August 18: Warsaw Pact countries approved the introduction of troops into Czechoslovakia.
On August 18, 1968, the leadership of the Warsaw Pact countries—the USSR, East Germany, Poland, Bulgaria, and Hungary—approved the invasion of Czechoslovakia. Two days later, on the night of August 21, tanks would begin crushing the seeds of freedom that emerged during the Prague Spring.
Tanks are moving through Prague
in the sunset blood of dawn.
Tanks are moving according to the truth,
which is not a newspaperTanks are following temptations
live without the power of cliches.
Tanks are driving over soldiers,
sitting inside these tanks
(Yevgeny Yevtushenko)
Socialism with a Human Face
The situation in Czechoslovakia began to spiral out of Moscow's control in late 1967. In January 1968, Alexander Dubček, who had embraced "socialism with a human face," was elected First Secretary of the Communist Party (KSČ), pledging to advance "socialism with a human face." Attempts at democratization and economic reform—granting freedom of speech and movement, relaxing censorship and state control over production—were perceived by the Kremlin as a "creeping counterrevolution."
"In Czechoslovakia, there is a growing outcry from irresponsible elements demanding the creation of an 'official opposition' and 'tolerance' for various anti-socialist views and theories... Calls are being made for the creation of private enterprises, the abandonment of the planned system, and the expansion of ties with the West. Furthermore, a number of newspapers, radio, and television broadcasts are promoting calls for the 'complete separation of party and state.'"
(from a note by the CPSU Central Committee, March 1968)
How the invasion was prepared
In March 1968, the leaders of five Socialist bloc countries harshly criticized Dubček. Military intervention was discussed in May, although János Kádár, recalling the experience of suppressing the Hungarian uprising in 1956, expressed doubts about the success of military means.
At the end of June, the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic gave the go-ahead for Warsaw Pact troops to conduct exercises on its territory, with 16 troops deployed to Czechoslovakia. At the end of July, exercises began in the USSR, East Germany, and Poland, and by mid-August, the redeployment of troops for their deployment to Czechoslovakia was completed.
Operation «Duna»
By August 20, a troop group was ready for Operation Danube, with the first echelon alone numbering 250,000. Eighteen of the 26 divisions were Soviet. Troops were deployed from 18 locations across the GDR, the Polish People's Republic, the USSR, and the Hungarian People's Republic. More than 5,000 tanks entered the country—the "friendly" ones were marked with white stripes. At 2:00 a.m. on August 21, Soviet airborne troops captured Prague's Ruzyně Airport.
That night, the presidium of the Czechoslovak Communist Party (KPC) met in Dubček's office. A majority, 7 to 4, condemned the invasion. In the morning, Dubček and his colleagues were detained and sent to Moscow. By the end of the day, Warsaw Pact divisions had captured key objectives in Czechoslovakia. The local army offered no resistance, unlike the population.
Resistance on the streets
Protesting citizens obstructed the movement of troops and equipment. They erected barricades. They pelted tanks with Molotov cocktails. They knocked down street signs. Shopkeepers hid all their maps of Prague, to the chagrin of the Soviet military, which had outdated maps from World War II.
What shall we do with you, my oath,
Where to get the words to talk about
As in the forty-fifth we were met by Prague
And how I met in sixty-eight
(Alexander Tvardovsky)
Seven on Red Square
On August 25, seven people gathered on Red Square in Moscow to protest the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia: "Hands off the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic!", "Shame on the occupiers!", "For your freedom and ours!" Almost all were arrested immediately. Czech newspapers reported:
Seven people on Red Square are at least seven reasons why we can never hate Russians again.
During the invasion, according to some sources, 12 Soviet soldiers and 108 Czechoslovak citizens died.
"Normalization"
The Soviet leadership forced the Czechoslovak leaders, who had been deported to Moscow, to sign the "Moscow Protocol" on August 27. It consisted of 15 points, including a reconsideration of the decisions of the Prague Spring, the introduction of censorship, approval of the presence of Warsaw Pact troops, and so on.
Soviet tanks left Prague on September 11. In 1969, Gustav Husák, a Kremlin loyalist, was elected first secretary of the Czechoslovak Communist Party. The country entered an era of "normalization."
The Soviet military presence remained on the territory of Czechoslovakia until 1991.
