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Prague Spring






Since the middle of the 1960s Czechs and Slovaks showed increasing signs of rejection of the existing regime. This change had been reflected by reformist elements within the communist party in installing Alexander Dubček as party leader. Dubček's reforms of the political process inside Czechoslovakia, which he referred to as "Socialism with a human face", did not represent a complete overthrow of the old regime, as was the case in Hungary in 1956. Dubček's changes had broad support from the society, including the working class. However, it was still seen by the Soviet leadership as a threat to their hegemony over other states of the Eastern Bloc and to the very safety of the Soviet Union. Czechoslovakia was in the middle of the defensive line of the Warsaw bloc and its possible defection to the enemy was unacceptable during the Cold War.





Unlike other countries of Central and Eastern Europe the communist take-over in Czechoslovakia in 1948, although as brutal elsewhere, was a genuine popular movement and reform in the country did not lead to the convulsions seen in Hungary. However a sizeable minority in the ruling party, especially at higher leadership levels, was opposed to any lessening of the party's grip on society and they actively plotted with the leadership of the Soviet Union to overthrow the reformers.

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Public transport destroyed during the seige of Prague

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Intimidating Soviet armor rolls by Czech. onlookers

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Czech civilians wave their flag in a bid for sovereign rule, poignantly placed in front of the burning husk of a Soviet tank.

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A distressed protestor challenges her adversary: a menacing soviet T-62

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A group of boys paint pro-Czech slogans on a bus. The word svoboda means 멹reedom?in the Czech language. This demonstration occurred during the Soviet-led invasion by Warsaw Pact forces into Czechoslovakia in August 1968.

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A bystander watches a Soviet tank drive down a Prague street in 1968. In August, Warsaw Pact forces had come to crush the liberal regime of the Czechoslovak communist party leader Alexander Dubček. His reforms, which were known as the Prague Spring or 몊ocialism with a human face? were for the most part reversed by new leaders installed by Soviet Russia.

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The Soviet T-55 tanks watched from a caf?in the centre of town, 29 August 1968.

Hungarian Uprising, 1956

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On 23 October 1956 hundreds of thousands of Hungarians rose up against the Communist Party government. Within days millions of Hungarians were participating in or supporting the revolt. The revolt achieved control over a large number of social institutions and a large amount of territory. The participants began to implement their own policies. One policy on which Hungarians were divided was the status of known 햂H informants; the workers' councils and student councils sent armed bands out to arrest 햂H operatives in preparation for criminal trials; whereas the ultra-nationalist right-wing groups like J?sef Dud?' executed members of the 햂H. The Hungarian Communist Party made Imre Nagy Prime Minister. After negotiating a ceasefire with Soviet forces in Hungary, Nagy declared his intention to withdraw Hungary from the Warsaw Pact. Soviet troops entered Hungary on two occasions, both times to firm up pro-Warsaw Pact governments ?the Gerő government that collapsed on 23 October, and the K?? government formed on 3 November ?that nominally invited them. On the night of 23 October and subsequent days the Hungarian 햂H shot protestors. In comparison, Soviet troops generally attempted to keep order. Armed resistance by insurgents, and the collapse of the Hungarian Communist party, caused a ceasefire between Soviet troops and insurgents by 1 November 1956. On the night of 4 November 1956 the Soviet army intervened, launching an artillery and airstrike assisted multi-divisional offensive against Budapest. To a minuscule extent this Soviet intervention was assisted by the 햂H, reorganised by the K?? government as a militia. By January 1957 K?? had brought the instability to an end. Due to the rapid change in government and social policies, the role of left-wing ideology in motivating some of the population, and the use of armed force to achieve political goals, this uprising is often considered a revolution.

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Soviet armor crashes through any obstacle during the siege of Budapest

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Hungarian revolutionaries impede the soviet advance with a clog of hundreds of civilians

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Hungarians investigate a disabled Soviet tank in Budapest

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Suppression of the Hungarian Revolution, October 23, 1956

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A 1956 era resistance painting

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Demonstrators raise the Hungarian flag over a Russian tank during the Hungarian Revolution of 1956.

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A Time article portraying a freedom fighter during the Hungarian Uprising

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Five days of freedom in Budapest

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For a brief moment it appeared that Hungary might be able to break away from the Soviet block, but the Soviet army put an end to all such hopes.

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In late October 1956 the Hungarians attempted to overthrow the 'Communist' regime, installing Imre Nagy as their leader. More than 3000 died in the uprising

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A figurehead of the socialist/soviet nation is overthrown in defiance

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The Hungarians survey the remnants of their victorious struggle, a bitter victory which was to be enjoyed shortly

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A clash of idelogies erupt in the streets of Budapset

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A young girl active in the Hungarian revolution poses with her ppsh sub-machine gun

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Hungarians mourn the death of a family member during the 1956 reveloution