THE REACTION OF UKRAINIAN SOCIETY ON THE EVENTS OF 1968 IN CZECHOSLOVAKIA

Abstract

On the basis of wide range of sources this article considers the influence of the events of 1968 in Czechoslovakia on Ukrainian society. The reaction of various social groups is shown. A lot of attention is given to propaganda campaign of the bodies of political leadership concerning formation of public thinking. It is stated that objective information concerning reformative course of ideologists and practicians of the Prague spring had been spread in different regions of Ukraine and had found its evaluation among intelligencia, proletariat, clergy, youth. The events of 1968 in Czechoslovakia shook the Soviet society in general and Ukrainian in particular, intensified sociopolitical processes. The ideas of the Prague Spring not only politicized the society in a certain way, but also became an effective stimulus for the further development of the human rights movement, help to involve patriotic circles in Ukraine who, on the example of Czechoslovakia, saw the prospect of their struggle. Occupation of a sovereign country has provoked anxiety among ordinary citizens by their own destiny. The facts presented undeniably reveal that part of the Ukrainian society perceived the decision to send in troops into Czechoslovakia not as a limited military operation capable of neutralizing the local conflict but as large-scale military operations with long-term negative consequences for politics and the economy. The creative intelligentsia of Ukraine, in the vast majority, welcomed the reformist course of the Czechoslovak leadership, saw it as a way to expand democratic processes in Ukraine, the only opportunity for intellectual freedom. In general, the events of the Prague Spring became an important phenomenon of the socio-political life of Europe in the second half of the twentieth century, one of the most serious political crises in the socialist camp.

Dmytruk, V. (2018). The Reaction of Ukrainian Society on the Events of 1968 in Czechoslovakia. Mìžnarodnì zv’âzki Ukraïni: naukovì pošuki ì znahìdki – The International relations of Ukraine: scientific searches and findings, 27, 84-105 [in Ukrainian].