INVASION OF CZECHOSLOVAKIA

On the night of 20-21 August 1968, some 2,000 tanks and 175,000 Warsaw Pact troops marched into Czechoslovakia to give military support “in the struggle against the rightist, anti-socialist and counter-revolutionary forces”. In reality, this was an invasion, the result of the Soviet Union’s fears that the liberal acts introduced in the country (the so-called ‘Prague Spring’) could result in a wave of similar reforms and maybe even revolutions.

Over the previous eight months, Czechoslovakian () featured established authors and playwrights speaking openly, and manifestos were published for the masses. As Anna J Stoneman described in her 2015 article : “This sudden exposure to third-party opinions and third-party information beyond Soviet propaganda emboldened the citizens to call out for increased democratic reforms.”