Socialism with a human face

Socialism with a human face (socialismus s lidskou tváří, socializmus s ľudskou tvárou) is a slogan referring to the reformist and democratic socialist programme of Alexander Dubček and his colleagues, agreed at the Presidium of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia in April 1968, after he became chairman of the KSČ in January 1968. The first author of this slogan was Radovan Richta, and it was a process of moderate democratization, economic modernization, and political liberalization that sought to build an advanced and modern socialist society that valued democratic Czechoslovakian tradition while still allowing the Communist Party to continue governing. Socialism with a human face was vital in initiating the Prague Spring, a period of national democratization and economic decentralization. It was, however, rolled back by the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia on August 21, 1968. The programme was an attempt to overcome the disillusionment of the people of Czechoslovakia with the political and economic situation at the time. As the name suggests, the plan was to breathe new life into the ideals of socialism, which had lost popular support due to the government policies of the previous two decades. While it never intended to bring back market capitalism, Alexander Dubček proposed trade with both Western and Soviet powers and a ten-year transition to a multiparty democratized Socialism. At the 20th anniversary of Czechoslovakia's "Victorious February", Dubček delivered a speech explaining the need for change following the triumph of socialism. He emphasized the need to "enforce the leading role of the party more effectively" and acknowledged that, despite Klement Gottwald's urgings for better relations with society, the Party had too often made heavy-handed rulings on trivial issues. Dubček declared the party's mission was "to build an advanced socialist society on sound economic foundations ... a socialism that corresponds to the historical democratic traditions of Czechoslovakia, in accordance with the experience of other communist parties .