Word: czechoslovakias
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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...mercilessly squashed, almost total freedom of expression now reigns, the police have been put in harness and demonstrations of every sort can take place. Dubček, who threw out the hardlining Antonín Novotný as party boss in January and as President in March, has transformed Czechoslovakia into the most liberal of Communist states. Hardly anything in Czechoslovakia is any longer so sacred that it cannot be questioned and, if necessary, changed. And the entire transformation has been worked without bloodshed or disorder...
...reform the Roman Catholic Church from within but saw his followers break away and form their own movement. Hus was burned at the stake. Dubček does not expect any such fate-but he is feeling plenty of heat because of the course on which he has launched Czechoslovakia...
Spillover Effect. Dubček has no intention of breaking Czechoslovakia's links with the Soviet Union and his socialist neighbors, but they view the events in Czechoslovakia with considerable alarm. They are all too aware that the success of Dubček's reforms would almost certainly have a spillover effect, causing their populaces to seek more liberalization at home. When Dubček was summoned to Dresden two weeks ago to tell party bosses from Russia, Poland, Hungary and East Germany just where he thought he was leading Czechoslovakia, he reportedly told them that he planned...
Hungarian Party Theoretician Zoltan Komocsin warned that events in Czechoslovakia have "an anarchistic character," but the biggest storm broke last week when East German Party Ideologist Kurt Hager accused Dubček and his men of "filling the West with the hope that Czechoslovakia will be pulled into the maelstrom of evolution." The remark reflected East German Party Boss Walter Ulbricht's fear that Dubček's government may soon cozy up to West Germany for the sake of more trade and the special hard-money credits it badly needs. The Czechoslovaks were furious...
Conciliatory Gesture. During the week, Russia denounced the West for speculating that it would ever move to hinder Czechoslovakia, proclaimed its undying "fraternal fidelity" for the Czechoslovak people. When it came time to pick a new President to replace Antonin Novotný, Dubček decided to make a conciliatory gesture to the Soviet Union. At his request, the Central Committee nominated General Ludvik Svoboda, a liberal who enjoys wide prestige among the people and is particularly acceptable to Moscow because he commanded troops that served with the Russian Army in World...