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Events on Friday 5 January 1968 1
1968Prague Spring reforms beginAlexander Dubcek launches liberalization of Czechoslovak communismAlexander Dubcek became First Secretary of the Czechoslovak Communist Party and initiated a program of political liberalization known as "socialism with a human face," easing censorship and travel restrictions. The reforms drew alarm from the Soviet Union and other Warsaw Pact states. The period ended abruptly with the August invasion.