1968 marked a global revolution led by young people against social and political systems they considered authoritarian. This historical account of the events of 1968 in Eastern Europe, combining eyewitness accounts and academic essays, focuses on the reform efforts launched by the Prague Spring to build a democratic and humane socialism. We now understand that what happened directly in Czechoslovakia, and to a lesser extent in Poland and Yugoslavia, resonated widely throughout the “free world” and by no means ended with military repression by the Warsaw Pact countries—1968 was a pivotal year on the path to the subsequent disintegration of the Cold War blocs.
In the West, the movement was directed against consumerism, formal democracy, imperialism, and neo-colonial dependency under late capitalism; in the East, against the harsh structural repression of monopoly bureaucracy. 1968 witnessed the culmination of numerous national movements, each with its own history spanning several years. However, while Western movements, particularly student movements, have been extensively studied, the events in Czechoslovakia, their underlying conditions, and their long-term consequences have not received the attention and recognition they deserve. This book aims to change that.
| Publisher | Dietz Publishing House.. A Century and a Half of Political Publishing and Intellectual Debate |
| Author | Gert Weiskirchenberg |
| Country | Germany |
| Publication Date | 16/05/2025 |
| Pages | 288 |
| Edition | forth |
| Size | 14.53 x 2.34 x 21.67 cm |
| About the Author | Gert Weiskirchenberg, born in 1944, is an emeritus professor at the Wiesbaden University of Applied Sciences and an emeritus professor at the Potsdam University of Applied Sciences. He has been a member of the END party's liaison committee (later the Helsinki Citizens' Association) since 1983. He was a member of the German Bundestag from 1976 to 2009 and served as the foreign policy spokesperson for the Social Democratic Party's parliamentary group from 1999 to 2009. He is a founding member of the Senate of the Potsdam University of Applied Sciences. |
| Publisher Address | info@dietz-verlag.de |
| ISBN | ISBN 978-3-8012-0598-0 |
