The year 1956 resonates in the European society through the anti-Communist activities and uprisings in Poland and Hungary. However, both had their peaceful Czechoslovak predecessor. Its moving power was also found at Comenius University.... more
The year 1956 resonates in the European society through the anti-Communist activities and uprisings in Poland and Hungary. However, both had their peaceful Czechoslovak predecessor. Its moving power was also found at Comenius University. Students who had long tolerated weak college capacities, poor quality food as well as inappropriate hygienic conditions decided to solve their problems on their own. In May 1956 students organised a huge carnival parade through the city. The parade itself pilloried not only the main drawbacks of university life, but also the regime. A few days after the carnival, the first resolutions appeared at student colleges calling for decentralization and self-criticism of the Czechoslovakian Union of Youth (ČSM) as well as for the revision of the 1953 educational reform. Escalating tensions among students and the ruling communist party almost ended in open riots. Only the end of the semester and the approaching summer holidays definitely put an end to the student events.
