Czechoslovakia: Into Unexplored Terrain

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thousands upon thousands of Czechoslovaks have flocked to meetings to air their opinions, have signed petitions supporting Dubček, deluged government offices, radio and TV stations with calls, and even marched in the streets. Because it offers a socialist form of democracy so far unequaled anywhere in the Communist world, Czechoslovakia's revolution may have a far more lasting impact on Communism than either Tito's breakaway from the Kremlin or the Hungarian Revolution of 1956. "It lies upon us, on Czechs and Slovaks," says Forestry Minister Josef Smrkovský, "to enter courageously into unexplored terrain."

At week's end there was dramatic evidence of how far that exploration has already gone. More than 1,000 students poured into the streets of Prague after dark to protest the choice of General Svoboda as President because of his past Soviet ties. Angry and upset, they marched to the Communist Party headquarters and shouted for Alexander Dubček to show himself. It was midnight. In the past, the students would either have been clubbed to the ground or, at the very best, ignored. This time, no one interfered with them. What was more, Debček quickly appeared before them in the street. "What are the guarantees that the old days will not be back?" one student asked him. "You yourselves are that guarantee," replied Dubček. "You, the young." Then, as if mulling over all his country's painful history, he said: "Can the old days come back again? There is only one path, and that is forward."