The Prague Spring
The Prague Spring is referred to when the Warsaw Pact allies invaded Czechoslovakia in 1968. Below are the details surrounding the incident.
In 1948, communism was the only political party in Czechoslovakia. The communist take-over was a very popular movement. The first reason why it was a popular movement is because Joseph Stalin signed an agreement with Winston Churchill and Franklin Roosevelt that the Red Army, which would then lead to pro-communism, would liberate Czechoslovakia. The second reason why it was a popular movement is because the people of Czechoslovakia remembered what it felt like to be betrayed by the West at the Munich Agreement, where most of Czechoslovakia was surrendered to Nazi Germany in 1938. (www.wikipedia.com).
"By the early 1950s, Czechoslovakia was a Soviet-style dictatorship and a loyal ally of the Soviet Union" (Goldman 123). Antonin Novoty was appointed the head of Czechoslovakia in 1952 by Joseph Stalin. Novoty was not well liked by the Communist Party. He refused to make changes to the political system, thinking that it would improve the Soviet's political influence in Czechoslovakia. In 1967, many very popular writers rebelled against him. It made it more difficult for Novoty to establish policies. The Communist Party then asked him to resign in January 1968.
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.
Dubcek immediately started trying to reform all aspects of the culture. There were many different reforms that he tried putting into effect. He strived for free speech, economic experimentation, open borders, and open debate in the political aspect of the country. The reforms specifically included liberalization of the country's repressive political environment, highly regimented economic system, and overly centralized administrative system, which has been come to know as the Prague Spring (Goldman 123). Also at this time, Czechoslovakia's culture consisted of artists, writers, jazz clubs, and other cultures of the West were very popular in Prague. Dubcek described it as creating "socialism with a human face" (www.wikipedia.com).
The Communist Party of Czechoslovakia had these specific reforms spelled out in its Action Program:
In 1945, after the holocaust and after World War II, Czechoslovakia was in a period of distress, which made people seek for communism as a solution. Communism, a totalitarian regime, was a form of government in which nobody was allowed to own any private property and the government controlled all economic activity. This government structure was not only corrupt, but it also caused more economic crisis in Czechoslovakia. Despite the rough situation that Czechoslovakia was going through, none of its
Communism is everywhere. And many people were involved in communism around the world especially during the 1950’s. One main person involved in american communism was Joseph McCarthy. McCarthy, although negatively, was very much involved in the search for communists in the United States of America.
The main reason for the Bay of Pigs attack on Cuba was the change to communism. The January 1, 1959 , the Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista fled the country for the safety of the Dominican Republic ( Goode, Stephen 75). Fidel Castro and his guerrilla warriors overthrew the former government dictated by Batista. Over the next couple of weeks , Castro established a new government and on February 16 was officially declared premier ( Finkelstein , Norman H. 127). The United States accepted this new ...
In 1946, the U.S.S.R. organized Communist governments in Bulgaria and Romania. In 1947, Communists took control of Hungary and Poland. Communists seized full power in Czechoslovakia early in 1948. These countries became Soviet satellite nations controlled by the U.S.S.R. Albania already had turned to Communism.
In the fall of 1989, people all around the world were watching unbelievable scenes on their televisions. Thousands of people in eastern Europe were meeting in the streets and squares and demanding the end of the communist rule. For the first time in history, opposition to communism was publicly voiced. Barbed wire border fences in Hungary are being torn down. East Germans fleeing to the West.
In Hungary however, reforms were demanded on a different basis. level, as the Hungarians had no desire to keep Communism and staying in the Warsaw Pact. Nagy’s government wanted free elections. impartial courts and farmland restored to private ownership. They wanted the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Hungary and as I mentioned their withdrawal from the Warsaw Pact, as well as to become neutral in the Cold War.
Following the death of Josef Stalin in 1953, the harsh policies he implemented in not only the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, but also its many satellite nations began to break down. There was a movement to distance all of the socialist nations from Stalin?s sadistic rule. In the Peoples? Republic of Hungary, there was much disillusionment with this Stalinist absolutism (Felkay 50). This disillusionment with the Soviet ideal of socialism lead the people of the fledgeling socialist state of Hungary to rise up in revolt, but ill-preparedness and the strength of the Soviet Red Army put down the insurrection within several days.
Causes such as poverty, Soviet power, and change of Hungarian life ultimately led to the primary uprising known as the Hungarian Revolution of 1956. This event not only portrayed the initial precursor of instability, but also rebellion inside the Soviet Iron Curtain. The Hungarian Revolution of 1956 included effects such as a massive decrease in the global Communist party, an increase of the policy Containment in the Western Hemisphere, and polarization of the Cold War. In the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, The U.S.S.R. principle of peaceful negotiation greatly faltered due to the Soviet practice of intervention and immense destruction of the Hungarian people.
Joseph Stalin became leader of the USSR after Lenin’s death in 1924. Lenin had a government of abstemious communist government. When Stalin came into government he moved to a radical communist society. He moved away from the somewhat capitalist/communist economy of Lenin time to “modernize” the USSR. He wanted to industrialize and modernize USSR. He had overworked his workers, his people were dying, and most of them in slave labor camps. In fact by doing this Stalin had hindered the USSR and put them even farther back in time.
to assume the role of dictator. This was a phenomenon which was to become a
This essay will concentrate on the comparison and analysis of two communist figures: Mao Zedong, leader of the Communist Party in China, and Joseph Stalin, leader of the Soviet Union. The main focus of this paper will be to explore each figure’s world view in depth and then compare and contrast by showing their differences and similarities.
The Cuban Revolution, also partaken as the 26th of July Movement, was an armed rebellion against the Cuban President Fulgencio Batista led by Fidel Castro. Fidel Castro was very idiosyncratic towards politics and therefor joined law school at the University of Havana. In 1950, Fidel Castro graduated from law school and began practicing law. Embracing his strong interest in politics, Fidel Castro decided to become a candidate for a seat in Cuba’s House of Representatives during June 1952 elections. Before elections could be held, however, Fulgencio Batista successfully coup the previous Cuban government and cancelled the elections. Fulgencio Batista would jail his opponents and use terrorist methods to make himself and his associates a fortune. Fidel Castro, wanting to establish a communist gover...
The main concern of the new government was the transformation of Czechoslovakia from a state-controlled to a free market economy (Embassy of the Slovak Republic). Disputes arose between the two republics about reform process which focused on privatization, the encouragement of foreign investment, policy of macro-economic stabilization, price liberalization, and liberalization of foreign trade (Slovakia.Org, “20th Century”). The Czech Republic was more economically developed than the industrial-based economy of Slovakia (Slovakia.Org, “20th Century”). The transition to a market economy left the Slovak Republic to endure greater economic hardships than the Czech Republic (Sovakia.Org, “20th Century”). For example, the federal government chose to dramatically cut the country’s defense industry, resulting in a large decrease in industrial production and a large rise in unemployment in Slovakia (Slovakia.Org, “Slovak Economy”). This took place because the economy that rose out of the communist era in Slovakia was based on industrial production, particularly on weapons and military equipment (Slovakia.Org, “Slovak Economy”).
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 Velvet Revolution: A Peaceful End to Communism in Czechoslovakia." Tavaana. E-Collaborative for Civic Education, n.d. Web. 28 Feb. 2014.