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Czechoslovakia The Policy of Normalization
Once in power, the Husak regime acted quickly to "normalize"
the country's political situation. The chief objectives of
Husak's normalization were the restoration of firm party rule and
the reestablishment of Czechoslovakia's status as a committed
member of the socialist bloc. The normalization process involved
five interrelated steps: consolidate the Husak leadership and
remove reformers from leadership positions; revoke or modify the
laws enacted by the reform movement; reestablish centralized
control over the economy; reinstate the power of police
authorities; and expand Czechoslovakia's ties with other
socialist nations.
Within a week of assuming power, Husak began to consolidate
his leadership by ordering extensive purges of reformists still
occupying key positions in the mass media, judiciary, social and
mass organizations, lower party organs, and, finally, the highest
levels of the KSC. In the fall of 1969, twenty-nine liberals on
the Central Committee were replaced by conservatives. Among the
liberals ousted was Dubcek, who was dropped from the Presidium
(the following year Dubcek was expelled from the party; he
subsequently became a minor functionary in Slovakia, where he
still lived in 1987). Husak also consolidated his leadership by
appointing potential rivals to the new government positions
created as a result of the 1968 Constitutional Law of Federation.
Once it had consolidated power, the Husak regime moved
quickly to implement other normalization policies. In the two
years following the invasion, the new leadership revoked some
reformist laws (such as the National Front Act and the Press Act)
and simply did not enforce others. It returned economic
enterprises, which had been given substantial independence during
the Prague Spring, to centralized control through contracts based
on central planning and production quotas. It reinstated extreme
police control, a step that was reflected in the harsh treatment
of demonstrators marking the first-year anniversary of the August
intervention. Finally, Husak stabilized Czechoslovakia's
relations with its allies by arranging frequent intrabloc
exchanges and visits and redirecting Czechoslovakia's foreign
economic ties toward greater involvement with socialist nations.
By May 1971, party chief Husak could report to the delegates
attending the officially sanctioned Fourteenth Party Congress
that the process of normalization had been completed
satisfactorily and that Czechoslovakia was ready to proceed
toward higher forms of socialism
(see National Organization
, this
ch.).
Data as of August 1987
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