Czechoslovakia: Prague's Sullen Winter

The economy slows, cheating increases and weekends get longer

In Czechoslovakia, a country haunted by its past, one event in particular lingers in the national mind: the Soviet-led invasion by some 600,000 Warsaw Pact troops in August 1968. That show of force quickly snuffed out the budding reforms that came to be known as the "Prague Spring" and led to the replacement in April 1969 of Communist Chief Alexander Dubcek by Gustav Husak, a party official loyal to Moscow. Since then, Husak has sought to "normalize" life by striking an unwritten deal...

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