The Prague Spring of 1968 Overview The Prague Spring of 1968 is a brief period of history during which the Czechoslovakian government, under the leadership of communist party leader Alexander Dubček, attempted to pass reforms, which would democratize the nation and reduce the influence of Moscow on them. These reforms reduced censorship of press, radio, television, speech and other media; they also lead to individual liberties, economic changes, and government restructuring. In all, the reforms gave more rights to the citizens through the decentralization of economy and authority. However, Moscow did not react well to Dubcek’s decisions and eventually invaded the country with Warsaw Pact troops. The sheer force of the invading troops resulted in no military resistance and the invasion remained bloodless (militarily speaking). After which, Dubcek was removed from power and his reforms were undone. Setting the Stage In the years leading up to the Prague Spring, Antonín Novotný governed Czechoslovakia. He openly supported Stalinism, and under his power, the people of Czechoslovakia suffered from fierce government regulations, censorship and poor leadership decisions. Although he led the process of de-Stalinization (since Stalin’s death in 1953), the pace of change was extremely slow and thus the people called for more reforms. In May of 1966 the Czechoslovakians began to complain that the Soviets were exploiting them, this was the first spark that eventually lead to the flame of his overthrow. Furthermore, Czechoslovakia was an industrialized nation and the Soviet’s model of economy did not suit them, in fact it hurt Czechoslovakians, and lead to a decline in their economy. In fact, the conditions for the working class were a... ... middle of paper ... ...rators. During this time frame, Husak’s rule was often described as “reluctant terror” as it closely copied the Soviet Union’s policies and objectives. Conclusion and Discussion The soviet troops stayed in Czechoslovakia for about 23 years, and left in 1991. The Prague spring can be considered as an abortive revolution as it was unsuccessful attempt at changing the political and potentially the social system of Czechoslovakia. However, I have a difficult time seeing as to why this would be considered a revolution. Yes, the reforms were bringing new ideas of thought and the changing the way the government treated its people. But it does not seem as though a political party or social group actually ‘revolted’. But nevertheless, I feel that Dubcek had a great vision and had great strength to attempt such a bold move when the world’s largest country was his neighbor.
Tucker, Robert C. "Stalinism as Revolution from Above". Stalinism. Edited by Robert C. Tucker. New York: American Council of Learned Societies, 1999.
During the 20th century, the rise of communism sparked rage in people throughout the world. More towards the end of the 1900's the fall of communism and dictatorships was just the beginning of what would eventually be a large democratic change for several countries. 1989: Democratic Revolutions at the Cold War's End, speaks about the change brought to several different countries from the 1980's-1990's and plans to show "the global transformations that marked the end of the cold war and shaped the era in which we live"(Pg V). During the cold war, communist had power and control over a large area and spread communism throughout several continents. This book specifically hits on six different studies of where communism and dictatorship affected these areas and what they did to stop it. Poland, Philippines, Chile, South Africa, Ukraine, and China throughout the end of the 20th century created revolutionary movements which brought them all one step closer to freeing themselves and creating democratic change.
The overall collapse of the Communist regime came rather quickly, but there were underlying causes of the collapse that were apparent during the preceding decades. On the surface, the 1970s looked good for the Soviet Union. A lot of certain aspects were still going the Soviet Unions way. However, in 1975, the Soviet Union’s power peaked. In 1975, the Soviet Union’s power began to dwindle and there were six underlying causes of the collapse that can be dated back to that year. In this essay I will discuss these six causes and how they helped bring about the actual collapse of the Soviet regime.
A revolution is a complete overthrow of an established government or political system, which means that the events occurring in Germany in 1918 didn’t constitute a revolution. Groups changed in and out of power, but in the end it was always one group ruling over the people, just as the Kaiser had. The Social Democrats, a right-wing political group, eventually took his place, using the Freikorps to control people. The Spartacists wanted a revolution exactly like that in Russia in the previous year, but they were never allowed the chance to come into great power. And so the governmental and social system remained fairly similar to that of the Kaiser’s rule.
Which means all people, not giving thought to any struggle in the past. A revolution is a radical and pervasive change in society and the social structure, especially one made suddenly and often accompanied by violence. As stated before, society changed, but the social structure of the society did not. When observing historical context, this can be a revolution because social structures either reverted back to the old ways then changed to an extent.
During the late 1920’s up until World War II, the United States went through a period of severe economic depression, also called the “Great Depression”. Multitudes of Americans everywhere were inadequately clothed, nourished, and sheltered. As hunger and unemployment reached never before seen levels, despair reigned. During these times Labor Union enrollment dramatically increased and Americans were searching for a panacea to their social and economic problems. It was at this time that groups of citizens, jobless and hungry, looked upon Communism favorably. These individuals longed for what seemed to be a utopian society, which they viewed in the USSR, where everyone was employed and cared for. Communist political parties sprung up everywhere, literature and newspapers in support of Communism proliferated. More and more, seeing the success and the promises, the enrollment in Communist parties increased. Members of the American Communist party idealized the leaders of the USSR, Lenin and Stalin.
Gorbachev's attempt at democratising the totalitarian Soviet system backfired on him as the Soviet republics began to revolt against Moscow's control. This was not a case of economic and political crisis producing liberalisation and democratisation. Rather, it was liberalisation and democratisation that brought the regime to crisis point.
In order to conclude the extent to which the Great Terror strengthened or weakened the USSR, the question is essentially whether totalitarianism strengthened or weakened the Soviet Union? Perhaps under the circumstances of the 1930s in the approach to war a dictatorship may have benefited the country in some way through strong leadership, the unifying effect of reintroducing Russian nationalism and increased party obedience. The effects of the purges on the political structure and community of the USSR can be described (as Peter Kenez asserts) as an overall change from a party led dictatorship to the dictatorship of a single individual; Stalin. Overall power was centred on Stalin, under whom an increasingly bureaucratic hierarchy of party officials worked. During the purges Stalin's personal power can be seen to increase at the cost of the party.
The Soviet economy was highly centralized with a “command economy” (p.1). fsmitha.com), which had been broken down due to its complexity and centrally controlled with corruption involved in it. A strong government needs a strong economy to maintain its power and influence, but in this case the economic planning of the Soviet Union was just not working, which had an influence in other communist nations in Eastern Europe as they declined to collapse. The economic stagnation led to the frustration of the workers because of low payments, bad working conditions, inefficiency, corruption and any lack of incentive to do good work. There were lots of frustrations among the workers in the working field who began to express their feelings and emotions towards the Soviet government.
There were many events that lead up to the Bolshevik Revolution. First off, in 1848, Karl Marx and Fredrich Engels published a thought-provoking book. The Communist Manifesto expressed their support of a world in which there was no difference in class. A world in which the workers and commoners ran the show and there was no high and supreme ruler. Many intellectual Russians began to become aware of this pamphlet as well as the advanced state of the world compared to Russia. Other countries were going through an industrial revolution, while the Czars had made it clear that no industrial surge was about to happen in Russia. The popularity of the Czars further went down hill as Nicolas II’s poor military and political decisions caused mass losses in World War I. Eventually, the citizens could take no more and began a riot in St. Petersburg that led to the first Russian Revolution of 1917.
Soon after World War II the Soviet Union had created a red iron curtain around Eastern Europe, communist regimes could be seen throughout with countries like Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria and Romania. These regimes where severely oppressive and violated basic human rights, hence a growing opposition was beginning to form. From the mid-1970’s Vaclav Havel, a former playwright would become the most prominent Czechoslovakian “dissident” and campaigner against the abuses of the Communist Regime by actively defending the rock group Plastic People of the Universe, being one of the three public spokespeople for Charter 77 and by writing various essays critiquing the communist regime. No essay has had more influence and been instrumental in “dissident” movements in Eastern Europe than the essay “The Power of the Powerless”. Within this essay and others that Havel wrote throughout the 1970s and 80s Havel describes the Communist system, critiques it and explains his strategy for overcoming the regime.
To what extent and with what degree of certainty can we decide who was responsible for the limited areal support for the Home Army (AK) during the Warsaw Uprising in 1944?
The post of the first Secretary of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia was given to a man named Alexander Dubcek. Dubcek was a dedicated Communist, but was wary of the Soviet policies. He had met many people who came from Stalin's Gulag, which had a tremendous effect on him.
The Velvet Revolution is not about delicious red velvet cake but instead sweet freedom of a new government. Even better than a new government it was short and sweet as well. The Velvet Revolution took place in Czechoslovakia from November 17,1989 and ended December 29, 1989. Czechoslovakia was located in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west, Austria to the south, Slovakia to the east, and Poland to the north.When I choose this revolution I was intrigued by the name of it. Also, I wanted a non-violent revolution and that’s exactly what I found.
Janos, Andrew C. “What was Communism: A Retrospective in Comparative Analysis.” Communist and Post- Communist Studies Volume 29 (1996): 1-24. Print.