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Prague Spring (in Czechoslovakia) - Coggle Diagram
Prague Spring (in Czechoslovakia)
as with other countries behind the iron curtain, Czechoslovakia was tightly controlled by the soviet union
it was a one party communist state
as a member of the Warsaw pact it answered to Moscow
the press and media were tightly controlled
opposition was banned
By the 1960s
The people were starting to resent this, and the fact it was also part of the Warsaw Pact which
added to the discontent.
In 1968 a new leader was chosen, called Alexander Dubcek. He wanted to change the way that
Czechoslovakia was run and go against the Soviet style of communism.
some of his ideas were
Allow everyone to travel to the West
Open the border with West Germany
Give control of the economy back to a local level with less control from the government
More power for trade unions and workers
Freedom of speech
Opposition parties allowed in elections and even in government
why did it end
Brezhnev was afraid to lose power over czechoslovakia
The USSR was getting more and more worried by Dubcek’s reforms as they realised they had less
and less control over Czechoslovakia.
They feared that they were heading towards rejecting
Communism all together and other countries may do the same.
the USSR also believed in domino theory
The tipping point was when the leader of Yugoslavia was invited to visit.
Yugoslavia had never joined the Warsaw Pact and hinted Dubeck was not loyal to the USSR.
In August 1968 the USSR invaded Czechoslovakia with 500,000 troops to force Czechoslovakia to return to USSR style communism.
Dubeck told people not to fight back so there were very few deaths.
Dubeck was arrested and removed from power.
consequences
The USA was too involved in the Vietnam war and 1968 was a turning point in the war which led to
the US withdrawal from Vietnam.
The Prague Spring did not really cause tension between the superpowers. The Western countries
protested at the United Nations and condemned the actions of Brezhnev.
The West was not going to take action as Czechoslovakia was too deep in the Soviet zone.
The USSR issued what became known as the Brezhnev Doctrine.
all Eastern Bloc
countries must have Soviet style communism with a strict one party system
remain in the Warsaw
Pact and that the USSR would use force to make sure this happened.