Prague Spring
Czechoslovak liberalization movement
The Prague Spring was a 1968 period of political liberalization in Czechoslovakia under Alexander Dubček, who sought "socialism with a human face"—relaxing censorship, expanding civil liberties, and decentralizing the economy.
Soviet tanks ended it in August, crushing the reforms.
The term now evokes hopeful reform movements suppressed by authoritarian force: The protests felt like a Prague Spring before the crackdown came.
USSR military vehicles
- occupationOne's regular paid work
- Brezhnev DoctrineSoviet right to intervene
- normalizationAdjusting to a standard
- CzechoslovakiaFormer Central European republic
Cold War · Eastern Bloc · Iron Curtain · self-immolation · Charter 77 · dissidents · samizdat · Velvet Revolution
Open resistance to authority
- dissentDisagreement with authority
- protestPublic expression of disapproval
- civil disobediencePeaceful refusal to obey
- undergroundBelow ground or countercultural
clandestine · solidarity · courage · resilience · martyrdom · commemoration · passive resistance · Radio Free Europe
Transition toward popular rule
- freedom of pressRight to publish uncensored
- decentralizationDistributing power from center
- economic reformSystematic policy modernization
- cultural thawRelaxation of societal controls
civil liberties · modernization · relaxation · openness · autonomy · self-determination · federation · intellectual freedom
Soviet tanks
USSR military vehicles
- occupationOne's regular paid work
- Brezhnev DoctrineSoviet right to intervene
- normalizationAdjusting to a standard
Czechoslovakia · Cold War · Eastern Bloc · Iron Curtain · self-immolation · Charter 77 · dissidents · samizdat · Velvet Revolution · détente
defiance
Open resistance to authority
- dissentDisagreement with authority
- protestPublic expression of disapproval
- civil disobediencePeaceful refusal to obey
underground · clandestine · solidarity · courage · resilience · martyrdom · commemoration · passive resistance · Radio Free Europe · exile
democratization
Transition toward popular rule
- freedom of pressRight to publish uncensored
- decentralizationDistributing power from center
- economic reformSystematic policy modernization
cultural thaw · civil liberties · modernization · relaxation · openness · autonomy · self-determination · federation · intellectual freedom · artistic expression
- Eastern EuropePoland, Hungary, Romania, Ukraine, Bulgaria
- European HistoryFrench Revolution, Roman Empire, Byzantine Empire, Holy Roman Empire, Industrial Revolution
- Sixtieshippies, Beatles, Woodstock, Vietnam War, JFK
- Cold WarBerlin Wall, Iron Curtain, arms race, Warsaw Pact, Cuban Missile Crisis
- 1968Tet Offensive, MLK assassination, RFK assassination, Apollo 8, Kennedy assassination
- Cold War ConflictsKorean War, Vietnam War, Cuban Missile Crisis, Berlin Wall, Bay of Pigs
Prague Springnormalization
Adjusting to a standard
Brezhnev Doctrine · martial law · military occupation · political repression · show trials
Prague SpringVelvet Revolution
Czechoslovakia's nonviolent 1989 transition
German reunification · Singing Revolution · Carnation Revolution · self-determination