Cold War Czechoslovakia: Communist Normalization (1970s and 80s)


Figure 1.--Rulers throughout the Communist world were fond of mass displays like this one in the Prague Spartakiad during 1985. The banner read, "Za Socialismus Za Mir" (For Socialism For Peace). President Gutáv Husák praised mass physical education and sports. He like his fellow Communist rulers also liked the image of mass support and solidarity that these displays projected. And unlike messy elections, there were little chance that the rulers would be replaced. Thus mass displays were prominent features of every totalitarian state, both Communist and Fascist. Largely unrealized in the West was the degree of dissent and opposition to the regimes imposed on the the people of Eastern Europe by their Soviet masters. By the time this event was staged, the facade of Communist power had already begun to crack in neighboring Poland. Poland did not have a border with Western Eu rope, but Czechoslovakia did.

The period following the Prague Spring and Soviet invasion is known as the period of 'normalization'. The Soviets reinstalled the hard liners in power. They acted as apologists for the Soviet invasion. Any opposition to the reintroduction of Communist orthodoxy was quashed by the secret police--State Security (Státní bezpečnost--StB) The political, social, and economic life of the country stagnated. Dissidents during the Stalinist era faced torture, the Gulag, or death. During the Communist normalization era, the rougher edges of Communist rule were moderated, but opposition still had serious consequences. One author provides a good description, "Those who did not comply with socialism were not only interrogated, intimidated and put under surveillance but also subject to house searches, during which the Secret Police invaded citizens’ privacy while searching for illegal literature. Bribes abounded; the presence of bugs in homes prevented people from speaking openly; there were long lines at the shops; people were imprisoned for filing complaints or signing petitions. .... Members of the intelligentsia were forced to do menial jobs such as cleaning streets or washing windows. If a citizen defected, the family left behind was severely punished. People socializing with dissidents were interrogated and accused of subversion." [Burne] From the outside, despite brave soles like Charter 77 speaking out, the Czech Communist state looked secure and like the rest of the Soviet Eastern European Empire, a fixed feature of post-War Europe. What Czech Communist leaders try as they might could not repeal or suppress the iron laws of economics. The Secret police supervised by the Soviet KGB and backed Red Amy could keep Czechoslovakia Communist, but it could not make the economy efficient. And living standards could not approach those countries across the border in Western Europe. Most people avoided trouble with the police by keeping silent and were thus unaffected by political repression. All Czechs were, however, affected by Communist economics which relegated the country to a kind of genteel poverty.

Sources

Burne, Tracy A. "Life during the Communist era in Czechoslovakia," Custom Travel Services Blog.






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Created: 7:36 AM 11/22/2013
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Last updated: 12:47 PM 11/22/2013