After WWII the USSR had taken control of Czechoslovakia. By 1968 the Czechs in the Capital, Prague, were tired of the lower standard of living, lack of Freedoms, and the One-Party system. The Czech government allowed more political parties to exist and relaxed the ban on some freedoms like censorship of the press. Even though the leader, Alexander Dubcek, promised to stay in the Warsaw Pact, the USSR still invaded his country to avoid the spreading of these ideas into Eastern Europe.