Antonín Novotný was a weak and inhumane leader who was incapable of solving the social and
economic issues Czechoslovakia was facing. This lead to unpopularity among the general public,
especially students and intellectuals, the Czechoslovakian Communist Party, and the Russian Leader
Brezhnev. Novotny became the head of the Czechoslovakian Communist Party in 1957. He was a firm
believer and strong supporter of Stalinism, and therefore a strict communist. He was very obedient to
Moscow, and tried to rule like Stalin, producing a stagnant, discontented and divided society. Novotny
aimed at following the Stalinist Model: ________.He was generally very unpopular because he was
incapable of solving the economic issues Czechoslovakia was facing,…show more content… This was part of a programme developed by Leonid Brezhnev called
“Developed Socialism”. The purpose was to strengthen and verify Russia’s domestic control and
minimize the risk of the Soviet Union falling further behind the western economy. As the economy
declined further and further, the standard of living declined as well, poor housing. Generally the
economic crisis in the 1960es lead to widespread discontent and public outrage. Although Novotny
was initially unwilling to introduce reforms, he eventually was forced to make liberal concessions. He
introduced the Programme of Decentralization in 1965. This reform allowed individual companies to
have more freedom. Nevertheless, the reforms he eventually made were very slow to make and impact
on the economy, and were not working. This lead to large demonstrations against Novotny and the call
for democracy was louder than ever.
In addition to the economic crisis, Czechoslovakia also had a youth problem. It became increasingly
difficult to motivate students for patriotic duty or military service. Especially young people, students,
and intellectuals were overly critical of Novotny and started demonstrating and openly…show more content… There was a division within the Czechoslovakian
Communist party. Either they would have to support the conservative Novotny or a more liberal
direction. In addition to that there was also growing discontent within the party due to economic
failure and the failure of the reforms. Finally the Russian leader Brezhnev criticized Novotny and
claimed that Novotny “does not know what collective leadership is” nor “how to handle people.”
Generally in the 1960es the opposition towards soviet control and communist leadership increased
among the satellite states of Russia. Towards the late 1960es (1967-1968) the populate of
Czechoslovakia were imposing a change of party leadership. On January 5 th in 1968 Alexander
Dubzeck replaced Novotny and became the new leader of the party.
Under Alexander Novotny the political system significantly changed. “Developed Socialism”, better
known as Socialism with a human face, led to several liberal reforms allowing the Czechoslovakian
people to live a worthier and more liberal life.
On April 5 th 1968 Dubcek introduced a set of reforms. It was a programme of reform that brought
