WEEKLY QUIZ: How much do you know about Czech dissidents?

Test your knowledge of landmark events and people who played a vital role in toppling communism in Czechoslovakia.

Ioana Caloianu

Written by Ioana Caloianu Published on 25.08.2023 17:00:00 (updated on 25.10.2023) Reading time: 1 minute

Speaking at an event commemorating the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia in August 1968, Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said that the events that happened 55 years ago "showed that freedom cannot be taken for granted." To celebrate the dissidents and freedom fighters who contributed to the toppling of the communist regime in Prague, test your knowledge of the key personalities that set the historical events in motion.

Question 1 / 10

Which dissident was known for his involvement in the Velvet Revolution and later served as President of the Czech Republic?

Please answer previous questions first.

  • Václav Havel
  • Alexander Dubček
  • Gustav Husák
  • Jan Palach
Question 2 / 10

Which rock band formed shortly after the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968 was heavily influenced by Frank Zappa and the Velvet Underground?

Please answer previous questions first.

  • Olympic
  • Locomotiv GT
  • Flamengo
  • Plastic People of the Universe
Question 3 / 10

Which organization was founded by dissidents in 1977 to highlight human rights abuses in Czechoslovakia?

Please answer previous questions first.

  • Charter 77
  • Czechoslovak Socialist Party
  • Prague Spring Movement
  • Communist Youth League
Question 4 / 10

Which Czech dissident, sociologist, and pioneer of gender studies spent one year in custody for bringing banned publications to Czechoslovakia?

Please answer previous questions first.

  • Milada Horáková
  • Olga Havlová
  • Heda Margolius Kovály
  • Jiřina Šiklová
Question 5 / 10

Which Czech reformist wrote the manifesto The Two Thousand Words in 1968?

Please answer previous questions first.

  • Ludvík Vaculík
  • Josef Škvorecký
  • Ivan Klíma
  • Václav Havel
Question 6 / 10

What was the name of the practice widespread throughout the Eastern Bloc, including in Czechoslovakia, in which individuals reproduced censored and underground materials, documents and books, often by hand, and passed them on from reader to reader?

Please answer previous questions first.

  • Glasnost
  • Samizdat
  • Perestroika
  • Balkanization
Question 7 / 10

Which well-known Czech singer signed the Anticharter, a document that condemned Charter 77 and called for the persecution of those who supported it?

Please answer previous questions first.

  • Helena Vondráčková
  • Lucie Bílá
  • Karel Gott
  • Karel Kryl
Question 8 / 10

What was the name of the student who self-immolated in protest against the Soviet invasion in 1969?

Please answer previous questions first.

  • Alexander Dubček
  • Gustav Husák
  • Jan Zajíc
  • Jan Palach
Question 9 / 10

What was the primary objective of the Charter 77 movement?

Please answer previous questions first.

  • To advocate for human rights and freedoms
  • To promote communism
  • To overthrow the government
  • To support the Soviet Union
Question 10 / 10

What term was used to describe the policy of the Czechoslovak government in the late 1970s to suppress dissent?

Please answer previous questions first.

  • Glasnost
  • Perestroika
  • Normalization
  • Detente
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