History - Conflict and Tension - Prague Spring

?
View mindmap
  • 1968 Czechoslovak Crisis
    • Background
      • Of all Eastern Bloc countries under Soviet influence, Czechoslovakia was the most liberal during the interwar years
        • This allowed Czechoslovakia to develop economically and culturally
      • In 1956, Hungary tried to separate from the Soviets, but their uprising was brutally suppressed.
      • Some communist countries, like Yugoslavia and Albania, were independent of the USSR
      • The leaders who followed Stalin went through a process of destalinisation, where countries were given more liberal freedoms.
      • Strict censorship and tight control led to stagnation
    • Prague Spring
      • Following a period of civil unrest, Antonin Novotny was forced to resign and replaced by Alexander Dubcek.
      • Dubcek led a series of reforms named "socialism with a human face"
        • The economy was decentralised
        • Farmers and factories were given more say over their operations
        • Censorship was relaxed
        • Trade and travel with the West was opened
      • Though Dubcek promised to remain loyal to the Warsaw Pact, Brezhnev seemed skeptical
        • Political opposition in Czechoslovakia grew
        • President Tito of Yugoslavia visited the country
        • Brezhnev was concerned anti-communist sentiment would grow in other Soviet controlled countries
      • On the 20th August 1968, Warsaw Pact troops invaded Czechoslovakia
        • Reforms were ended, Dubcek was expelled from the communist party and his government was replaced by that of Gustav Husak
      • The Soviet invasion was met with little resistance
    • Aftermath
      • Brezhnev established the "Brezhnev Doctrine"
        • Reforms in communist countries would affect all other communist countries
        • Policies threatening the safety of communism in a country would not be tolerated
        • It was the responsibility of the entire Warsaw Pact to get involved if there was a threat to communism
      • The invasion was condemned by both communist and capitalist countries
      • Rather than being a show of strength, the invasion laid out the problems with communism faced

Comments

No comments have yet been made

Similar History resources:

See all History resources »See all The Cold War resources »