Czechoslovakia And Human Rights PDF Download

This volume presents a collection of letters concerning the Prague Spring. The Prague Spring was a period of political liberalization in Czechoslovakia during the era of its domination by the Soviet Union after World War II. It began in January 1968, when reformist Slovak Alexander Dubc?ek came to power, and continued until that August when the Soviet Union and members of its Warsaw Pact allies invaded the country to halt the reforms. The Prague Spring reforms were an attempt by Dubc?ek to grant additional rights to the citizens in an act of partial decentralization of the economy and democratization. The freedoms granted included a loosening of restrictions on the media, speech and travel. After the invasion, Czechoslovakia entered a period of normalization -- subsequent leaders attempted to restore the political and economic values that had prevailed before Dubc?ek gained control of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSC?). Gusta?v Husa?k, who replaced Dubc?ek and also became president, reversed almost all of Dubc?ek's reforms. The letters can be divided into various categories -- political statements, letters relaying the personal experiences of the writers to Gusta?v Husa?k, and appeals from relatives of political prisoners written directly to Gusta?v Husa?k, letters written to various Czechoslovak institutions during the Spring, and letters written by the Czechoslovak opposition to media outlets and politicians in the West during the late 1970s.