Czechoslovakia 1968: Revolt or Reform? 1968—A Year of Hope and Non-Understanding1

Abstract

By the end of 1967 the cooperation between students, writers and communist reformist groups acted as a catalyst to a party coup d'etat in January 1968. By March 1968 the de facto abolishment of censorship led to revelations of corruption, past communist crimes and Soviet domination, and in turn, to the emergence of spontaneous public meetings and a rudimentary civil society. The Party reform movement acquired revolutionary aspects and the reformists were forced to respond to the people. Discussions with Western students and the New Left revealed a great deal of misunderstanding created by different historical experience and social systems. Common denominators were rejection of authoritarianism and support for peace and social justice. Following the Soviet invasion of August 1968, the reformists capitulated and the reforms were defended by alliance of students and workers. The 1968 experience led to closer cooperation across East–East frontiers and with Western groups freed from illusions about the Soviet empire.