Czechoslovakia: Into Unexplored Terrain

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greater voice in their affairs. "Democracy is not merely the right to utter opinions,' he says, "it also depends upon how these opinions are treated, whether the people really have a feeling of taking part in solving important social problems." To see that the Czechoslovak people get that chance, he left his family behind in Slovakia in January, moved alone into a downtown Prague hotel and began working 18-hour days on his reforms. Inevitably, since he wants to transform Czechoslovak society within the wide bounds of social ism, he is compared to the 15th century Czechoslovak Theologian Jan Hus, who tried to reform the Roman Catholic Church from within but saw his followers break away and form their own movement. Hus was burned at the stake. Dubček does not expect any such fate—but he is feeling plenty of heat because of the course on which he has launched Czechoslovakia.

Spillover Effect. Dubček has no intention of breaking Czechoslovakia's links with the Soviet Union and his socialist neighbors, but they view the events in Czechoslovakia with considerable alarm. They are all too aware that the success of Dubček's reforms would almost certainly have a spillover effect, causing their populaces to seek more liberalization at home. When Dubček was summoned to Dresden two weeks ago to tell party bosses from Russia, Poland, Hungary and East Germany just where he thought he was leading Czechoslovakia, he reportedly told them that he planned no big changes in foreign policy but intended to go right ahead with his internal reforms. During the summit, some 12, Russian troops were moved to Czechoslovakia's borders with East Germany and Hungary, ostensibly on maneuvers; they were later withdrawn.

Hungarian Party Theoretician Zoltan Komocsin warned that events in Czechoslovakia have "an anarchistic character," but the biggest storm broke last week when East German Party Ideologist Kurt Hager accused Dubček and his men of "filling the West with the hope that Czechoslovakia will be pulled into the maelstrom of evolution." The remark reflected East German Party Boss Walter Ulbricht's fear that Dubček's government may soon cozy up to West Germany for the sake of more trade and the special hard-money credits it badly needs. The Czechoslovaks were furious. Dubček's government formally protested Hager's speech, and Radio Prague denounced "this inadmissible meddling in the affairs of a sovereign state." A second attack by Hager put a severe strain on relations between the two states, once such close allies.

Conciliatory Gesture. During the week, Russia denounced the West for speculating that it would ever move to hinder Czechoslovakia, proclaimed its undying "fraternal fidelity" for the Czechoslovak people. When it came time to pick a new President to replace Antonin Novotný, Dubček decided to make a conciliatory gesture to the Soviet Union. At his request, the Central Committee nominated General Ludvik Svoboda, a liberal who enjoys wide prestige among the people and is particularly acceptable to Moscow because he commanded troops that served with the Russian Army in World War II.

Svoboda, who at 72 cannot be expected to serve long in the post, predictably announced that Czechoslovakia and Russia would always stand together. At week's end