Editing Prague Spring (section)

==Socialism with a human face==
{{main|Socialism with a human face}}

=== Action Programme ===
[[File:Říp, 10. 5. 1968.jpg|thumb|Ceremonial assembly held on 10 May 1968 on Mount Říp with the participation of the highest Czechoslovak leaders (in the front row, centre: President Ludvík Svoboda, Alexander Dubček, Čestmír Císař, Oldřich Černík, Josef Smrkovský and others)]]

At the 20th [[anniversary]] of Czechoslovakia's "[[Czechoslovak coup d'état of 1948|Victorious February]]", Dubček delivered a speech explaining the need for change following the triumph of socialism. He emphasized the need to "enforce the leading role of the party more effectively"<ref name="Navratil52">Navrátil (2006), pp. 52–54</ref><ref name="bulletin">{{cite news|last1=Vondrová|first1=Jitka|title=Pražské Jaro 1968 |url=http://abicko.avcr.cz/2008/4/04/prazske-jaro-1968.html|access-date=21 March 2018|work=Akademický bulletin|publisher=Akademie věd ČR|date=25 June 2008|language=cs}}</ref><ref name="Hoppe">{{cite news|last1=Hoppe|first1=Jiří|title=Co je Pražské jaro 1968?|url=https://iforum.cuni.cz/IFORUM-5993.html|access-date=21 March 2018|work=iForum|publisher=Charles University|date=6 August 2008|language=cs|archive-date=21 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180321192951/https://iforum.cuni.cz/IFORUM-5993.html|url-status=live}}</ref> In April, Dubček launched an "[[Action Programme (1968)|Action Programme]]" of liberalizations, which included increasing freedom of the press, freedom of speech,<ref name="bulletin"/><ref name="Hoppe"/> and freedom of movement, with economic emphasis on [[consumer goods]] and the possibility of a multiparty government. The programme was based on the view that "Socialism cannot mean only liberation of the working people from the domination of exploiting class relations, but must make more provisions for a fuller life of the personality than any bourgeois democracy."<ref>Ello (1968), pp. 32, 54</ref> It would limit the power of the secret police<ref>{{Cite web | last1 = Von Geldern | first1 = James | last2 = Siegelbaum | first2 = Lewis | publisher = Soviethistory.org | title = The Soviet-led Intervention in Czechoslovakia | url = http://soviethistory.org/index.php?action=L2&SubjectID=1968czechoslovakia&Year=1968 | access-date = 7 March 2008 | archive-date = 17 August 2009 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090817200255/http://soviethistory.org/index.php?action=L2&SubjectID=1968czechoslovakia&Year=1968 | url-status = live }}</ref> and provide for the [[Constitutional Law of Federation|federalization]] of the ČSSR into two equal nations.<ref name="Auto">Hochman, Dubček (1993)</ref> The programme also covered foreign policy, including both the maintenance of good relations with Western countries and cooperation with the Soviet Union and other [[Eastern Bloc]] nations.<ref name="Library">{{Cite news |author=Dubček, Alexander |translator=Kramer, Mark |translator2=Moss, Joy |translator3=Tosek, Ruth | title = Akční program Komunistické strany Československa| work = Action Program| pages = 1–6| language = cs| publisher = Rudé právo| date = 10 April 1968| url = http://library.thinkquest.org/C001155/documents/doc13.htm| access-date = 21 February 2008| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080506101804/http://library.thinkquest.org/C001155/documents/doc13.htm| archive-date = 6 May 2008}}</ref> It spoke of a ten-year transition through which democratic elections would be made possible and a new form of democratic socialism would replace the status quo.<ref name="Postwar">Judt (2005), p. 441</ref> Those who drafted the Action Programme were careful not to criticize the actions of the post-war Communist regime, only to point out policies that they felt had outlived their usefulness.<ref name="Doc">Ello (1968), pp. 7–9, 129–31</ref> Although it was stipulated that reform must proceed under KSČ direction, popular pressure mounted to implement reforms immediately.<ref>{{Cite web| last = Derasadurain| first = Beatrice| title = Prague Spring| url = http://library.thinkquest.org/C001155/noframes/summary_spring.htm| access-date = 23 January 2008| publisher = thinkquest.org| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071114005849/http://library.thinkquest.org/C001155/noframes/summary_spring.htm| archive-date = 14 November 2007}}</ref> Radical elements became more vocal: anti-Soviet polemics appeared in the press on 26 June 1968,<ref name="Postwar"/> and new unaffiliated political clubs were created. Party conservatives urged repressive measures, but Dubček counselled moderation and re-emphasized KSČ leadership.<ref>Kusin (2002), pp. 107–22</ref> At the Presidium of the [[Communist Party of Czechoslovakia]] in April, Dubček announced a political programme of "[[socialism with a human face]]".<ref>{{Cite web | publisher = Library of Congress | url = http://www.country-studies.com/czech-republic/the-prague-spring,-1968.html | title = The Prague Spring, 1968 | year = 1985 | access-date = 5 January 2008 | archive-date = 28 April 2017 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170428201613/http://country-studies.com/czech-republic/the-prague-spring,-1968.html | url-status = live }}</ref> At the time of the Prague Spring, Czechoslovak exports were declining in competitiveness, and Dubček's reforms planned to solve these troubles by mixing [[planned economy|planned]] and [[market economy|market economies]]. Dubček continued to stress the importance of economic reform proceeding under Communist Party rule.<ref>Williams (1997), pp. 18–22</ref>

===Media reactions===
[[File:Main protagonists of Prague spring in 1968.jpg|thumb|Main instigators of Prague Spring in 1968 (L–R) Oldřich Černík, Alexander Dubček, Ludvík Svoboda and Josef Smrkovský]]
Freedom of the press opened the door for the first look at Czechoslovakia's past by Czechoslovakia's people{{Citation needed|date=August 2022}}. Many of the investigations centered on the country's history under communism, especially in the instance of the [[Joseph Stalin|Stalinist]]-period.<ref name="Williams, p. 68"/> In another television appearance, Goldstücker presented both doctored and undoctored photographs of former communist leaders who had been purged, imprisoned, or executed and thus erased from communist history.<ref name="Bren, p. 23"/> The Writers' Union also formed a committee in April 1968, headed by the poet [[Jaroslav Seifert]], to investigate the persecution of writers after the [[Czechoslovak coup d'état of 1948|Communist takeover in February 1948]] and rehabilitate the literary figures into the Union, bookstores and libraries, and the literary world.<ref>Golan, Galia. ''Cambridge Russian, Soviet and Post-Soviet Studies. Reform Rule in Czechoslovakia: The Dubček Era, 1968–1969''. Vol. 11. Cambridge, UK: CUP Archive, 1973, p. 10</ref><ref name="Holy, p. 119">Holy, p. 119</ref> Discussions on the current state of communism and abstract ideas such as freedom and identity were also becoming more common; soon, non-party publications began appearing, such as the trade union daily ''Práce'' (Labour). This was also helped by the Journalists' Union, which by March 1968 had already persuaded the Central Publication Board, the government censor, to allow editors to receive uncensored subscriptions to foreign papers, allowing for a more international dialogue around the news.<ref>Golan, p. 112</ref>

The press, the radio, and the television also contributed to these discussions by hosting meetings where students and young workers could ask questions of writers such as Goldstücker, [[Pavel Kohout]], and [[Jan Procházka (writer)|Jan Procházka]] and political victims such as [[Josef Smrkovský]], Zdeněk Hejzlar, and [[Gustáv Husák]].<ref name="Williams, p. 69"/> Television also broadcast meetings between former political prisoners and the communist leaders from the secret police or prisons where they were held.<ref name="Bren, p. 23"/> Most importantly, this new self-called freedom and the introduction of television into the lives of everyday Czechoslovak citizens moved the political dialogue from the intellectual to the popular sphere.

=== Soviet reaction ===
[[File:Brezhnev 1973.jpg|thumb|upright|left|[[Leonid Brezhnev]]]]

Initial reaction within the Communist Bloc was mixed. [[Hungarian People's Republic|Hungary]]'s [[János Kádár]] was highly supportive of Dubček's appointment in January, but [[Leonid Brezhnev]] and the [[hardline]]rs grew concerned about the reforms, which they feared might weaken the position of the Bloc in the [[Cold War]].<ref>Navrátil (2006), p. 37</ref><ref name="trans">{{Cite web | title = Document #81: Transcript of Leonid Brezhnev's Telephone Conversation with Alexander Dubček, August&nbsp;13, 1968 | year = 1998 | url = http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/nsa/publications/DOC_readers/psread/doc81.htm | work = The Prague Spring '68 | publisher = The Prague Spring Foundation | access-date = 23 January 2008 | archive-date = 17 January 2008 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080117232525/http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/nsa/publications/DOC_readers/psread/doc81.htm | url-status = live }}</ref><ref>Navrátil (2006), pp. 172–81</ref>

At a meeting in [[Dresden|Dresden, East Germany]] on 23 March, the leaders of the "Warsaw Five" ([[USSR]], [[Hungarian People's Republic|Hungary]], [[Polish People's Republic|Poland]], [[People's Republic of Bulgaria|Bulgaria]] and [[East Germany]]) questioned the Czechoslovak delegation over the planned reforms, suggesting any talk of "democratization" was a veiled criticism of the Soviet model.<ref name="NavDresden">Navrátil (2006), pp. 64–72</ref> The [[Polish United Workers' Party|Polish Party]] leader [[Władysław Gomułka]] and János Kádár were less concerned with the reforms themselves than with the growing criticisms levelled by the Czechoslovak media, and worried that the situation might be "similar to...the [[Hungarian Revolution of 1956|'Hungarian counterrevolution']]."<ref name="NavDresden"/> Some of the language in the Action Programme may have been chosen to assert that no "counterrevolution" was planned, but Kieran Williams suggests that Dubček was perhaps surprised at, but not resentful of, Soviet suggestions.<ref>Williams (1997), pp. 10–11</ref>

In May, the KGB initiated Operation Progress, which involved Soviet agents infiltrating Czechoslovak pro-democratic organizations, such as the Socialist and Christian Democrat parties.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2014-07-19|title=UK-held Mitrokhin archives reveal details of KGB operation against Prague Spring|url=https://english.radio.cz/uk-held-mitrokhin-archives-reveal-details-kgb-operation-against-prague-spring-8289811|access-date=2021-05-02|website=Radio Prague International|language=en}}</ref>

The Soviet leadership tried to stop, or at least limit, the changes in the ČSSR through a series of negotiations. The Soviet Union agreed to [[Bilateralism|bilateral]] talks with Czechoslovakia from 29 July to 1 August at [[Čierna nad Tisou]], near the Soviet border. The Soviets were represented by almost the full [[Politburo of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Politburo]] that met for the first time outside the territory of the Soviet Union; also the Czechoslovak delegation included the full membership of the Presidium,<ref>{{cite web| title=Soviets and Czechs agree on multilateral talks| url=https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/1968-08-02b.pdf/| access-date=15 September 2023}}</ref> but the main agreements were reached at the meetings of the "fours" – Brezhnev, [[Alexei Kosygin]], [[Nikolai Podgorny]], [[Mikhail Suslov]] – Dubček, [[Ludvík Svoboda]], [[Oldřich Černík]], [[Josef Smrkovský]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Jiri Valenta|title=Soviet Intervention in Czechoslovakia, 1968|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z1vNmBoanUcC&dq=four++1968++%C4%8Cierna++Podgorny++Smrkovsky++Brezhnev++Svoboda+++Suslov&pg=PA151|year=1979|publisher=The Johns Hopkins University Press|isbn=0-8018-4297-2|page=151}}</ref>

At the meeting Dubček defended the proposals of the KSČ's reformist wing while pledging commitment to the Warsaw Pact and [[Comecon]].<ref name="Library"/> The KSČ leadership, however, was divided between vigorous reformers (Smrkovský, Černík, and [[František Kriegel]]) and hardliners ([[Vasil Biľak]], [[Drahomír Kolder]], and [[Oldřich Švestka]]) who adopted an anti-reformist stance.<ref name="Navrátil 2006, pp. 448–79">Navrátil (2006), pp. 448–79</ref>

Brezhnev decided on compromise. The KSČ delegates reaffirmed their loyalty to the Warsaw Pact and promised to curb "anti-socialist" tendencies, prevent the revival of the [[Czech Social Democratic Party|Czechoslovak Social Democratic Party]] and control the press more effectively. The Soviets agreed to withdraw their [[military|armed forces]] still in Czechoslovakia after manoeuvres in June and permit the 9 September ''Party Congress''.<ref name="Navrátil 2006, pp. 448–79"/>

On 3 August representatives from the "Warsaw Five" and Czechoslovakia met in [[Bratislava]] and signed the [[Bratislava Declaration]]. The declaration affirmed unshakable fidelity to [[Marxism-Leninism]] and [[proletarian internationalism]], declared an implacable struggle against "bourgeois" [[ideology]] and all "anti-socialist" forces.<ref>Navrátil (2006), pp. 326–29</ref> The Soviet Union expressed its intention to intervene in any Warsaw Pact country if a "bourgeois" system—a [[Pluralist democracy|pluralist]] system of several [[Political party|political parties]] representing different factions of the "capitalist classes"—was ever established. After the conference, the Soviet troops left Czechoslovak territory but remained along its borders.<ref>Navrátil (2006), pp. 326–27</ref>