The
Prague Spring
HCrisis, in Czechoslovakia in 1968, reflected the
looser Soviet system
of review after 1960 and the pressure for economic and social change within the Czechoslovak Communist
Party.
HClamor for reform resulted in the peaceful
replacement of Antonín Novotný
as head of state by Alexander Dubcek a Communists long loyal to Moscow.
HSoviet leaders were alarmed, particularly by the
termination of censorship
and talk of closer economic relations with the West.
HAfter weeks of pressure failed to get the Czechs to
drop the reform program,
600,000 troops from the Soviet Union, and token troops from all other Warsaw Pact countries invaded and
occupied Czechoslovakia
on the night of August 20, 1968.
HPassive resistance—such as changing street signs to
confuse the invading
troops—lasted throughout the occupation, but the Warsaw Pact forces gradually won their way.
HDubcek was removed in
April 1969, and the hated controls were reimposed.