- After the Second World War, Czechoslovakia lived under real communist domination:Moscow forced Prague to refuse the Marshall Plan (economic aid plan released by the United States to rebuild Europe) and the communists occupied positions important in the state. A purge took place in the 1950s, notably in the form of Stalinist-style mock trials:thousands of convictions and executions took place.
- In January 1968, the Czechoslovakian Alexander Dubcek took over as head of state:his arrival was facilitated by the intervention of Brezhnev. The new leader is young and inexperienced:the Soviet leader wants to be able to manipulate him.
January - August 1968
Characters
Leonid Brezhnev
Alexander Dubcek
Procedure
In January 1968, Dubcek launched several reforms:he put an end to censorship and allowed Czechs to meet to discuss political matters. It is not a question of leaving communism, but of giving it a more human face:there exists within the Czechoslovak Communist Party a real debate around the questions of freedom and de-Stalinization. If the Prague Spring then begins with this wave of reform, it continues in the streets. The 1
st
May, Workers' Day, the demonstration openly supports the government's new measures.
But Moscow is worried about the possible spread of this popular enthusiasm:pressure is strong, and the Red Army enters Prague on August 21 1968:the tanks are in the capital to put an end to the wish to reform the country. The Soviet troops are made up of soldiers of several nationalities:the Warsaw Pact is used to maintain order within Russia's area of influence.
The people of Prague oppose this intervention in adopting a passive resistance:discussions with the soldiers of the Red Army, attempt to block the advance of the tanks, use of tags on the walls, etc. But the Red Army remains, in order to ensure a policy of “normalization”.
Consequences
- Alexander Dubcek is arrested before being released, to avoid a rise in tension in Prague. The former leader is replaced by Gustav Husak, loyal to Moscow.
- On August 21, 1969, a year after the invasion of Russian tanks, the demonstrations were bloodily repressed. The repression after the Prague Spring is significant:arrests and purges affect the whole of society. 300,000 people are expelled from the Communist Party. Intellectuals who supported Printemps went into exile, like Milan Kundera who found refuge in France. The police state (regime in which the authorities have great power and in which the police are very much used to monitor the population) emerges again, for a period of 20 years.
- The Czechs will wait until 1989 and the "velvet revolution" for the communist regime to fall.