(1968) Brief period of liberalization in Czechoslovakia under Alexander Dubchacekek. In April 1968 he instituted agricultural and industrial reforms, a revised constitution to guarantee civil rights, autonomy for Slovakia, and democratization of the government and the Communist Party. By June, many Czechs were calling for more rapid progress toward real democracy. Although Dubchacekek believed he could control the situation, the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact countries, alarmed by the threat of a social-democratic Czechoslovakia, invaded the country in August, deposed Dubchacekek, and gradually restored control by reinstalling hard-line communists as leaders.

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City (pop., 2001 est.: 1,178,576), capital of the Czech Republic. Situated on both sides of the Vltava River, the site was settled as early as the 9th century AD. By the 14th century it was one of Europe's leading cultural and trade centres. It was the focal point of opposition to the Habsburgs in the early 17th century (see Defenestration of Prague). The treaty ending the Austro-Prussian War was signed there in 1866. It became the capital of an independent Czechoslovakia in 1918. Prague was occupied by Germany during World War II and by the U.S.S.R. and other Warsaw Pact military forces in 1968 (see Prague Spring). In 1989 it was the centre of a movement that led to the peaceful overthrow of the communist government. Prague is the country's major economic and cultural centre, famous for its music, literature, and architecture.

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