Prague Spring: Timeline

January 5: Alexander Dubček becomes the leader of the Communist Party, replacing Antonin Novotny.

March 5: Abolition of censorship.

March 22: Antonin Novotny, who is still head of the state, resigns.

March 23: Meeting of the leaders of Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, East Germany, USSR and Czechoslovakia in Dresden.

March 30: Svoboda is elected president of Czechoslovakia.

April 1: Creation of the “K-club” for “non-communist victims of Stalinism”.

April 8: Oldrich Cernik is chosen as Prime Minister, Otta Sik as Economics minsiter and Jiři Hajek takes over the Foreign Office.

April 9: The Czechoslovak Communist Party publishes an “Action Program” for a “socialism with human face”.

May 8: Meeting of USSR, East Germany, Poland and Hungary in Moscow.

May 17: Alexï Kossyguin, Prime Minister of USSR, holds interviews in Prague.

May 30: Novotny and others communists are banned from the Politburo.

June 21: Warsaw pact manoeuvres hold in Czechoslovakia.

June 25: Rehabilitation of all political prisoners and victims of Stalinism.

June 27: “Two thousands words” manifesto.

July 14: After a meeting in Moscow the “Five” (USSR, Poland, East Germany,  Hungary and Bulgaria) send a letter to the Czechoslovak Communist Party.

July 18: The Czechoslovak Communist Party proposes to hold discussions on “objective information”.

August 3: Conference in Bratislava (Slovakia) between the “Five” and Czechoslovak government.

August 20-21: During the night Czechoslovakia is invaded. Dubcek and other member of the Czechoslovak Communist Party are forced to go in Moscow.

August 26: Brejnev, by exerting pressures on them, gets an agreement from the Czechoslovak leaders. The Soviet forces are allowed to stay in Czechoslovakia.