Visiting Prague

Summary: the Prague Spring was not only a revolution influenced by so many other movements all over Europe and America but also a period where the hope was returned to millions of Czechs.

After the II World War and in plain Cold war, in May 14th,1955, the Union of Soviet Socialists Republics and Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland and Romania sign the Warsaw Pact. This was a response to the union of the North Atlantic nation’s organization – NATO, although the Warsaw Pact was in its terms and ruling a lot different then NATO being an initiative of the Soviet Union, which had all the power among the members.
In the early 60’s Czechoslovakia was living the process of De-Stalinization with the president Antonín Novotný, however this process happened in a different and faster rhythm in Prague then in other states of the Eastern Block. Nikita Khrushchev was now the new leader and thus Novotný proclaimed the completion of socialism, and the new constitution, accordingly, adopted the name Czechoslovak Socialist. Nevertheless this process was slow, people wanted to see the rehabilitation of Stalinist-era victims specially the Slánský trials.
In June 1967 some intellectuals of the Literární noviny such as Ludvík Vaculík, Milan Kundera or Ivan Klíma and radical socialists started to request changes and supporting a reform. Although all of these men were punished, their rights of publishing were transferred to the Ministry of Culture.
The economics of the country were going dramatically down, the soviet industrialization solutions would not fit the conditions and there was the point when the president Antonín Novotný saw his chance to, in 1965, introduce the New Economic Model, spurred increased demand for political reform as well. However two years later Novotný started to loose support whish was the opportunity for Alexander Dubček, who invited the Soviet premier Leonid Brezhenv to Prague. Breshnev was impresses by the unsuccessful politic of Novotný and helped Dubček to replaced Novotný as First Secretary, whish happened on 5th January, 1968.
Dubček speech was not so clear but elucidative: “We shall have to remove everything that strangles artistic and scientific creativeness.” Consequently in the same year in April Dubček initiate an “Action Program” of liberalizations whish incorporated increased freedom of the press, a switch of emphasis from industrial to consumer goods, and the possibility of a more democratic multi-party government, essentially ending Soviet control over the nation. In addition he planned the federalization of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic into two equal nations, Czech and Slovak. Anti-Soviet ideas, as well as liberalization and new unaffiliated political clubs started to rise up everywhere. The “Action Program”, besides all of these threats to the Soviet Union, also predicted a much international foreign policy because Dubček calculate both the maintenance of good relations with Western countries and cooperation with the Soviet Union and other communist nations. Dubček dreamed of democratic elections whish would bring a new form of democratic socialism to replace the status quo. He stopped fighting the bourgeoisie, instead he directed his efforts to make Czechoslovak economy join the “scientific-technical revolution in the world”. This resulted in an end of the class struggle and workers, who could now be duly rewarded for their qualifications and technical skills. In order to compete with capitalism was then essential to guarantee that important positions, were “filled by capable, educated socialist expert cadres”, whish incentive and discriminated positively the individual, like the concept of the self-made man in the west. And here it is the concept created by Dubček a political program of “socialism with a human face”.
The Soviet Union was confused at first, some were worried and others didn’t see in Dubček a threat. Those who grow concerned, feared that the liberalization could weaken the Communist block during the current Cold War. The Warsaw Five: Soviet Union, Hungry, western Germany, Poland and Bulgaria realized, in a meeting on the 23rd of March, that the reforms were leading to a democratization process. Although later, the Soviet Union started to think that what was going on in Czechoslovakia could turn to be the same that had happened in Hungary in 1956 and therefore the Soviet Union suggested Dubček to go back with his plan. He kept defending the “Action Program” but on the other hand he reaffirmed their loyalty to the Warsaw Pact and promised to curb “anti-socialist” tendencies, prevent the revival of the Czechoslovak Social Democratic Party, and control the press more effectively. For this reason the soviet troops, still in maneuvers since last June in Czech territory were ordered to leave the country. In August 3rd the leaders of Soviet Union, East Germany, Bulgaria, Poland and Czechoslovakia meet in Bratislava to sing the Declaration with the name of the city. This declaration confirmed unshakable the loyalty to Marxism-Leninism and proletarian internationalism, it also declared an implacable struggle against “bourgeois” ideology and all “anti-socialist” forces, with the condition that the Soviet Union could intervene in a Warsaw Pact country if this was not being followed. After Bratislava the Soviet troops were actually removed from Czechoslovakia.
Dubček didn’t stop the program, and the Soviet Union sated to truly fear for their national interests to those of the Eastern Bloc, they would not allow the Iron Curtin to fall. Their policy with the Satellite States included the military force if needed and in the night of 20-21 of August the Warsaw Pact countries, 200.000 troops (all but Romanian and Albanian) together with 2.000 tanks invaded the Czechoslovakia. People came to the streets resulting in riots, broke out, protests, Prague hotels were closed. During the attack, 72 Czech and Slovaks were killed and 702 people were injured.
Dubček was arrested together with his reformer colleagues, although he was taken to Moscow from where he managed to escape. People in the Czechoslovakia protested against Dubček arrestment, but the popular opposition to the invasion was expressed in numerous spontaneous acts of non-violent resistance. The student Jan Palach set himself on fire to protest against the renewed suppression of free speech in plain Wenceslas Square. Even in Russia natives protested for what was happening in Prague in the Red Square but people were arrested and banned. All over Romania, Finland, Italy and France the respective Communist Parties manifested their disapproval of the invasion. The United Nations Security Council had a meeting in the evening of the event where the Czech and the Russian ambassadors changed few non-pleasant words, where the Soviet one insisted that the Warsaw Pact actions were “fraternal assistance” against “antisocial forces”.
Students and young people emigrated leaving the Iron Curtin behind.
In April of the next year Gustav Husák was already in power leading the Communist Party as its First Secretary. This man took Czechoslovakia to the normalization period the worse and most repressive times after the Warsaw Pact.

Trackback URI |