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  • Multicategory: Jazz, Music, Musicians, History

Prague Spring The Soviet Invasion

 

prague01A period of political liberalization in communist Czechoslovakia led by Alexander Dubcek. He promoted “socialism with a human face,” including greater freedom of speech and the press. On 20–21 August 1968, troops from the Soviet Union and other Warsaw Pact countries invaded Czechoslovakia to stop the reforms. Around 200,000 troops initially entered the country. Czechoslovak leaders were arrested and taken to Moscow, and the reforms were gradually reversed.

In spite of this, Sandy Brown, the Scottish clarinet player, played in November of that year at The Prague Jazz Festival, the festival a brave act of defiance. None of the viewers of the video who commented seemed to be aware that the streets of Prague were filled with tanks and soldiers.

 

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