When Soviet tanks rumbled into Czechoslovakia on 21 August 1968 with the military jackboot in tow, the Kremlin had scored a victory ~ is that the right word? ~ in the span of a week. The forces of liberalism, spearheaded by Alexander Dubcek , First Secretary, were crushed by the Soviet Union with brutal severity. …
Continue reading "Prague Spring ‘68"
August 26, 2018On 19 January 1969, a 20-year old Czechoslovakian student, Jan Palach, staged a solitary protest at Prague’s Wenceslas Square by dousing petrol and setting himself on fire. The protest was against the return of Soviet-supported Czechoslovakian authoritarian rule following the brutal ouster of Alexander Dubcek (1921-92). The latter had promised ‘socialism with a humane face’, …
Continue reading "Fifty Years After"
May 30, 2018