1968: Soviet Red Army defeats Czechoslovakian revolt

DATE: August 21st, 2968

DESCRIPTION: In 1967, the Czech people felt as if their leaders did not understand the problems they faced, so they elected Alexander Dubcek as the new leader of the Communist Party, who brought reform to the country. Among other things, he relaxed government control of industry and ended censorship of the press; he was trying to create more of a socialist democracy. Brezhnev in the USSR was alarmed with was happening, and even though Dubcek promised the Communists would remain in control of Czechoslovakia, remain in the Warsaw Pact, and that the press wouldn’t criticize the USSR, Brezhnev wasn’t convinced; he feared other countries would copy them. On August 21st, 1968, 500000 Warsaw Pact troops took control of Prague and other Czech cities, imprisoning the citizens and captured Dubcek; the reforms he implemented were cancelled before he was allowed to return, but he was eventually replaced as leader of the Communist Party.

BLAME: Even though he was trying to do the right thing for his country, the main blame for the Soviet invasion falls on Alexander Dubcek, as his reforms were the reason the Soviets attacked Czechslovakia. If his reforms weren’t undone, it may have threatened the collapse of the Warsaw Pact if other countries decided to copy them.

TENSION INCREASE: Tensions increased around the world due to this event; the US believed that this event was unjustifiable and the event was even brought to the UN Security Council to be discussed. Several Western countries also suggested that a resolution be made condemning the intervention and calling for immediate withdrawal of the Soviets. Even though nothing was ever done by the UN/US to prevent this action from happening, it’s still clear that it raised tensions between the US/USSR. +1.5

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