The year is 1968.
Alexander Dubcek has been chosen as First Secretary of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic, and rumors have circulated that the more conservative parts of the Communist Party have asked the Soviet Union to intervene; Dubcek's radical changes appear to be heresy against the policies of Marx, Lenin, and Stalin, and there are well-founded fears that a transition to a less authoritarian system would jeopardize socialism. The radical reformers want a Western-style Democracy and capitalism, whilst the hardline conservatives want to continue the status quo of following Moscow's word to the dots and crosses. Dubcek and his group of moderates want something closer to democratic socialism, something some of the Western communist parties had been proposing ever since the Soviet invasion of Hungary in 1956.
On March 17th, rumors had been proven true: Milos Jakes, one of the hardliners, was raided by the StB for unknown reasons (rumor has it that the raid was due to beliefs he may have been a pedophile*), and during the raid a letter was discovered that revealed what became known as the Autumn Plot. The letter detailed a plea and plan to Leonid Breznhev, describing how Dubcek's policies would lead to capitalism and fascism from taking over Czechoslovakia, and that the Soviet Union, along with the Warsaw Pact states, needed to intervene and install a Stalinist (who was not named, but it is widely believed to have been either Antonin Novotny, who Dubcek replaced, or Vasil' Bil'ak).
Milos Jakes, Antonin Novotny, Vasil Bil'ak, and a slew of other hardliners were arrested the following day, and all thoroughly questioned, though they were not tortured.
Only a handful of hardliners had known of the letter, and a few had sent their own since January, albeit none were as detailed as Milo's. Most were released, including Antonin and Vasil'. Leonid Brezhnev, Wladyslaw Gomulka, Todor Zhivkov, Walter Ulbrich, and Nicolae Ceausescu were flown into Brno on April 6th and what is now known as the May Compromise came to be.
The Soviet Army would patrol the Czechoslovak border with West Germany and Austria, creating a border similar to that of West Germany and East Germany, addressing one of the Soviet's largest concerns with the reforms being conducted in Czechoslovakia. Alongside this, the fledging Social Democratic Party would not be banned but be placed under StB surveillance, whilst anything more capitalist of it would be banned. Censorship would be heightened but only partially, restricting the rights of dissents in other Warsaw Pact states from travelling to Czechoslovakia to publish their works, becoming a widely-joked about topic. In return, however, Dubcek was given free reign for his reforms, as long as he followed the rules and stayed within the Warsaw Pact.
*This is something I made up as a rumor that seems semi-plausible; the state typically wouldn't raid a high-ranking pro-Stalinist politician on the belief he was talking to the USSR, much less its General Secretary, and if it were ever proven that it was why the StB raided his apartment, it would bring about a Soviet invasion most likely.
Alexander Dubcek has been chosen as First Secretary of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic, and rumors have circulated that the more conservative parts of the Communist Party have asked the Soviet Union to intervene; Dubcek's radical changes appear to be heresy against the policies of Marx, Lenin, and Stalin, and there are well-founded fears that a transition to a less authoritarian system would jeopardize socialism. The radical reformers want a Western-style Democracy and capitalism, whilst the hardline conservatives want to continue the status quo of following Moscow's word to the dots and crosses. Dubcek and his group of moderates want something closer to democratic socialism, something some of the Western communist parties had been proposing ever since the Soviet invasion of Hungary in 1956.
On March 17th, rumors had been proven true: Milos Jakes, one of the hardliners, was raided by the StB for unknown reasons (rumor has it that the raid was due to beliefs he may have been a pedophile*), and during the raid a letter was discovered that revealed what became known as the Autumn Plot. The letter detailed a plea and plan to Leonid Breznhev, describing how Dubcek's policies would lead to capitalism and fascism from taking over Czechoslovakia, and that the Soviet Union, along with the Warsaw Pact states, needed to intervene and install a Stalinist (who was not named, but it is widely believed to have been either Antonin Novotny, who Dubcek replaced, or Vasil' Bil'ak).
Milos Jakes, Antonin Novotny, Vasil Bil'ak, and a slew of other hardliners were arrested the following day, and all thoroughly questioned, though they were not tortured.
Only a handful of hardliners had known of the letter, and a few had sent their own since January, albeit none were as detailed as Milo's. Most were released, including Antonin and Vasil'. Leonid Brezhnev, Wladyslaw Gomulka, Todor Zhivkov, Walter Ulbrich, and Nicolae Ceausescu were flown into Brno on April 6th and what is now known as the May Compromise came to be.
The Soviet Army would patrol the Czechoslovak border with West Germany and Austria, creating a border similar to that of West Germany and East Germany, addressing one of the Soviet's largest concerns with the reforms being conducted in Czechoslovakia. Alongside this, the fledging Social Democratic Party would not be banned but be placed under StB surveillance, whilst anything more capitalist of it would be banned. Censorship would be heightened but only partially, restricting the rights of dissents in other Warsaw Pact states from travelling to Czechoslovakia to publish their works, becoming a widely-joked about topic. In return, however, Dubcek was given free reign for his reforms, as long as he followed the rules and stayed within the Warsaw Pact.
- common joke about the April 6th Agreement
*This is something I made up as a rumor that seems semi-plausible; the state typically wouldn't raid a high-ranking pro-Stalinist politician on the belief he was talking to the USSR, much less its General Secretary, and if it were ever proven that it was why the StB raided his apartment, it would bring about a Soviet invasion most likely.