Alexander Dubcek5 January 1968
Starts when Alexander Dubcek comes to power and runs until August 20 when the Soviet Union and its Warsaw Pact allies (except for Romania) invade the country
Czech Republic · Government / Communist Party Government. Chronological records rendered directly from the World History Database.
Starts when Alexander Dubcek comes to power and runs until August 20 when the Soviet Union and its Warsaw Pact allies (except for Romania) invade the country
Dubcek launches an Action Programme of liberalisations which include increased freedom of the press, emphasis on consumer goods, and the possibility of a more democratic multi-party Government
Announces the Fourteenth Party Congress will convene on September 9 and incorporate the Action Programme into the party statutes, draft a federalization law, and elect a new Central Committee
Brezhnev and the leadership of the Warsaw Pact countries are concerned about Dubcek's reforms, which they fear weaken the position of the Communist Bloc during the Cold War
Warsaw Pact military practice manoeuvres are held in Czechoslovakia in late June. Russia agrees with Czechoslovakia to withdraw their troops (still stationed in Czechoslovakia since the June maneuvers) and permit the September 9 Party Congress.
Representatives from Russia, East Germany, Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, and Czechoslovakia meet in Bratislava and sign the Bratislava Declaration
In the Bratislava Declaration Russia expresses its intention to intervene in a Warsaw Pact country if a bourgeois system-a pluralist system of several political parties is ever established
The Soviet Press prints an unsigned request, allegedly by Czechoslovak party and state leaders, for immediate assistance, including assistance with armed forces
Dubcek calls upon his people not to resist
Dubcek, who had been arrested on the night of August 20, is taken to Moscow for negotiations, it was agreed that Dubcek would remain in office and that a program of moderate reform would continue.
Eastern Bloc armies from 5 Warsaw Pact countries invaded the CSSR, Russian tanks ranging in number from 5,000 to 7,000 fill the streets, followed by Warsaw Pact troops ranging from 200,000 to 600,000.
The occupation is followed by a wave of emigration, unseen before and stopped shortly after (estimate: 70,000 immediately, 300,000 in total), typically of highly qualified people.
At the 14th KSC Party Congress (conducted secretly, immediately following the intervention), it was emphasised that no member of the leadership had invited Russian intervention
Cernik pursues a more liberal regime after the Prague Spring
Dubcek is replaced as First Secretary by Gust v Husak, and a period of Normalisation begins
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