Editing Prague Spring (section)

=== Cultural impact ===
The Prague Spring deepened the disillusionment of many Western leftists with [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] views. It contributed to the growth of [[Eurocommunism|Eurocommunist]] ideas in Western communist parties, which sought greater distance from the Soviet Union and eventually led to the dissolution of many of these groups.<ref>Aspaturian (1980), p. 174</ref>
A decade later, a period of Chinese political liberalization became known as the [[Beijing Spring]]. It also partly influenced the [[Croatian Spring]] in [[Communist Yugoslavia]].<ref>Despalatović (2000), pp. 91–92</ref> In a 1993 Czech survey, 60% of those surveyed had a personal memory linked to the Prague Spring while another 30% were familiar with the events in another form.<ref>Williams (1997), p. 29</ref> The demonstrations and regime changes taking place in North Africa and the Middle East from December 2010 have frequently been referred to as an "[[Arab Spring]]".

The event has been referenced in popular music, including the music of [[Karel Kryl]], [[Luboš Fišer]]'s ''Requiem'',<ref>{{Cite web| title = Luboš Fišer| url = http://www.musica.cz/fiser/| date = 5 February 2005| publisher = CZMIC| access-date = 23 January 2008| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071008142700/http://www.musica.cz/fiser/ <!-- Bot retrieved archive -->| archive-date = 8 October 2007| url-status = dead}}</ref> and [[Karel Husa]]'s ''[[Music for Prague 1968]]''.<ref>{{Cite web| last = Duffie| first = Bruce| date = 1 December 2001| title = Karel Husa, The Composer in Conversation with Bruce Duffie| url = http://www.bruceduffie.com/husa.html| publisher = New Music Connoisseur Magazine| access-date = 23 January 2008| archive-date = 21 April 2021| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210421033021/http://www.bruceduffie.com/husa.html| url-status = live}}</ref>
The Israeli song "Prague", written by [[Shalom Hanoch]] and performed by [[Arik Einstein]] at the Israel Song Festival of 1969, was a [[lamentation]] on the fate of the city after the Soviet invasion and mentions [[Jan Palach]]'s [[Self-immolation]].<ref>[http://mooma.mako.co.il/Biography.asp?ArtistId=1124&TextId=982 Biography of Arik Einstein – The Solo Years] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120111154240/http://mooma.mako.co.il/Biography.asp?ArtistId=1124&TextId=982 |date=11 January 2012 }}, Mooma (in Hebrew). Retrieved 15 May 2010.</ref>
"[[They Can't Stop The Spring]]", a song by Irish journalist and songwriter [[John Waters (columnist)|John Waters]], represented Ireland in the [[Eurovision Song Contest]] in 2007. Waters has described it as "a kind of [[Celtis|Celtic]] celebration of the Eastern European revolutions and their eventual outcome", quoting Dubček's alleged comment: "They may crush the flowers, but they can't stop the Spring."<ref>{{Cite web| title = John Waters, The Events That Transpired it| url = http://www.unison.ie/irish_independent/stories.php3?ca=9&si=1774358&issue_id=15243| work = Spring: The Events that Transpired it| date = 11 February 2007| access-date = 21 January 2008| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160303193440/http://www.unison.ie/irish_independent/stories.php3?ca=9&si=1774358&issue_id=15243| archive-date = 3 March 2016}}</ref>
"The Old Man's Back Again (Dedicated to the Neo-Stalinist Regime)", a song featured in the American-English singer-songwriter [[Scott Walker (singer)|Scott Walker]]'s fifth solo album [[Scott 4]] also refers to the invasion.

The Prague Spring is featured in several works of literature. [[Milan Kundera]] set his novel ''[[The Unbearable Lightness of Being]]'' during the Prague Spring. It follows the repercussions of increased Soviet presence and the dictatorial police control of the population.<ref>Kundera (1999), p. 1</ref> A [[The Unbearable Lightness of Being (film)|film version]] was released in 1988. ''[[The Liberators (Suvorov)|The Liberators]]'', by [[Viktor Suvorov]], is an eyewitness description of the 1968 invasion of Czechoslovakia, from the point of view of a Soviet tank commander.<ref>Suvorov (1983), p. 1</ref> ''[[Rock 'n' Roll (play)|Rock 'n' Roll]]'', a play by award-winning Czech-born English playwright [[Tom Stoppard]], references the Prague Spring, as well as the 1989 [[Velvet Revolution]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Mastalir|first=Linda|date=28 June 2006|title=Tom Stoppard's "Rock 'n' Roll"|url=http://www.radio.cz/en/article/80581|publisher=Radio Prague|access-date=23 January 2008}}</ref> [[Heda Margolius Kovály]] also ends her memoir ''Under a Cruel Star'' with a first hand account of the Prague Spring and the subsequent invasion, and her reflections upon these events.<ref>Margolius-Kovály (1986), pp. 178–92.</ref>

In film there has been an adaptation of [[The Unbearable Lightness of Being (film)|''The Unbearable Lightness of Being'']], and also the movie ''[[Pelíšky]]'' from director [[Jan Hřebejk]] and screenwriter Petr Jarchovský, which depicts the events of the Prague Spring and ends with the invasion by the Soviet Union and their allies.<ref name="Film"/> The Czech musical film, ''[[Rebelové]]'' from [[Filip Renč]], also depicts the events, the invasion and subsequent wave of emigration.<ref name="Film">{{Cite web| last = Čulík| first = Jan| title = The Prague Spring as reflected in Czech postcommunist cinema| url = http://www.blisty.cz/2008/4/11/art40074.html| publisher = Britské Listy| date = 11 April 2008| access-date = 16 April 2008| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080412132303/http://www.blisty.cz/2008/4/11/art40074.html| archive-date = 12 April 2008}}</ref>

The number ''68'' has become iconic in the former [[Czechoslovakia]]. [[Ice hockey]] player [[Jaromír Jágr]], whose grandfather died in prison during the rebellion, wears the number because of the importance of the year in Czechoslovak history.<ref>Morrison (2006), pp. 158–59</ref><ref>{{Cite web| title = Legends of Hockey, Jaromír Jágr| url = http://www.legendsofhockey.net:8080/LegendsOfHockey/jsp/SearchPlayer.jsp?player=10703| publisher = Hockey Hall of Fame and Museum| access-date = 23 January 2008| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071112235512/http://www.legendsofhockey.net:8080/LegendsOfHockey/jsp/SearchPlayer.jsp?player=10703| archive-date = 12 November 2007}}</ref> A former publishing house based in [[Toronto]], [[68 Publishers]], that published books by exiled Czech and Slovak authors, took its name from the event.