The invasion of Czechoslovakia Bashny.Net

At two o'clock in the morning August 21, 1968 the Soviet passenger plane An-24 has requested an emergency landing at Prague's Ruzyne Airport. Managers gave the go-ahead, the plane landed, he landed troops of the 7th Guards Airborne Division, stationed in Kaunas. Marines at gunpoint seized all the facilities of the aerodrome and began receiving transport aircraft An-12 with units of paratroopers and military equipment. Vehicles AN-12 landed on the strip every 30 seconds. Thus began an elaborate operation to Soviet occupation of Czechoslovakia and ended the so-called "Prague Spring" - the process of democratic reforms carried out by the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, Alexander Dubcek led.



The operation to seize Czechoslovakia, called "Danube", was attended by the army four socialist countries: the Soviet Union, Poland, Hungary and Bulgaria. Army of the GDR, too, had to enter the territory of Czechoslovakia, but at the last moment, the Soviet leadership was afraid the analogy with 1939, and the Germans did not cross the border. The main strike force grouping of troops of the Warsaw Pact was the Soviet Army - it was the 18th mechanized infantry, armored and airborne divisions, 22 aircraft and helicopter regiment, a total population according to various sources from 170 to 240 thousand people. One only of tanks were deployed around 5000. Were created two fronts - Carpathian and Central, while the number of the united forces reached half a million soldiers. The invasion was the usual Soviet habit trumpeted as assistance to the fraternal Czechoslovak people in the struggle against counter-revolution.

No counter-revolution in Czechoslovakia, of course, and did not smell. The country fully supported the Communist Party, with the January 1968 start political and economic reforms. By the number of Communists in 1000, Czechoslovakia ranked first in the world. Since the beginning of the reforms has been significantly weakened by censorship, widely held free discussions, began the creation of a multiparty system. It was stated the desire to ensure full freedom of expression, assembly and movement, to establish strict control over the activities of security agencies, facilitate the ability of private enterprises and organizations to reduce state control over production. In addition, it planned the federalization of the state and the expansion of the powers of the constituent entities of Czechoslovakia - the Czech Republic and Slovakia. All this, of course, worried the Soviet leadership, which is held in respect of his vassals in Europe policy of limited sovereignty (the so-called "Brezhnev doctrine"). Team Dubcek repeatedly tried to persuade to stay on a short leash Moscow and did not seek to build socialism by Western standards. Persuasions did not help. In addition, Czechoslovakia remained a country where the Soviet Union was not able to place any military bases or tactical nuclear weapons. And this moment was perhaps the main reason for the disproportionate scale of the country's military operations - Kremlin Politburo had to force the Czechs to subdue any cost. Leaders of Czechoslovakia, to avoid bloodshed and destruction of the country, led the army to the barracks and to allow Soviet troops to freely dispose of the fate of the Czechs and Slovaks. The only form of resistance encountered by the invaders, was a civil protest. This was highlighted in Prague, where unarmed residents staged a real obstruction to the invaders.

At three o'clock in the morning on August 21 (it was also Wednesday), was arrested by Soviet soldiers, Prime Minister Cernik. At 4:50 a column of tanks and armored personnel carriers headed for the building of the Central Committee, there is a twenty-year resident was shot in Prague. The office Dubcek Soviet military arrested him and seven members of the Central Committee. At seven in the morning tanks headed Vinogradskaya, 12, was situated where Radio Prague. Residents had time to build a barricade, the tanks began to burst, were fired at people. That morning, in front of the Radio Seventeen people were killed, another 52 were wounded and taken to hospital. Arrested after 14:00 CPC leadership has been planted on the plane and deported to Ukraine with the assistance of President Ludvik Svoboda, who fought as best he could with the puppet government Bilak and Indra (through Freedom Dubcek save lives, and then moved to Moscow). The city has been entered komendatsky hour in the dark the soldiers opened fire at any moving object.

In the evening European time the UN Security Council held in New York, an emergency meeting, which adopted a resolution condemning the invasion. Soviet veto it.


The city began to drive trucks with students holding a national flag. All key sites of the city were brought under control by Soviet troops.


At the National Museum. Military equipment immediately surrounded by the inhabitants of the city and engage in conversations with soldiers, often very sharp, intense. In some areas of the city could be heard shooting, were taken to hospitals constantly injured.






In the morning the youth began to build barricades, attacking tanks, they threw stones, Molotov cocktails, attempted to set fire to military vehicles.




The inscription on the bus: the Soviet cultural center.




One of the wounded soldiers in the shooting at the crowd.


Throughout Prague began mass sabotage. To complicate the orientation in the city for the people of Prague began to destroy the military street signs, shoot down street signs, house numbers.




Sovetskaya soldiers broke into the church of St. Martin in Bratislava. First, they shot at the windows of the tower and a medieval church, and then broke the locks and got inside. It was opened by the altar, donation box, broken body, church supplies, destroyed paintings, broken benches, Chair. The soldiers got into the crypt with burials and pitched there a few tombstones. The church robbed during the day, different groups of soldiers.


Soviet troops enter the city of Liberec


The dead and wounded after the military assault on the Prague Radio.


No access is strictly forbidden






The walls, shop windows, fences became a platform for the merciless criticism of the invaders.


"Run home, Ivan, Natasha is waiting for you", "invaders not a drop of water or a loaf of bread," "Bravo, guys! Hitler "," USSR go home "," Double-occupied double-taught "," 1945 - liberators, 1968 - occupiers "," We were afraid of the West, we were attacked from the East, "" Do not your hands up and your head up! " "Cosmos, you have conquered, and we - no," "elephant hedgehog not swallow", "Do not call it hate, call it knowledge," "Long live democracy. Without Moscow "- these are just a few examples of such a wall agitation.


"I was a soldier, I loved him. I had the clock - the Red Army took them »


On the Old Town Square.






I remember an interview with a modern prazhankoy that 21st-together with friends at the university came to the city to look at the Soviet military. "We think there is some terrible invaders, and in fact in armored personnel carriers were very young guys with peasant faces, a little frightened, constantly take up arms, not ponimayuyuschie what they were doing and why so aggressive crowd reacts to them. They are something commanders said they have to go and save the people from the Czech counter-revolution ».




























Homemade leaflet is one of those that tried to distribute to Soviet soldiers.


Today, the Prague Radio building, where August 21, 1968 people died defending the station, the ceremony of memory, wreaths were laid, is the broadcast of the morning program of the 68th, when the radio announced the attack on the country. The announcer reads the text and the background can be heard the shooting on the street.


















On-site at the National Museum, where a monument has committed self-immolation of Jan Palach student, burning candles.




At the beginning of Wenceslas Square to hold an exhibition - on the big screen showed a documentary about the events of the "Prague Spring" and in August 1968, the BMP is a characteristic white feature, the ambulance of those years, there are stands with photographs and reproductions of graffiti in Prague.












1945: we kissed your fathers & gt; 1968 you are shedding our blood, and take away our freedom.


According to current data, during the invasion killed 108 and wounded more than 500 citizens of Czechoslovakia, the vast majority civilians. Only in the first day of the invasion were killed or mortally wounded 58 people, including seven women and an eight-year child.

The result of the operation from the shift of management HRC and occupation of the country was the placement in Czechoslovakia Soviet troops: five motorized infantry divisions, totaling up to 130 thousand persons, 1412 tanks, 2563 armored vehicles and tactical missile complexes "Temp-S" with nuclear warheads. To power it was given loyal to Moscow leadership of the party was held cleaning. Reforms of the "Prague Spring" were completed only after 1991.

Photo: Josef Koudelka, Libor Hajsky, CTK, Reuters, drugoi