Word: czechoslovakia
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...Milos Jakes, the beginning of the end came early last summer. In a series of private exchanges between the Czechoslovak Communist Party leader and Mikhail Gorbachev and his advisers, the Soviet President made clear that his own internal situation demanded a repudiation of the 1968 invasion of Czechoslovakia. If Jakes, 67, did not want to be undercut by the Soviet move, he would have to act -- and act soon. An agreement between Moscow and Prague was struck. Come October, Jakes would convene a Central Committee meeting and expel all Politburo members tainted by the 1968 invasion -- except himself. After appointing...
Before Jakes could fashion a response, events exploded. On Friday, Nov. 17, Prague riot police cracked down on student demonstrators. With his authority rapidly crumbling, Jakes launched a last-minute bid to crush the uprising. Advised by Czechoslovakia's military that it would take no part in a violent action against the populace, Jakes turned in desperation to the People's Militia, units composed mostly of factory workers that function in effect as the Communist Party's private army. Beginning Nov. 19, militia units were deployed at factory gates and inside industrial compounds around the country. Care was taken...
Before departing from Italy on Friday afternoon, Gorbachev also offered a revisionist view of the 1968 Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia that crushed the reforms of the Prague Spring. Earlier that day, the new Politburo of the Czechoslovak Communist Party branded the invasion as wrong. Asked at a Milan press conference what he thought about that, Gorbachev tiptoed toward an apology, though without going all the way. The Prague Spring was "an acceptable movement for democracy, renewal and humanization of society," he said. "It was right then and is right...
...PRAGUE, Czechoslovakia--Czechoslovakia appeared headed yesterday toward a federal government that will put Communists in the minority for the first time since...
...first time, the Communists, representatives of the four other small parties permitted in Czechoslovakia and the opposition held what a Communist spokesperson called round-table talks to discuss the new government...