Prague Spring

Although seen by some as proof of the impossibility of reforming Communism from within, the Prague Spring and subsequent invasion had several important consequences. By establishing the limits of acceptable reform, the Prague Spring served as a warning to leaders and peoples in other Central and Eastern European countries. It helped inspire Mikhail Gorbachev’s policies of the late 1980s, which led to the collapse of the Soviet Union. The reform movement and its aftermath also contributed to the growing divergence between the “New Left” policies of Western Europe’s Communist parties and those of the Soviet Union and its allies.