Unit 1 - Section 5 - Prague Spring Flashcards
(14 cards)
Is the Prague Spring exactly the same as the Hungary Uprising?
NO! There are strong similarities but they are not the same - use the deck to learn the key evidence you will need for the exam.
What was the Prague Spring?
‘Prague Spring’ is a phrase used to describe the liberal reforms brought about by Dubcek from April 1968. However, we also use the phrase to mean the effects of these reforms and what followed afterwards as well.
What were the causes of the Prague Spring?
Czechoslovakia was a Soviet satellite state. Communism had few benefits for the Czech people. Also, the country was run by brutal secret police, the economy was struggling and people’s standard of living was falling. These are similar causes as for the Hungary Uprising 12 years before.
How did Dubcek become the leader of Czechoslovakia?
The political repression and economic problems made the Communist Party leader Antonin Novotny highly unpopular. As a result, his leadership was challenged. On 5th January 1968, Dubcek became leader.
Who was Dubcek and what were his aims?
Dubcek was the natural choice to lead Czechoslovakia. He was a committed communist who was friends with Brezhnev.
Dubcek aimed to create a genuinely-popular form of communism: ‘Socialism with a human face’. This meant getting rid of the most repressive aspects of communist rule, reforming the economy and allowing more cultural freedom.
Specifically what reforms did Dubcek want?
A relaxation of press censorship;
The legalisation of political opposition groups;
Official government toleration of political criticism;
More power given to regional governments;
More power given to the Czech parliament (so taking power back from Moscow);
‘Market Socialism’ - reintroducing capitalist elements into the Czech economy.
What were the short-term effects of Dubcek’s Prague Spring reforms?
Students, intellectuals, workers and younger people welcomed the reforms enthusiastically. Writers such as Milan Kundera and Vaclev Havel took full advantage by writing books and plays that were critical of the old, Soviet-style of communism.
Older Czech communists and Brezhnev were horrified, as were Brezhnev’s allies across Eastern Europe.
Why was the Soviet Union so suspicious of the Prague Spring reforms?
Dubcek’s initial reforms encouraged people to ask for even more radical reforms and even set up a rival communist party.
Czechoslovakia was one of the most important countries in the Warsaw Pact because it was centrally placed and had the strongest industry.
Furthermore, if Czechoslovakia left the Warsaw Pact, Brezhnev was worried that NATO might move in - splitting the Eastern Bloc in half and advancing NATO right up to the Soviet border.
What pressure was Brezhnev under?
The East German leader Walter Ulbricht and the Polish leader Gomulka also pressured Brezhnev to stop reform in Czechoslovakia in case the new ideas started to spread to their countries.
What were the key features of the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia?
On the 20th August 1968, hundreds of thousands of Soviet troops and tank units moved into Czechoslovakia, backed up by units from other satellite states.
There was remarkably little violence and only a few hundred people were killed: Dubcek ordered the people not to respond with violence but there was a great deal of civil disobedience. For example, students stood in the way of tanks with anti-invasion banners, petrol bombs were thrown at tanks and some students even climbed onto Soviet tanks to argue with the soldiers.
Dubcek and other leaders were arrested, taken to Moscow and forced to sign the ‘Moscow Protocol’ - which committed the Czech government to ‘protect socialism’ by re-introducing censorship and removing political opposition to communism. Dubcek was not executed but sent to Turkey and then forced to resign from the communist party.
What were the effects of the Prague Spring?
- The Brezhnev Doctrine came into being
- It temporarily worsened relations between the superpowers bu America did not intervene and, after a slight break, detente continued
- Communism became split
What was the Brezhnev Doctrine?
This was Brezhnev’s justification for invading Czechoslovakia. He stated that the USSR had the right to invade any country in Eastern Europe whose actions appeared to threaten the security of the whole Eastern Bloc.
Following the announcement of the Brezhnev Doctrine, numerous treaties were signed between the Soviet Union and its satellite states to reassert these points and to further ensure inter-state cooperation. The principles of the doctrine were so broad that the Soviets even used it to justify their military intervention in the non-Warsaw Pact nation of Afghanistan in 1979.
Why were relations between the superpowers only temporarily worsened by the Soviet invasion?
America publicly condemned the invasion but, in reality, was too concerned about the ongoing Vietnam war to intervene.
How did the Soviet invasion split communism in Europe?
Yugoslavia, Romania and Albania all condemned the invasion. Albania even left the Warsaw Pact in 1968 with no resistance from the USSR.
Also, communist parties across Western European states such as France and Italy condemned the invasion. This was important because it showed the extent to which Soviet communism had lost authority and support as a result of the invasion.
