1969
During the September 1968 meeting in Salzburg, Austria, the IPSA Executive Committee decided to organize a roundtable in Prague, Czechoslovakia. This decision was made shortly after the conclusion of the Prague Spring, which was brought to an end by the Soviet military invasion on 20-21 August 1968. The Executive Committee dispatched a delegation, led by President Carl J. Friedrich and Secretary-General André Philippart, to assess the political climate.
In October 1968, the delegation traveled to a city under occupation. However, their intended contacts were unavailable, so they were confined to their hotel. Despite these challenges, the Executive Committee adhered to its plans for the roundtable scheduled for 18-19 September 1969.
Alexander Dubcek's concept from 5 January 1968 of “socialism with a human face” was no longer in effect in September 1969. The proposed changes, which included freedom of the press, expression, and movement, economic decentralization, and the establishment of a federal system, were abandoned. Gustav Husak replaced Dubcek. Under the authority of the USSR, the Warsaw Pact powers of Bulgaria, Poland, Hungary, the German Democratic Republic, and Albania (but not Romania) overthrew President Svoboda. Janos Kadar assumed responsibility for “normalization” and used a column of tanks (from the Czechoslovak army) to suppress demonstrations in the center of Prague.
The scholars that IPSA had invited to attend the roundtable were dismissed and replaced by toadies of the new leadership. Still, the Roundtable was held in Prague in September 1969 in hopes of alleviating the worsening repressive conditions. It did no good. André Philippart went on Czechoslovak television to explain why IPSA was present in Prague, but it appeared as if he were backing the regime. Instead of translating what he said, the presenter delivered a monologue of his own. Led by a furious Samuel Edward Finer (IPSA Vice-President 1967-70), the Roundtable participants left the city.
