biggest political party in the country and had a mass base USTUC the working class.
soon squandered those advantages. next five years hundreds of thousands, including Loo oariv edoers. wenl lo labour camps and many to their deaths.
The national autonomy promised Slovakia was destroyed, and the economy was subject to rigid bureaucratic command.
The of the economy - in 1963 national income actually dropped by 3.7 per cent -led to the growth of a current arguing for a marketoriented reform.
Demands were also raised TOT the rehabilitation of the victims of the purges Calls JOI rehabilitation of the 'bourgeois nationalists' in Slovakia once again highlighted the of national rights.
Czech Lands students began to demand an end to party control of the official youth union. Two of the leaders of the group known as 'Prague Radicals' Jiri Mueller and Lubos Holocek, were expelled from the university in late 1966.
The campaign for their re-instatement Hcreasce political awareness among the students.
Liberals In 1967 the threads began to come together. The liberals won control Lne wilers Union. Prague students demonsuraune over bau erecurc.ty supply were attacked by ponce. Causily Students organised an occupation in protest.
Then, on January 1968 Alexander Dubcek became mirst secretary the CPC With this election it became clear that an important change was taking place at the top of the party, but between January and April the leadership came up will no denmne poncy. served transmissior belts for orders from the cenue. cane urlucr ualcusc pressure their membership ICveIsg their role. In some cases entirely new organisations were formed.
waye of strikes broke out from March onwards against such things poor wages popular managers According to the party daily Rude Pravo, at the March party comercnices there had been an almost universal demand ior tree information within the democratisation of eneray So, at the same time as (sincerely) professing loyalty the Warsaw Pact and Soviet Union, the Dubcekites took steps such Clearing Sovie agents out of the security sci vecs.
This could only increase paranoia the other MaSE European capitals.
At first glance the Dubcek leadership could have based itself on the mass movement and gone all the way with it. But that would have been against its nature.
mass movement, trying to keep everyone sweet and ending up satisfying no-one.
As the pressure the other Warsav regimes increased, the new leadership began to bend Over and over again it was summoned to give an ac count of itself to the other East European countries; on each occasion demonstrators urged them to stand firm.
At one of these encounters, recalls Josef Smrkovsky, who was present, came 'from nearby Trencin or Zilana' bringing a petition Russian tanks in Czechoslovakia in 1968 Poland are todav Peontaininozen , 20,000 and a few signatures emphasised that 'all the of the region had CiLizCus signed, including the sick No-one was missing. And when the party leaders came back from Cierna, they were met by a crowd of about 10,000, mostly • StUdeRLs. who demanded the truth about the talks'.
HISUS Warsaw Pact tanks rolled Prague.
INLO meant to be the solution Brezhnev's Czechoslovak problem.
prevent the wollu 14th Party Congress from meeting and force Dubcek and his supporters But the Kremlin seriousiy miscalculated. The party leadership condemned the invasion and the congress was convened. Prada, the according to Pravda, invasion nau veen carniea vul al lnte request of 'healthy forces' WILD the occupiers were unable and disturbed many of the Warsaw Pact soldiers. Suicides were reported The Soviet leadershir was under attack from inmunist movement: all the Wes DOSI HODOlLaO European CPs condemned the invasion.
K111 the Dubcekite leaders themselves gave Moscow une solution number of them were kid. napped to Moscow where under threat, they signe Lne voscov protocols which bound them to annu me ceasons o ane 14th Congress, curb the ceve oomen COT alternative political organisations to the CP, muzzle the media and get rid of CLaIE Icaulls figure who were particularly disliked in Moscow Of the Dubcekite leaders Moscow only Frantisek Kriegel refused to sign.
By signing this document the Dubcekites pledged themselves to demobilise the mass movement. - as unwelcome as the tanks in there was a wave of student occupations backed by many worker: organisations When an attempt was made to remove Dubcek supporter Josef Smrkorsky as chairperson of the CUCd Assembly man! working class organisations were DIcoalc strike in his defence This was only stoppec by Smrkovsky himself go. ing on television to appea for restraint. Burned On 16 January 1969 the student Jan Palach burned himself to death leaving a note calling for an end to censorship and an unlimited general strike to win this demand. Hun. dreds of thousands of peonle attended Hunera processions in his honour At the enc of March 1969 riots in celebration of an ice-hockev win over thi Soviet Union were used as replace DICLCXI Dubcek leadership with a UliC Gustar Husak