Prague Winter, Prague Spring

Abstract This chapter follows the first twenty years of Communist rule in Prague. In February 1948, Prime Minister Klement Gottwald staged a coup by demanding President Beneš accept a slate of Communist cabinet members. The Party targeted business owners, Catholics, and political dissidents. The Rudolf Slánský trial, held in Prague in 1952, targeted fourteen high-ranking Party members, eleven of whom were Jews. In 1955, the world’s largest statue of Joseph Stalin was unveiled in Prague, only to be destroyed in 1962. Despite censorship, innovative theater, film, and literature developed during this era. Artists such as Miloš Forman, Věra Chytilová, Václav Havel, and Allen Ginsberg found inspiration in Prague. In January 1968, the new Party secretary, Alexander Dubček, launched his “socialism with a human face” movement, which promoted freedom of expression and economic reforms. This era, known as the Prague Spring, was short-lived. In August 1968, the Warsaw Pact invaded Prague, and nearly all of the changes were reversed.