Cold War in Europe Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Cold War in Europe - Assignment Example The attitude of the writer towards communism changes when the Soviets take the occupation of Czech in the 1946 elections. After the Yalta agreement that ended the brutal German rule, there was a reprieve as the pre-war president, Edward Benes takes power. The communists did well in these elections, but they did not form the majority government. They later took the power and instigated their rule with initiation of a one party state. The early phases of Prague Spring are portrayed as a call for reforms in the Dubcek governance. The voices that called for the end of centralisation of the economy and the call for the formation of the opposition Socialist party engineered the whole process. The call for reform of the party doctrine, and the free economy reforms dominated this period. Furthermore, Dubcek wanted to form interrelationship with the West. He claimed that Czech would continue to be subsidiary to the Soviet Union and the other partners. Fearing that their own citizens would demand for similar reforms, Breshnev took action to gain control. It became clear that the Warsaw Pact powers had the right to intervene in the matter. On the Warsaw Pact invasion, Dubcek called for the no-resistance, despite the sporadic fighting outbreaks. The students endeavoured to stop the Soviet tanks, and tried to involve the NATO. With over 70,000 Czech refugees, non-violent resistance took place. The president was arrested and taken to Moscow, but mass resistance led to his return to Czech. The later protests led to the removal of Dubcek as the president, and he was replaced by Gustav Husak who launched the normalisation programme (Conference Six Focus – topic 1). The impression obtained from the Czech political fortunes is that, they advocated for reforms in their system of governance. They were committed towards becoming and independent state with a democratic setting. The focus to development, other than war, was a gallant step towards their growth. Stalin