Title: Cold War Confrontation
1Cold War Confrontation
The Prague Spring From Museum of the City of
Bratislava http//www.spectacularslovakia.sk/ss200
3/14_prague_sping.html
2Background
- Czechoslovakia resulted from the division of the
Austrian-Hungarian Empire after WWI. - Communists obtained power through free elections
and slowly... - Czechoslovakia became a satellite state of the
Soviet Union between 1945 and 1948. - Unlike other European nations, the majority of
Czechoslovaks supported communism. - In the 1960s an economical recession weakened the
communist political control of the country. - Prague Spring http//library.thinkquest.org/C001
155/index1.htm
3Causes of Revolution
- The people began to demand change in their
political system, and as the dissent grew, change
would come in the form of Alexander Dubcek - Alexander Dubcek became First Party Secretary of
the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia in 1968. - Dubcek was focused on reform of the political and
administrative structure of the country - He was motivated by the will of the Czech people
to make liberal reforms in his plan of Action
Programme. - A loved and respected politician, Dubcek openly
voiced his desire to spread liberation to other
communist nations. - Prague Spring became known as the short-lived
liberal reform movement. - Radio Prague http//archiv.radio.cz/history/histo
ry14.html, 1997 - Image from Prague Spring http//library.thinkques
t.org/C001155/index1.htm
Alexander Dubcek The Czechoslovak politician
responsible for newly implemented liberal reform
4Liberal Reforms
- Liberal reforms were rapidly implemented through
out the nation. - In March 1968, censorship of the press, radio and
television was abolished. - Tolerance for non-communist organizations was
encouraged. - An organization called Club 231 was formed in an
effort to better monitor the humane treatment of
political prisoners. - In April, certain rights were guaranteed for all
citizens such as right to travel abroad, freedom
of speech and freedom of expression. - The Communist party stated that nomenklatura (the
practice of only appointing bureaucrats from
party ranks) should end, and that a multi-party,
more democratic system should be installed. - In September of 1968, it was the partys
intention to formalize all of the new liberal
reforms at the Party Congress. - Another part of Dubceks plan was to eventually
divide Czechoslovakia into two separate
Republics. - Mitchner, E. Alyn Global Forces of the Twentieth
Century, Reidmore Books, 1997 - Dubcek called it socialism with a face
- BBC News World Europe Remembering the Prague
Spring http//news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/155
500.stm
5Liberal Reforms
- The reform harks back half a century in spirit
to 1918, when Woodrow Wilson's Fourteen Points
proclaimed the self-determination of peoples and
enabled Czechoslovakia to be born as an
independent state. This time, Czechoslovakia was
announcing its own self-determinationa
determination to regain control of its destiny
and shuck off the worst features of an alien
Communist system.-----Into Unexplored Terrain
Time Magazine, April 5th 1968 - Image and quote from Time Archive 1923-Present
http//www.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19680405,0
0.html
6Soviet Reaction
- Czechoslovakia was strategically essential to the
Soviet Union, since it was in the centre of
Europe where new liberal ideals could spread
easily among communist nations. - Security of the Soviet Bloc was at risk in a time
when the maintenance of Soviet ideology was the
priority. - Dubcek has no intention of breaking
Czechoslovakia's links with the Soviet Union and
his socialist neighbors, but they view the events
in Czechoslovakia with considerable alarm. They
are all too aware that the success of Dubcek's
reforms would almost certainly have a spillover
effect, causing their populaces to seek more
liberalization at home. When Dubcek was summoned
to Dresden two weeks ago to tell party bosses
from Russia, Poland, Hungary and East Germany
just where he thought he was leading
Czechoslovakia, he reportedly told them that he
planned no big changes in foreign policy but
intended to go right ahead with his internal
reforms.------Time Magazine------ Into
Unexplored Terrain Time Magazine April 5th 1968 - Quote from Time Archive 1923-Present
http//www.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19680405,0
0.html
7Negotiations
- In initial negotiations for liberal reforms,
Dubcek agreed to support the Warsaw Pact and
COMECON, but in return, the Czechoslovak
government would prevent any political dissent,
or antisocialist tendencies. - In August of 1968, representatives from the
Soviet Union, East Germany, Poland, Hungary,
Bulgaria, and Czechoslovakia met in Bratislava
and signed the Bratislava Declaration. This
declaration affirmed their loyalty to the
communist ideologies of the Soviet Union. - The Soviet Union declared that it would intervene
in a Warsaw Pact country if a "bourgeois" system,
or non-communist political system, was ever
established. - In exchange for Czechoslovakias loyalty, Soviet
troops left the territory but stayed on
Czechoslovak borders. - Springtime for Prague http//www.prague-life.com/
prague/prague-spring
8Invasion
How could they do this to me? asked a dazed
Dubcek. I have served the cause of the Soviet
Union and Communism all of my life.---Russians
Go Home! Time Magazine, August 30, 1968
- As mentioned before, due to the success of
national communism in Czechoslovakia, the Soviet
Union feared a chain reaction that would result
in more Eastern European countries following
nationalistic ideals. - To prevent a spill-over, all the Eastern Bloc
countries, except Romania, invaded Czechoslovakia
in August 1968. - Between 5,000 to 7,000 tanks invaded
Czechoslovakia, accompanied by Warsaw Pact troops
ranging from 200,000 to 600,000 in number. 72
Czechs and Slovaks died, and hundreds were
wounded. - Citizens opposed the invasions by refusing troops
food and water etc. There was extreme opposition
met to the Soviet invasion, but Dubcek encouraged
his people to remain out of the conflict. - The Western reaction to the invasion was nothing
more than a vocal criticism as the West was
unwilling to confront the Soviet military force. - Czech politicians were forced to pledge
allegiance to communism and to other countries of
the Eastern Bloc - Springtime for Prague http//www.prague-life.com/
prague/prague-spring - Image and quote from Time Archive 1923-Present
http//www.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19680830,0
0.html
9Normalization and the Brezhnev Doctrine
- Following the military intervention, the opposite
of the liberal reforms were implemented - This process of re-establishing communist
policies and eliminating liberal reforms was
called the process of normalization - Until stability was achieved, the foreign troops
remained in Czechoslovakia - The intervention was labelled help by the
Soviet Union, given to Czechoslovakia in their
fight against the reformist forces - Only Indra, Kolder and Bilak (Czech politicians)
seemed unsurprised by the invasion, raising the
suspicion that it was they who had provided
Moscow with the slim pretext for the invasion.
That pretext, as described by Tass, was that
party and government leaders of Czechoslovakia
have asked the Soviet Union and other allied
states to render the fraternal Czechoslovak
people urgent assistance, including assistance
with armed forces.---Russians Go Home! Time
Magazine, August 30, 1968 - Prague Spring http//library.thinkquest.org/C0011
55/index1.htm - Quote from Time Archive 1923-Present
http//www.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19680830,0
0.html -
- The Brezhnev Doctrine demanded that no country
could leave the Warsaw Pact, or compromise the
communist control in any Eastern Bloc nations. - The Doctrine was used to justify the invasion of
Czechoslovakia which ensued from the Prague
Spring in 1968, since the liberal movement had
the potential to destroy communist control in the
nation. - Halsall, Paul Modern History Source Book
http//www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1968brezhnev.ht
ml, 1997
10Consequences
Citizens of Czechoslovakia fiercely resist Soviet
tanks--- BBC News World Europe Remembering the
Prague Spring http//news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/eur
ope/155500.stm
- Hundreds of thousands of Czechoslovaks fled to
the West after the invasion. - In the political purges following, over half a
million people were expelled from the Communist
Party. - Dubcek was taken to Moscow to be executed
however, an agreement was made and he compromised
his liberal reforms for his political position in
Czechoslovakia. - The name Prague Spring was lent to the Chinese
liberal revolution in the late 1970s called the
Beijing Spring.