4.3.1
Czechoslovakia
Crisis in Czechoslovakia 1968
Crisis in Czechoslovakia 1968
During the mid 1960s many people in Czechoslovakia started to demand economic reforms and better rights for workers.
Demands for reform
Demands for reform
- Czechoslovakian economist Professor Ota Sik proposed that centrally planned economic targets should be ended and both consumers and workers should have better rights.
- Brezhnev intervened in Czechoslovakian leadership when this occurred.
Alexandr Dubcek
Alexandr Dubcek
- In January 1968, Alexandr Dubcek became the President of Czechoslovakia.
- He was a Communist but in April 1968, Dubcek announced an Action Plan for what it called a ‘new start to socialism’.
- This plan removed state controls over industry and allowed freedom of speech. It also planned to allow freedom of work and travel, freedom to make economic decisions based on demands rather than government targets.
- It even allowed for non-party institutions such as trade unions.
The Warsaw Letter
The Warsaw Letter
- Dubeck promised Moscow despite these changes he was still loyal to Moscow and the Warsaw Pact. But, in August, President Tito of Yugoslavia, a country not in the Warsaw Pact, visited Prague.
- Some Eastern European countries- USSR, Bulgaria, East Germany, Hungary and Poland were alarmed at the actions of Dubeck.
- They expressed their views in the Warsaw Letter.
- They argued that any changes to socialism in one country should be challenged.
Historical interpretations
Historical interpretations
- Historian Geoff Eley (2002) argues that the Prague Spring was not about the people versus the Czechoslovak Communist Party (KSC). It was the coming together of the KSC and the people against the USSR which wanted to repress reforming instincts.
- Eley (2002) argues that 'there was no gap between the KSC and reformers in August 1968', the party was working democratically.
Intervention in Czechoslovakia and the Brezhnev Doctrine
Intervention in Czechoslovakia and the Brezhnev Doctrine
Brezhnev did not want to allow Dubcek's reforms in Czechoslovakia. The invasion of Czechoslovakia showed the Brezhnev doctrine in practice.
The invasion of Czechoslovakia
The invasion of Czechoslovakia
- Brezhnev visited Czechoslovakia on 20th August 1968 and tried to convince Dubcek to repeal his reforms but he didn’t.
- On 20 August 1968, 500,000 Warsaw Pact troops invaded Czechoslovakia.
- Dubcek and three other leaders were arrested and sent to Moscow.
- The Czechoslovakians did not fight the Russians. Instead, they stood in front of the tanks and put flowers in the soldiers' hair.
The aftermath of the invasion
The aftermath of the invasion
- NATO members condemned the invasion but took no action.
- Brezhnev replaced Dubeck with Gustav Husak, a Russian supporter, as the leader of Czechoslovakia.
- The Red Army had to remain in Czechoslovakia to support the new leader and his party.
The Brezhnev doctrine
The Brezhnev doctrine
- In a speech to Polish workers in 1968, Brezhnev made it clear that the USSR would not allow the countries of Eastern Europe to reject communism ‘even if it meant a third World War’.
- He stated that all communist countries had the responsibility to protect the communist movement and to interfere when it was threatened.
- This became known as the Brezhnev Doctrine.
- The invasion of Czechoslovakia proved the doctrine was a reality.
Primary evidence
Primary evidence
- In Brezhnev's speech to Polish workers in 1968 he declared ‘when internal and external forces hostile to socialism attempt to turn the development of any socialist country in the direction of the capitalist system, when a threat arises to the cause of socialism in that country, a threat to the security of the socialist commonwealth as a while-it already becomes not only a problem for the people of that country but also a general problem, the concern of all socialist countries’.
1Origins of the Cold War, 1945-9
1.1Events of 1945
1.2The Collapse of the Grand Alliance
1.3Developing Tensions
1.4US Involvement in Europe
2Widening of the Cold War
2.1US Containment in Asia
2.2The Korean War
2.3Increasing Cold War Tensions, 1949 -1953
3The Global War
3.2Cold War Rivalries
3.3Conflict in Asia
3.4Confrontation Between Superpowers
4Confrontation & Cooperation
4.2Cooperation
4.3Pressures on the USSR
5Brezhnev Era
5.1Detente
5.2Second Cold War
5.3Developments in Africa & Americas
6Ending of the Cold War
6.1Gorbachev
6.2Cooperation between US & USSR
6.3Collapse of Communism in Eastern Europe
6.4End of Tensions Across the World
Jump to other topics
1Origins of the Cold War, 1945-9
1.1Events of 1945
1.2The Collapse of the Grand Alliance
1.3Developing Tensions
1.4US Involvement in Europe
2Widening of the Cold War
2.1US Containment in Asia
2.2The Korean War
2.3Increasing Cold War Tensions, 1949 -1953
3The Global War
3.2Cold War Rivalries
3.3Conflict in Asia
3.4Confrontation Between Superpowers
4Confrontation & Cooperation
4.2Cooperation
4.3Pressures on the USSR
5Brezhnev Era
5.1Detente
5.2Second Cold War
5.3Developments in Africa & Americas
6Ending of the Cold War
6.1Gorbachev
6.2Cooperation between US & USSR
6.3Collapse of Communism in Eastern Europe
6.4End of Tensions Across the World
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