Czechoslovakia 1968

Question 1

3 reasons why communism was unpopular in Czechoslovakia

Answer 1

• The czech economy was run for the benefit of the soviet union, and there were few consumer goods for the Czech people
• There was no freedom of speech and radio, newspaper and television were censored
• On Stalin’s orders, the Czech government carried out purges between 1949 and 1954 and the victims included were not any democratic polititics. but also military leaders, Catholics, Jews and people with wartime connections with the west and high ranking communists

Question 2

What is ‘socialism with a human face?’

Answer 2

Socialism with a human face, is an idea presented by Alexander Dubcek where citizens should be able to enjoy life, express their views in public and speak out against Communist Party decisions they did not like, out fear of being punished by the goverment

Question 3

What happened in 1968?

Answer 3

Alexander Dubcek was elected as First secretary of the Czech Communist Party - in effect, the head of the czech governments.He believed that communism was the right political path but should not make life miserable. As a result, Alexander introduced reforms which are known as the “Prague Spring,”

Question 4

Key parts of the Prague Spring

Answer 4

• Censorship was relaxed and critisim of government actions was allowed
• Trade unions were given wider powers and government control of industry was reduced
• More power was given to the Czech regional governments
• Trade with the west was increased
• Czech people were given greater freedom to travel abroad
• The idea of having multi-party elections was discussed , through Dubcek and other communist leaders emphasised that this would not happen for many years

Question 5

What was the reactions to Dubcek’s reforms?

Answer 5

They were met with great enthusiasm

Question 6

What happened as a result of these reforms - Prague Spring?

Answer 6

As a result of these reforms, the USSR reacted on the 20th August 1968, 500,000 Warsaw Pact troops invaded Czechoslovakia and ended the Prague spring as there was little opposition to the invasion • Although , there were individual acts of bravery such as blocking roads or attacking individual tanks.The invading forces were told that they had been invited to restore law and order by the czech government. They were shocked by the hostility they encountered

Question 7

Why did Brezhnev send troops to prague?

Answer 7

Brezhnev sent troops to Prague because he was endangering communism by going too far with his reforms. He also ordered the Warsaw Pact troops to carry out manaveurs to threaten Dubeck. When Dubcek invited Ceausescu of Romania and Tito of rugoslavia to prague for talks, Brezhnev decided to take action.

Question 8

Consequences for Czechoslovakia for the Prague Spring

Answer 8

The invasion ended the Prague Spring. The authorities soon put things back to normal (forced to stay in the Warsaw Part)

Question 9

Consequences for the USSR for the Prague Spring

Answer 9

They kept communism in control in other countries and reduced any forms of protestors and riots for change. They also gain additional control of the ‘Warsaw Pact’

Question 10

Consequences for comminusm in Europe for the Prague Spring

Answer 10

• Yugoslavia and Romania condemned the Soviet Union, Straining relationships between their governments and Moscow The Communist Parties of Italy and france cut links with Moscow
• The governments from East Germary and Poland liked the actions as it reduced any chances of reformers,so they feel more secure
• The supression of ‘Prague Spring led to greater Soviet Control in the Warsaw Pact. This was reinforced by the Brezhnev Doctrine which emphasised that members of the Warsaw Pact were under close control of the soviet Union

Question 11

Consequences for the US/Soviet relations from the Prague reforms

Answer 11

• The us and other western governments were outraged by the invasion and many of them made strong protests to the soviet Union
• An attempt was made to pass a formal resolution condemning the invasion in the United Nations but was vetoed by the Soviet Union
• The soviet Union saw that while the us will make protests, it would not take direct actions to oppose the soviet Union in Europe

Question 12

Consequences for USA’s reputation from the Prague Spring

Answer 12

At this time, the USA was involved in a costly war in North Vietnam and also beginning to adopt a policy of with the ‘Soviet Union. Other countries saw that the USA was keen to critisize the Soviet Union but much less prepared to take action