“A great opportunity returned to us this spring just like after the war. Again, we have the opportunity to seize our common cause with the working title of socialism and give it a shape that would better correspond to our once-good reputation and relatively good opinion which we originally had of ourselves.” Conclusion of the proclamation in the manifest Two Thousand Words, July 1968 Czechoslovak film posters from the 1960s Scooter ČZ 175, model 501, lend by Technical Museum Brno Czechoslovak film posters from the 1960s A view of Brno from the roof of the Hotel Continental in 1964. Photo by Miloš Budík Construction of Janáček’s Theatre in Brno, 1965 First of May propagandist poster dating from 1962 Motor show at the Brno exhibition grounds in 1963. Photo by K. O. Hrubý Tesla 4002A Radio-television, both types of receivers were produced until 1957 The end of the shift at Adast Adamov, 1960. Photo by K. O. Hrubý Antonín Vorel's stage design for the play Maryša from the Mrštík brothers 1967 The period from the 12th meeting of the Communist Party in 1962 to the socalled Prague Spring in 1968 is often referred to, with a touch of nostalgia and a considerable exaggeration, as the “Golden Sixties”. In comparison with the preceding and following periods of communist totalitarianism, this stage of development is eventually quite idyllic, because it entailed a certain liberalisation of the ruling regime and an extension of civil liberties. This was reflected in a retreat of the communist leadership from the previous dogmatic and sectarian politics, especially in the form of mitigation of censorship, which had prevented the public from obtaining objective news and made it impossible to express one’s own opinion until then. In the mid-1960s, media began to inform freer than before and discussions on pressing social issues of the present and recent past began to appear in newspapers, magazines and especially in the broadcast of the Czechoslovak television. At the same time, books of domestic and foreign authors were published which had been banned until then, new theatres opened - this included, for example, the Evening Theatre in Moravia - and the Czechoslovak film production also experienced an unexpected boom; this is sometimes referred to as the new film wave. The mitigation of the so-called background check policy was also of extraordinary importance. This policy was applied by the Communist Party in everyday life and ensured that only members of the Party or people somehow associated with it get in leading positions in society. As a result, more children from families, which the Communist regime considered inconvenient or even hostile, were able to start studying at secondary schools and universities. The relief of the pressure of the background check policy was also positively reflected in the development of other areas of public life - science, culture and economy, where people started to gradually climb to management positions based on their expertise and personal skills and not just political affiliations as was the case until then. A new phenomenon in society was the possibility to travel abroad to a far greater extent than before - not only to the countries of the so-called people’s democracy and Yugoslavia, but also to Western countries. One of the reasons for the ongoing liberalisation were economic problems which Czechoslovakia encountered in the early 1960s and the need to respond to them in the form of economic reforms. However, their implementation was not possible without political and social reforms, without releasing the previous repressive regime and without the active involvement of large strata of the public in the construction of a socialist society. The years of the “Golden Sixties” are also characteristic for the break-up of the communist regime with the brutal Stalinism, the growing criticism of the so-called cult of personality and the need to revise the political processes of the 1950s, though only with Communist officials initially. The fact is that the Communist Party leadership took these steps under the influence of the Soviet policy then represented by N. S. Khrushchev, the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. After his political downfall in 1964, more and more attempts to limit the ongoing liberalisation and return to the well-proven totalitarian methods began to appear in Czechoslovakia as well. Mainly Antonín Novotný, the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party and President of the Republic, stood at the forefront and these attempts were most significantly manifested during the 13th meeting of the Communist Party in 1966. However, the difficulties that the society was facing and the need for further reforms were so strong that the attempts to introduce neostalinist policies were not only unsuccessful, but eventually the attempts to solve the problems resulted in the so-called Prague Spring of 1968, in an attempt to radically rebuild the communist regime and the connection between the socialist establishment with democracy. Antonín Vorel's stage design for the play Maryša from the Mrštík brothers The Golden Sixties Costume replica Inez Tuschnerová Eduardo de Filippo: Long-legged Lies 1957 Tesla 4002A Radio-television, both types of receivers were produced until 1957