Dubcek, Alexander

(1921–1992)

   Dubcek’s name will forever be associated with the Prague Spring, an attempt to democratize and liberalize communist Czechoslovakia in 1968. At the time Dubcek was first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, having gradually worked his way up through the party since joining in 1939. The reform program he ini- tiated was described as “socialism with a human face,” and involved increasing and guaranteeing the democratic rights and civil liberties of Czechoslovakian citizens. It included a relaxation of censorship laws and institutional reforms to permit greater participation of the people in government policy-making. The reforms crystallized in the “Action Program,” and this provoked military intervention by the Soviet Union and five Warsaw Pact countries, the Soviet Union fearing that Czechoslovakia might leave the Warsaw Pact and inspire instability in the remaining countries of the Pact. The military invasion immediately brought the reforms to an end, with Dubcek being pressured to sign the “Moscow Protocol” in October 1968, in effect renouncing the path of reform. Dubcek held on as leader until April 1969, then becoming chair of the Federal Assembly and ambassador to Turkey before being expelled from the Communist Party in 1970. The “Velvet Revolution” of 1989 when communist rule was overthrown saw Dubcek return from obscurity to give his support and he took up the largely ceremonial role of Federal Assembly chair.