Socialism with a human face
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Socialism with a human face (in Czech: socialismus s lidskou tvř) was a political programme announced by Alexander Dubček and his colleagues when he became the chairman of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia in January 1968. It was a process of mild democratization and political liberalization, yet still enabled the communist party to maintain real power.
The programme was an attempt to overcome the disillusionment of the people in Czechoslovakia with the current political and economic situation . As the name suggests, the plan was to put a new face on the discredited ideals of socialism, not to bring back market capitalism. The subsequent developments became known as the Prague Spring.
The Soviet Union feared losing control over the country and invaded Czechoslovakia on August 21, 1968, with 200,000 troops and 5,000 tanks. The liberal reforms were eliminated step by step, and the country eventually returned to the centralized model with the communist party organizing every aspect of political and economical life.
The ideals of socialism with a human face did not gain influence later or abroad, except possibly through the perestroika policy in Russia.he:סוציאליזם עם פנים אנושיות fr:Socialisme avec un visage humain