Item COLD WAR 7/11 - Transcript of interview with President Vaclav Havel, 1997

Typescript transcript of interview with Václav Havel, President of Czechoslovakia, 1989-1992, and President of the Czech Republic, 1993-[1998], relating to the influence of various opposing ideologies in Czechoslovakia, [1961-1968]; Havel's career in the theatre and as a playwright, 1956-1968; the denunciation by Nikita Sergeevich Khrushchev, First Secretary of the Soviet Communist Party, of the Stalin cult and the excesses of Stalinism at the Twentieth Congress of the Soviet Communist Party, Moscow, USSR, Feb 1956; the influence of writers on the 'Prague Spring', the Czech liberal uprising, Prague, Czechoslovakia, Feb-Aug 1968; the replacement of Anton Novotný by Alexander Dubeck as First Secretary of the Czech Communist Party, Feb 1968; Czech fears of Soviet military intervention in Czechoslovakia, 1968; the invasion of Czechoslovakia by Soviet troops, along with Warsaw Pact contingents from Poland, the German Democratic Republic, Hungary and Bulgaria, Aug 1968; Havel's account of the Soviet takeover of Prague, Aug 1968; the achievements of the 'Prague Spring', 1968; Havel's reaction to the apathy in Czechoslovakia to the prospect of future liberal reforms, [1970-1974]; Havel's involvement in the formation of Charter 77, a Czech human rights movement, 1977-1989; the influence of the European Agreement on Security and Co-operation (Helsinki accords) on the Charter 77 movement, 1975; the achievements of the Charter 77 movements and its influence on Czechoslovakia's peaceful transition to democracy, 1989; the close links between the Charter 77 movement and the Solidarity trade union movement in Poland, 1980-1989; meetings between members of the Charter 77 movement and Solidarity on the Czech/Polish border, [1980-1989]; the importance of the 'Prague Spring' in the history of the Cold War, 1968; Havel's emotions and feelings during the public meetings in Prague, 1968. 12pp