We explain what were the reforms of the spring of Prague in Czechoslovakia. In addition, why they ended with the Soviet invasion.
What was the spring of Prague?
It is known as “spring of Prague” to a series of reforms promoted by the Alexandr Dubcek government in 1968 with the end of Liberalize Czechoslovaca's economy, economics and society . The measures sought to create a “human face socialism” and covered the expansion of press freedom, the authorization to create new political parties and the greatest circulation of consumer goods.
Dubcek's reforms received great support from the population that, with the greatest freedom of expression, began to question the Ursss supremacy about the Czechoslovak government . However, this government program was questioned by the other communist countries and divided the socialist block that formed the Warsaw Pact.
Yugoslavia and Romania supported the changes initiated by Dubcek. Instead, Poland and Hungary were against the changes because they feared that the status quo of communist society would be destabilized and uncontrollable situations were caused. Finally, the USSR mobilized the troops of the Warsaw Pact and invaded Czechoslovakia.
The spring of Prague ended the repression of the reformist government. The armies of the Warsaw Pact entered Czechoslovakia on the night of August 20, 1968 and the next day they had taken control of the country.
They imposed a new government headed by Gustav Husak which was a politician faithful to the directives of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (PCUS). Alexandr Dubcek and his team of ministers were forced to sign a loyalty document to the PCUS and withdraw from political activity.
Frequent questions
What happened in the spring of Prague?
The spring of Prague was a period of political and social opening that was lived in Czechoslovakia in 1968. Since the beginning of the Cold War, the country was governed by the Czechoslovak Communist Party (controlled by the Soviet Union) and political and social freedoms were limited. In 1968, the Aleksandr Dubcek government approved the creation of new parties and raised the censorship of the press. The Czechoslovaca society enjoyed a freedom that was taken away a few months later, with the invasion of foreign communist troops.
When was Prague spring?
The spring of Prague began with the reforms initiated by Aleksandr Dubcek on March 5, 1968 and ended eight months later, with the invasion of foreign communist troops on August 21, 1968.
Who promoted Prague spring?
Prague spring was driven by the Aleksandr Dubcek government. This communist politician sought to establish in Czechoslovakia a “human face socialism”, which combined the centralized economic planning of communism with greater political, economic and social freedoms.
Why did the spring of Prague end?
In the context of the Cold War, the reforms promoted by Dubcek during the spring of Prague were badly seen by the Soviet Union and other states of the eastern block. These countries feared that liberal reforms triggered a general revolutionary wave against communist governments. Therefore, the Czechoslovak government decided to intervene by force and overthrow the Dubcek government.
Background of the spring of Prague
In the context of the Cold War, Czechoslovakia was a socialist country that belonged to the eastern block and was a member of the Warsaw Pact. Like the rest of the communist countries, his government was in the hands of the local communist party but He was strongly linked to the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (PCUS) that exerted greater or lesser influence on the different governments of the eastern block.
Since the beginning of the 1960s, Czechoslovakia had been going through an economic recession . The Soviet industrialization model had not generated benefits in the country.
During that decade, the need to establish some reforms to establish some reforms for recover national autonomy against the supremacy of the USSR . However, there was also an immobilist position, led by the secretary general of the party, Antonin Novotny, who managed to impose himself for years and avoided any possibility of reforms.
The reformist position was extended by various social sectors, especially intellectual groups. In the IV Congress of Writers of Czechoslovakia, held in 1967, various personalities of the Czechoslovak intellectuality openly protested against the dictatorial practices of the party.
Novotny reacted with the intervention of the Association of Writers and the Ministry of Culture. This repressive reaction of Novotny precipitated an unexpected change . Leonid Brezhnev (the leader of the USSR) did not support repressive policy and, in the face of a growing opposition within the KSC, Novotny was dismissed. In January 1968, a new direction of the Communist Party led by Alexander Dubcek agreed to power.
- Can serve you: Origins of the Cold War
Prague spring reforms
Dubcek was the first Slovak that accessed the power of Czechoslovakia. Together with slovak nationality recognition measures, The Dubcek government undertook a series of reforms with the aim of liberalizing Politics, society and the Czechoslovak economy. One of his first actions was the lifting of censorship on March 5, 1968. This fact is usually recognized as the beginning of the “spring of Prague”.
In April, the central committee of the KSC approved the “action program” that synthesized the principles on which it should be based “human face socialism”, the new political orientation that Dubcek and his team of ministers defended . Together with a relative economic liberalization, a wide reformist program was raised that covered different aspects.
In the political field, the free creation of socialist political parties was approved (until then only the existence of the KSC), national equality between Czechs and Slovaks, and the liberation of political prisoners were legal. In the social field The right to strike, free creation and association to independent unions, religious freedom and freedom of expression was recognized .
In economic terms, reforms sought to generate a greater movement of consumer goods, without abandoning the socialist state planning scheme.
On the other hand, in relation to foreign policy, the changes were relatively modest. Dubcek publicly declared his faithfulness to the Eastern Block, the USSR and the Warsaw Pact. However, in parallel he sought to improve his ties to Western powers.
The opposition to the spring reforms of Prague
The countries of the Eastern Block had different positions on Dubcek's reforms. The “spring of Prague” was seen with apprehension in the USSR since its leaders feared losing their influence on the Czechoslovak government.
Yugoslavia and Romania argued that each country should establish a socialism according to their needs and opposed the intervention of the Czechoslovak government. Instead, Hungary and Poland feared that the population's fervor would be infected and became an out of control. Therefore, they declared that the reforms should be stopped, even through a military invasion if necessary.
Brezhnev, visiting Prague in February 1968, forced Dubcek to change a speech. The pressures on the Czechoslovaca direction were multiple and growing. The PCUS tried to make Dubcek himself and his ministers who stop the reform process.
In July 1968, the leaders of the members of the Warsaw Pact, gathered in the Polish capital, directed a collective brief to the Czechoslovaco party in which They demanded the cancellation of the reforms and his presence at the next meeting. Dubcek refused to accept the letter and travel to Moscow.
In August 1968, Dubcek took another step and published new statutes for the KSC. In them, it was sought to limit the influence of the party on the state government apparatus and in the political, economic and social administration of the country.
Given this situation, the countries of the Warsaw Pact sent their troops to the border with Czechoslovakia. On the night of August 20, more than 20,000 troops and 2,000 tanks entered the country and began the invasion. The population rose against the intervention and tried to stop it But, for the next day, foreign troops had taken control of the country.
The end of the spring of Prague
After the troops of Warsaw Pact countries will take control of the country the first measure was to abolish freedom of the press and restore censorship. Then, the reformist government was dismissed. Dubcek and his ministers were forced to sign a fidelity protocol to the PCUS directives. In addition, they had to withdraw from any political or social actions.
Next, foreigners began a process known as “normalization of Czechoslovakia”, through which a new government obedient to the supremacy of the USSR was established and aligned with the policies of the Warsaw Pact. The new government had to abolish the new reforms and reestablish the communist regime of a single party.
In April 1969, politician Gustav Husak replaced Dubcek officially in the direction of the party. The new government eliminated the KSC to dissident politicians, the reformists or those who had supported, in some way, the Dubcek initiatives. During the following two decades, Husak made Czechoslovakia one of the most loyal countries to the USSR .
Czechoslovak experience of Prague spring had a great impact on the rest of the Eastern bloc countries . The supremacy of the USSR was finished consolidating with the leadership of Brezhnev and its doctrine of intervention and control of the policy of communist countries. On the other hand, no country in the socialist bloc tried again to reform its internal policy until the 1980s.
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References
- Van Dijk, R., Gray, WG, Savranskaya, S., Suri, J., & Zhai, Q. (eds.). (2013). “Prague Spring”. Encyclopedia of the Cold War. Routledge.
- Wilczynski, J. (2019). “Prague Spring”. In An encyclopedic dictionary of marxism, socialism and commune: Economic, Philosophical, Political and Sociological Theories, Concepts, Institutions and Practices-Classical and Modern, East-West Relations Included. Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co Kg.
- Zeman, Zab, Hauner, Milan, Bradley, John Fn and Luebering, Je (2023). “Prague Spring”. Britannica Encyclopedia. https://www.britannica.com/
