Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

(1921–92), First Secretary of the Communist Party of czechoslovakia (1968–9). As successor to novotny , this Slovak became the leading figure in the prague spring of 1968. Dubček headed a reforming administration that sought some liberalization of the communism operative inside his country and a lessening of the soviet union's control over foreign policy too. The warsaw pact invasion of August 1968 put an end to his effective authority, and he was formally replaced by husák in the following year. However, when Soviet hegemony over the Eastern bloc collapsed amidst the European revolutions of 1989–91 and havel became Czechoslovakia's first post-communist leader, Dubček re-emerged to act as chairman of the new democratic parliament. ... log in or subscribe to read full text