Word: ek
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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After imploring the people to remain calm, Svoboda introduced the Central Committee's choice to take over Dubček's post as Party First Secretary: Gustav Husák, 56. In a short speech, Husák promised that Czechoslovakia would not return to the Stalinist repression of the 1950s, but he also stressed that he would allow no recurrence of the recent anti-Soviet riots that brought the Russians once more to the verge of crushing the country by force. "Some people imagine that freedom has no limits, no restrictions," he said. "But in every orderly...
Careful Balance. As part of a major overhaul of Czechoslovakia's governing apparatus, the 190-man Central Committee also abolished Dubček's old 21-man Presidium. It was replaced by a new eleven-man Presidium, whose membership reflected the careful balance of the new political arrangement. Only two outspoken liberals remained, Svoboda and Dubček, who was given the largely honorary position of President of the new federal National Assembly. The hero of the liberals, former National Assembly President Josef Smrkovský, was dropped from the ruling group after his own admission of errors, which...
...aided the changes, Soviet Party Boss Leonid Brezhnev sent his warm congratulations to Husák. So did most of the other East Bloc leaders. Predictable protests came from the West, the loudest of them voiced by the West European Communists, who had seen in Dubček's liberal form of Communism an opportunity to enhance their own appeal to voters in their own countries...
Extra police, reinforced by Czechoslovak troops, were on duty in Prague and other cities to cope with demonstrations, but there were none. The students, unable to decide what to do, did nothing. Similarly, the workers staged no protests. Though they previously had threatened strikes if Dubček or Smrkovský should be demoted, union organizations issued an appeal for all Czechoslovaks to "avoid rash acts...
...riots that were touched off by the Czechoslovak team's victory over the Soviets in the international ice-hockey finals, the Russians had made it clear that, in the event of another major demonstration, they would send in their tanks. Another cause was the fact that Dubček no longer commanded the fierce loyalty that had united and inspired the Czechoslovak people six or eight months ago. Unnerved and physically exhausted, Dubček in recent weeks has withdrawn almost entirely from public life. Though sympathizing with his plight, many Czechoslovaks felt that his emotional make...