developments of 1968. Alexander Dub&ccaron;ek , a Slovak, replaced Novotný as party leader in January; Ludvik Svoboda became president in March.

Under Dub&ccaron;ek, in what is known as Prague Spring, democratization went further than in any other Communist state. Press censorship was reduced, and the restoration of a genuinely democratic political life seemed possible. Slovakia was granted political autonomy. Seriously alarmed at what it construed to be a threat to Soviet security and to the supremacy within the USSR of the Soviet Communist party, the USSR with some of its Warsaw Pact allies invaded Czechoslovakia in Aug., 1968. Dub&ccaron;ek and other leaders were taken to Moscow. Despite opposition by the populace, the USSR forced the repeal of most of the reforms. A revised constitution was promulgated. (Slovakian autonomy was retained.) In Apr., 1969, Dub&ccaron;ek was replaced as party leader, and in June, 1970, he was expelled from the party. In the early 1970s there were many efforts to stamp out dissent, including mass arrests, union purges, and religious persecution. The repressive policies and rigid Soviet-style economic policies continued throughout the 1970s despite inflation and a sluggish economy.

In 1977, the appearance of a declaration of human rights called Charter 77, which was signed by 700 intellectuals and former party leaders, instigated further repressive measures. The "Velvet Revolution" In late 1989, massive antigovernment demonstrations in Prague were at first suppressed by the police, but as democratization swept through Eastern Europe, the Communist party leadership resigned in November. In December, a new, non-Communist cabinet took over, and the playwright and former dissident Václav Havel was elected president. Under Communist rule, Czechoslovakia had a Soviet-style planned economy in which its highly developed industry as well as trade, banking, and agriculture were under state control. In 1990, the nation began the transition to a market economy with a broad program designed to encourage private enterprise and outside investment. The "Velvet Revolution" was successfully completed with the departure of the last Soviet troops in May, 1991, and a free parliamentary election in June, 1992. The new government was faced with several difficulties, including a distressed and inefficient economic system in need of drastic reform, high unemployment, widespread social discontent, and environmental pollution.

Under the 1968 constitution, Czechoslovakia was a federal republic. The two component parts were the Czech Republic, with its capital in Prague, and the Slovak Republic, with its capital at Bratislava. There was a bicameral federal legislature elected every five years. The federal president, who was elected by the legislature, appointed the premier and ministers. Each republic had a council and assembly. The federal government dealt with defense, foreign affairs, and certain economic matters. A strong secessionist movement in Slovakia, however, led to the formal declaration on Aug. 26, 1992, that the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic would separate into independent states on Jan. 1, 1993, thus dissolving the 74-year-old federation. In response to the imminent breakup, the federal government was dismantled and drafts of new Czech and Slovak constitutions were begun. Sections in this article: Prague History - History of Prague and the Czech Republic Contact us History of Prague The history of Prague is an epic story. The city has witnessed a declaration of independence, Nazi control, oppressive communism and capitalist democracy. And that was just the 20th century!

Below is a brief history of Prague and the Czech Republic. Prague History 5500 BC-4500 BC: First evidence of continuous occupation of the area around Prague, by various Germanic and Celtic tribes. Trade routes leading from Southern to Northern Europe pass through the area. Around 500 BC: One of the Celtic tribes, the Boii, are the first inhabitants known by name. The Boii named the region Bohemia and the river Vltava . 6th century: Arrival of the Slavs. Slavic settlements are established alongside the Germanic settlements around Prague. The Slavs eventually become the dominant people. 8th century: First settlement established on the site of present day Prague, in the Lesser Town (Mala Strana) . 9th century: Settlement established on a hilltop site above the Lesser Town, which leads to the construction of Prague Castle. Around 870: Foundation of Prague Castle . Around 926: Construction of a Romanesque rotunda, the original church built on the site of St. Vitus Cathedral in the grounds of Prague Castle. 965: Prague first reported in the narration of Ibrahim Ibn Jakub, a merchant.

973: Foundation of Prague bishopric. 10th century: Foundation of Vysehrad on the opposite bank of the Vltava river. 1085: Prague becomes the residence of the first Bohemian king Vratislav I. 1172: Construction of Juditaï¿½s Bridge, the predecessor of Charles Bridge , and the 2nd stone bridge in Central Europe. Around 1230: Establishment of the Old Town (Starï¿½ Město) . 1257: Premysl Otakar II formalises the establishment of the Lesser Town , giving it town status and encouraging migrants from Northern Germany to settle here. 1310-1346: John of Luxembourg rules as the King of Bohemia. Around 1320: Hradcany, the area around Prague Castle, is established. 1338: Foundation of the Old Town Hall - the importance of the city increases. 1344: Prague bishopric upgraded to archbishopric. Construction of St. Vitus Cathedral begins (finishes in 1929).

1346-1378: Charles IV epoch - Prague becomes the capital of the Bohemian Kingdom and the Holy Roman Empire. 1348: Foundation of the New Town (Novï¿½ Město) and Charles University, the first university in Central Europe. 1419-1437: Attempts by the clergy to reform the church result in the Hussite's revolutionary movement lead by Jan Hus, the reform preacher and martyr. 1526: The Hapsburg dynasty ascends the Bohemian throne (lasts until 1918). 1583-1611: Rudolf II becomes the king of Bohemia. Prague becomes the emperor's residence and the centre of social and cultural life. 1618-1620: Defeat of the Czech noblesï¿½ uprising; the Czech language and Czech national consciousness begin to decline. 1784: Union of the four hitherto independent Prague urban units (Hradcany, Lesser Town, Old Town and New Town). 1784-1848: Period of Czech national revival, beginning of the industrial revolution, establishment of Czech institutions.

1918: Proclamation of the independence of Czechoslovakia. Prague becomes the capital of the new state. 1939-1945: Occupation of Czechoslovakia by Nazi Germany. 1945: The Prague uprising and the "liberation" of Prague by the Soviet army. 1948: Czechoslovak coup d'ï¿½tat - Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, with Soviet backing, assumes control of the country, leading to four decades of communist dictatorship. 1968: Prague Spring - period of political liberalisation lead by Alexander Dubček, who was elected the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. Efforts to reform communism were ultimately thwarted by the invasion of Czechoslovakia by the Soviet Union and other members of the Warsaw Pact. 1989: The Velvet Revolution, so named because it is non-violent, starts on the 17th November. Student and other popular demonstrations against communism result in the collapse of communist rule, and the country's conversion to a parliamentary democracy. Vaclav Havel is elected President of Czechoslovakia. 1990: First free elections after the communist era.

1993: January 1, Czechoslovakia splits in two and the Czech Republic is founded. 1993: January 26, Vaclav Havel elected first president of the Czech Republic. 1999: March 12, Czech Republic becomes a member of NATO. 2004: May 1, Czech Republic joins the European Union (E.U.). 2008: January 1, Czech Republic accedes to the Schengen agreement and removes internal borders with Schengen area countries. This allows travel to and from these countries without checks, both at land borders and airports. The following Prague tours will help participants to gain a greater understanding of the history of Prague: Prague Grand City Sightseeing Tour , Best of Prague Walking Tour and Prague Explorer Walking Tour . For information on the layout of the city, read our guide to Prague tourism information . For Prague tourist information, to assist visitors to Prague: Prague tourist information .

Prague tours Soviet Union intervenes in Czechoslovakia - Aug 20, 1968 - HISTORY.com Soviet Union intervenes in Czechoslovakia Share this: Soviet Union intervenes in Czechoslovakia Author Soviet Union intervenes in Czechoslovakia URL Publisher A+E Networks In the face of rising anti-Soviet protests in Czechoslovakia, Soviet troops (backed by troops from other Warsaw Pact nations) intervene to crush the protest and restore order. The brutal Soviet action shocked the West and dealt a devastating blow to U.S.-Soviet relations. The troubles in Czechoslovakia began when Alexander Dubcek took over as secretary general of the nation’s Communist Party in January 1968. It was immediately apparent that Dubcek wanted a major overhaul of Czechoslovakia’s political and economic system—he called his particular ideology “Socialism with a human face.” He called for greater political freedom, including more participation by noncommunist parties. Dubcek also pressed for economic policies that would ensure less state control and more reliance on free market economics. Finally, he insisted on greater freedom from Soviet domination, although he reiterated his nation’s allegiance to the Warsaw Pact, the Soviet bloc’s counterpart to NATO.

Dubcek’s policies shocked the Soviets and leaders in other Eastern European nations. Throughout early and mid-1968, negotiations took place between Dubcek and representatives from Russia and other Soviet bloc nations in an attempt to have the Czechoslovakian leader soften his reforms. Dubcek refused, and tensions with the Soviet Union steadily increased. Meanwhile, the sudden atmosphere of freedom that Dubcek was encouraging took root, and Czech citizens embraced and celebrated the new tolerance for free exchange of ideas and open discussion in what came to be known as the “Prague Spring.” On the night of August 20, 1968, more than 200,000 Warsaw Pact troops crossed into Czechoslovakia and headed for the capital city of Prague. In just over a day, the entire country was occupied; within a week nearly three-quarters of a million foreign troops were in Czechoslovakia. Anti-Soviet riots broke out in Prague, but these were viciously crushed and thousands of Czechs fled the country. The Soviet action in August 1968 shocked the West.

Not since 1956, when Soviet troops intervened in Hungary, had the Russian government resorted to such force to bring one of its communist allies into line with its own policies. The Czech invasion was particularly damaging to U.S.-Soviet relations. In June 1967, President Lyndon B. Johnson met with Soviet Premier Aleksei Kosygin to begin discussions related to a number of issues, including arms control. It was agreed that Johnson would visit the Soviet Union in October 1968 to continue the talks. The Soviet intervention in Czechoslovakia caused Johnson to cancel his visit abruptly. Related Videos

Question: The era of political liberalisation in Czechoslovakia in 1968 was called what?
Answer: Prague Spring