Slovakia Heart of Europe

Perhaps the most famous Slovak of all, and one of the truly great men of the C20th, Alexander Dubcek was born in Uhrovec, Western Slovakia, to Communist parents. Dubcek first came to the attention of people in the West when he created his own brand of a limited democracy, called 'Socialism with a human face', when leader of Communist Czechoslovakia in 1968.

For about half a year Dubcek's Czechoslovakia was the focus of Central Europe, as well as the rest of the world. Censorship was abolished, which was unheard of before in a Communist State, and Czechoslovakia enjoyed a limited Democracy.

Meanwhile, Moscow frowned upon Dubcek's actions, scared that his liberalization Policy may spread throughout the Warsaw Pact countries. Their reaction was one of force, sending in tanks from the Soviet Union, as well as from Hungary, to restore 'order' back to the hardline communists.

Following the Prague Spring, Dubcek was ousted out of his position of First Secretary of the Communist Party, and was sent into a sort of internal exile, as a forestry commissioner. However, almost 20 years later, after the Velvet Revolution, in 1989, he returned once more into the public eye, becoming the Chairman of the Federal Assembly.

Tragically, Dubcek died in a car crash in 1992, aged 70. Like so many of Slovakia's heroes, Dubcek died under suspicious circumstances, just when it looked like he would play an important role in the post-Communist Slovakia.