poor, poor Praguians I'm finishing up my research for my Prague paper. This involves completely immersing myself in history of the events of 1968, and it's really interesting but quite sad, too.

The people in Czechoslovakia got taken for a ride by the Communist Party of the day, who misled them about their intentions. It seems that Czechoslovakians had, from an early stage, a belief that they could have a type of government which combined elements of democracy with socialism. That was what they wanted, and that was what they voted for in 1946, when they voted the Communists into powerful positions. The Communists played along, fooling the President and head of the democratic party, Edward Benes, into thinking they wanted to cooperate in a coalition government. Benes later said his biggest mistake was trusting Stalin (Communist leader in Russia) and Gottwald (Communist leader in Czechoslovakia).

In 1948, a minor disagreement that arose out of the Communists gradual stealing of powerful positions (i.e. firing heads of police departments and installing Communist-friendly men) resulted in a mass resignation by democratic party members. What should have happened was a government dissolution. Instead the Communists managed to install their own people in all the vacant spots, even at this time enjoying the support of the general public, who were in the dark about their true intentions.

Benes was helpless. He didn't want to start a civil war by calling in the military. He died later that year ("broken and defeated"), and the Communists proceeded to try and convict any and all opponents of Communism in bullshit trials. That poor country suffered for too many years under a government that deceived them.

(disclaimer: this might be a slight over-simplification - I'm just learning the story)  | ¶ 5:39 p.m.