Tom Segev, “Wilting Blossoms” (Editorial in Haaretz, Dec. 16, 2011)
A linguist named Ben Zimmer, who has a website called Visual Thesaurus, contends that the first event in the 20th century that was described in terms of spring was the introduction of liberal reforms in Russia in 1904. Since that time, the image has frequently been attached to numerous events, mainly in Eastern Europe: East Berlin, 1953; Warsaw and Budapest, 1956; Prague, 1968.
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