The Czechoslovak Year 1968: An Attempt to Revise Marxism-Leninism and Its Political Consequences

ABSTRACT

The content of the study is socio-political development in Czechoslovakia, known as the so-called Prague Spring or “revival process.” It started in January 1968, when A. Dubček became First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. The Czechoslovak “revival process” found its theoretical expression in the concept of the scientific and technological revolution and the “Action Program of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia.” In practical politics, Dubček’s party leadership led to the strengthening of pro-capitalist tendencies and forces in society, which threatened to grow into the elimination of the fundamental pillars of Czechoslovak socialism.

KEYWORDS:

• Czechoslovakia
• Prague Spring
• socialism
• Marxism-Leninism
• capitalism

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 Since progressive technological and social breakthroughs in the conditions of the scientific and technological revolution can only be based on qualified and creative work, according to the authors of Civilization at a Crossroads, at the time of the scientific and technological revolution the avant-garde position in the working class is held by the old working aristocracy (see Richta 1968, 165).

2 In 1988, M. Gorbachev, when asked by a journalist what the difference was between himself and Dubček, the former replied: “20 years.”

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Peter Dinuš

Peter Dinuš is a senior scientist at Institute of Political Science, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava, Slovak Republic. He is concerned with normative issues of political philosophy and theory of history as well as politology. His latest book is Politics without a Mask: Contribution to Political Discourse in Slovakia after 1989.