Prague Spring

Question 1

When did it start?

Answer 1

5th January 1968

Question 2

What were some of the reforms of the Prague Spring?

Answer 2

• Loosening of restrictions on the media, speech and travel
• Dubcek also wanted to split it into 2: Czech Republic and Slovak Republic

Question 3

What was the Soviet response?

Answer 3

• Invaded Czechoslovakia in August 1968 with 500,000 troops

Question 4

What was the aftermath?

Answer 4

Czechoslovakia entered a period of ‘normalisation’ - subsequent leaders tried to restore the political and economic values that had prevailed before Dubcek gained control of Czechoslovakia

Question 5

Who replaced Dubcek and what did he do?

Answer 5

• Gustav Husak
• He reversed almost all of Dubcek’s reforms

Question 6

How did it threaten soviet control?

Answer 6

• The reforms (‘Socialism with a human face’) were a direct challenge to Communist ideology that USSR imposed on its satellite states
• There was a fear that the reforms could inspire similar movements in the Eastern Bloc, potentially destabilising the Soviet’s control over the region
• Showed an example of a satellite state asserting its independence and follow a path of socialism and it was seen as a threat to the unity and stability of the Eastern Bloc under Soviet control