Prague spring Flashcards
Who was the new leader of Czeckozlovakia and when was he put in place?
Dubcek was the new leader in 1967.
Who was the leader of the USSR?
Leonid Brezhnev
What did Dubcek propose?
He proposed socialism with a human face.
What policies did he propose?
Less censorship, more freedom of speech and less involvement of the secret police.
What did Dubcek do to reassure the USSR?
He said that he would not leave the Warsaw pact and Comecon.
What happened in the “Prague spring”?
As censorship eased, political opponents were allowed to, criticise the communist rule, ask questions of the past, and expose corruption.
What was Czeckoslovakia planing to do in the summer?
They were planing to set up the Social Democratic Party, to oppose t he Communist Party.
What was the first response of the USSR?
They tried to intimidate Czechoslovakia, by making troops do exercises on the border of Czechoslovakia.
What was the second response and when?
In July 1968, the USSR set up a conference with Dubcek. There Dubcek agreed not to allow the new party, but he insisted on keeping his reforms. The tensions seemed to ease.
Who did Dubcek invite to Czechoslovakia?
On the 9th of August, he invited Tito, the president of Yugoslavia. This is important, as Yugoslavia was communist but not in the power of the USSR. So Dubcek might have provoked the USSR.
What happened on the 20th of August 1968?
Soviet tanks moved into Czechoslovakia. There was not a lot of violent resisting and Dubcek was removed from power.
What happened to Dubcek?
He was sent as ambassador to Turkey and then he was eventually expelled from the Communist Party. And all evidence from his leadership was censored.
Why did the USSR respond in such a brutal way?
They feared that other countries may do the same.
