Deployment of troops into Czechoslovakia (1968), also known as Operation Danube or Invasion of Czechoslovakia- the entry of Warsaw Pact troops (except Romania) into Czechoslovakia, which began on August 21, 1968 and put an end to the reforms of the Prague Spring.

The largest contingent of troops was allocated from the USSR. The combined group (up to 500 thousand people and 5 thousand tanks and armored personnel carriers) was commanded by Army General I. G. Pavlovsky.

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  The Soviet leadership feared that if the Czechoslovak communists pursued a domestic policy independent of Moscow, the USSR would lose control over Czechoslovakia. Such a turn of events threatened to split the Eastern European socialist bloc both politically and military-strategically. The policy of limited state sovereignty in the countries of the socialist bloc, including the use of military force if necessary, was called the “Brezhnev Doctrine” in the West.

  The Soviet side did not exclude the option of NATO troops entering the territory of Czechoslovakia, which conducted maneuvers under the code name “Black Lion” near the borders of Czechoslovakia.

  Development of an operational plan for the invasion

  Taking into account the emerging military-political situation, in the spring of 1968, the joint command of the Warsaw Pact, together with the General Staff of the USSR Armed Forces, developed an operation code-named “Danube”.

  On April 8, 1968, the commander of the airborne forces, General V.F. Margelov, received a directive, according to which he began planning the use of airborne assault forces on the territory of Czechoslovakia. The directive stated: “The Soviet Union and other socialist countries, faithful to their international duty and the Warsaw Pact, must send their troops to assist the Czechoslovak People’s Army in defending the Motherland from the danger looming over it.” The document also emphasized: “... if the troops of the Czechoslovak People's Army react with understanding to the appearance of Soviet troops, in this case it is necessary to organize interaction with them and jointly carry out the assigned tasks. If the ChNA troops are hostile to the paratroopers and support conservative forces, then it is necessary to take measures to localize them, and if this is not possible, to disarm them.”

  Pressure on Alexander Dubcek

  During April-May, Soviet leaders tried to “bring some sense” to Alexander Dubcek, to draw his attention to the danger of the actions of anti-socialist forces. At the end of April, Marshal I. Yakubovsky, Commander-in-Chief of the United Armed Forces of the Warsaw Pact countries, arrived in Prague to prepare for military exercises of the Warsaw Pact countries on the territory of Czechoslovakia.

  On May 4, Brezhnev met with Dubcek in Moscow, but no mutual understanding could be reached.

  1st meeting of leaders of countries participating in the invasion

  On May 8, a closed meeting of the leaders of the USSR, Poland, East Germany, Bulgaria and Hungary was held in Moscow, during which a frank exchange of views took place on measures in connection with the situation in Czechoslovakia. Even then, proposals were made for a military solution. However, at the same time, the leader of Hungary J. Kadar, referring to the experience of 1956, stated that the Czechoslovak crisis cannot be solved by military means and it is necessary to look for a political solution.

  Exercises of troops of the Warsaw Pact countries "Šumava"

  At the end of May, the government of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic agreed to conduct military exercises of the Warsaw Pact countries called “Šumava”, which took place on June 20-30, involving only the headquarters of units, formations and signal troops. From June 20 to 30, 16 thousand personnel were brought into the territory of Czechoslovakia for the first time in the history of the military bloc of socialist countries. From July 23 to August 10, 1968, logistical exercises “Neman” were held on the territory of the USSR, East Germany and Poland, during which the redeployment of troops for the invasion of Czechoslovakia took place. On August 11, 1968, major air defense exercises “Heavenly Shield” were held. Signal troops exercises were held on the territory of Western Ukraine, Poland and the German Democratic Republic.

  On July 29 - August 1, a meeting was held in Cierna nad Tisou, in which the full composition of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the CPSU and the Presidium of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union took part, together with President L. Svoboda. The Czechoslovak delegation at the negotiations mainly presented a united front, but V. Bilyak adhered to a special position. At the same time, a personal letter was received from the candidate member of the Presidium of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia A. Kapek with a request to provide his country with “brotherly assistance” from the socialist countries.

  At the end of July, preparations for the military operation in Czechoslovakia were completed, but a final decision on its conduct had not yet been made. On August 3, 1968, a meeting of the leaders of the six communist parties took place in Bratislava. The statement adopted in Bratislava contained a phrase about collective responsibility in defending socialism. In Bratislava, L. Brezhnev was given a letter from five members of the leadership of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia - Indra, Kolder, Kapek, Švestka and Biljak with a request for “effective assistance and support” in order to wrest Czechoslovakia “from the impending danger of counter-revolution.”

  In mid-August, L. Brezhnev called A. Dubcek twice and asked why the promised personnel changes in Bratislava were not happening, to which Dubcek replied that personnel matters were decided collectively, by the plenum of the Party Central Committee.

  On August 16 in Moscow, at a meeting of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee, a discussion of the situation in Czechoslovakia took place and proposals for the deployment of troops were approved. At the same time, a letter from the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee addressed to the Presidium of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China was accepted. On August 17, Soviet Ambassador S. Chervonenko met with the President of Czechoslovakia L. Svoboda and reported to Moscow that at the decisive moment the president would be together with the CPSU and the Soviet Union. On the same day, the materials prepared in Moscow for the text of the Appeal to the Czechoslovak people were sent to the group of “healthy forces” in the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. It was planned that they would create a Revolutionary Workers' and Peasants' Government. A draft appeal was also prepared by the governments of the USSR, East Germany, Poland, Bulgaria and Hungary to the people of Czechoslovakia, as well as to the Czechoslovak army.

  2nd meeting of leaders of countries participating in the invasion

  On August 18, a meeting of the leaders of the USSR, East Germany, Poland, Bulgaria and Hungary took place in Moscow. Relevant measures were agreed upon, including a speech by the “healthy forces” of the Communist Party of Human Rights asking for military assistance. In a message to the President of Czechoslovakia, Svoboda, on behalf of the participants in the meeting in Moscow, one of the main arguments noted the receipt of a request for military assistance to the Czechoslovak people from the “majority” of the members of the Presidium of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia and many members of the government of Czechoslovakia.

  Operation

  The political goal of the operation was to change the political leadership of the country and establish a regime loyal to the USSR in Czechoslovakia. The troops were supposed to seize the most important objects in Prague, the KGB officers were supposed to arrest Czech reformers, and then the Plenum of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia and the session of the National Assembly were planned, where the top leadership was supposed to change. In this case, a large role was assigned to President Svoboda. The political leadership of the operation in Prague was carried out by a member of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee K. Mazurov.

  Military preparation for the operation was carried out by the Commander-in-Chief of the United Armed Forces of the Warsaw Pact countries, Marshal I. I. Yakubovsky, but a few days before the start of the operation, the Commander-in-Chief of the Ground Forces, Deputy Minister of Defense of the USSR, Army General I. G. Pavlovsky was appointed its leader.

  At the first stage, the main role was assigned to airborne troops. The air defense troops, the navy and the strategic missile forces were put on heightened combat readiness.

  By August 20, a group of troops was prepared, the first echelon of which numbered up to 250,000 people, and the total number - up to 500,000 people, about 5,000 tanks and armored personnel carriers. To carry out the operation, 26 divisions were involved, of which 18 were Soviet, not counting aviation. The invasion was attended by troops of the Soviet 1st Guards Tank, 20th Guards Combined Arms, 16th Air Armies (Group of Soviet Forces in Germany), 11th Guards Army (Baltic Military District ), 28th combined arms army (Belarusian military district), the 13th and 38th combined arms armies (Carpathian military district) and the 14th air army (Odessa military district). The Carpathian and Central fronts were formed:

  • The Carpathian Front was created on the basis of the command and control of the Carpathian Military District and several Polish divisions. It consisted of four armies: the 13th, 38th combined arms, 8th Guards Tank and 57th Air Force. At the same time, the 8th Guards Tank Army and part of the forces of the 13th Army began moving to the southern regions of Poland, where Polish divisions were additionally included in their composition. Commander Colonel General Bisyarin Vasily Zinovievich.
  • The Central Front was formed on the basis of the control of the Baltic Military District, including troops of the Baltic Military District, the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany and the Northern Group of Forces, as well as individual Polish and East German divisions. This front was deployed in the GDR and Poland. The Central Front included the 11th and 20th Guards Combined Arms Armies and the 37th Air Armies.

  Also, to cover the active group in Hungary, the Southern Front was deployed. In addition to this front, the Balaton task force (two Soviet divisions, as well as Bulgarian and Hungarian units) was deployed on the territory of Hungary to enter Czechoslovakia.

  In general, the number of troops brought into Czechoslovakia was:

  The date for the entry of troops was set for the evening of August 20, when a meeting of the Presidium of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia was held. On the morning of August 20, 1968, a secret order was read to the officers on the formation of the Danube High Command. Army General I. G. Pavlovsky, whose headquarters was deployed in the southern part of Poland, was appointed commander-in-chief. Both fronts (Central and Carpathian) and the Balaton operational group, as well as two guards airborne divisions, were subordinate to him. On the first day of the operation, to ensure the landing of airborne divisions, five divisions of military transport aviation were allocated to the Commander-in-Chief "Danube".

  Chronology of events

  At the news of the invasion in Dubcek’s office, the Presidium of the Communist Party of the Czechoslovakia urgently convened. The majority - 7 to 4 - voted for a statement from the Presidium condemning the invasion. Only members of the Presidium Kolder, Bilyak, Shvestka and Rigo acted according to the original plan. Barbirek and Piller supported Dubcek and O. Chernik. The calculation of the Soviet leadership was for the superiority of the “healthy forces” at the decisive moment - 6 versus 5. The statement also contained a call for the urgent convening of a party congress. Dubcek himself in his radio appeal [ ] to the residents of the country called on citizens to remain calm and prevent bloodshed and an actual repetition of the Hungarian events of 1956.

  By 4:30 a.m. on August 21, the Central Committee building was surrounded by Soviet troops and armored vehicles, and Soviet paratroopers burst into the building and arrested those present. Dubcek and other members of the Central Committee spent several hours under the control of the paratroopers.

  At 5:10 a.m. on August 21, a reconnaissance company of the 350th Guards Parachute Regiment and a separate reconnaissance company of the 103rd Airborne Division landed. Within 10 minutes they captured the airfields of Turany and Make a joke, after which a hasty landing of the main forces began. According to eyewitnesses, transport planes landed at the airfields one after another. The landing party jumped off without waiting for a complete stop. By the end of the runway, the plane was already empty and immediately picked up speed for a new takeoff. With minimal intervals, other planes with troops and military equipment began to arrive here. Then the paratroopers, using their military equipment and captured civilian vehicles, went deep into the country.

  At the call of the president of the country and the Czech Radio, the citizens of Czechoslovakia did not offer armed resistance to the invading troops. However, everywhere the troops met passive resistance from the local population. The Czechs and Slovaks refused to provide the Soviet troops with drink, food and fuel, changed road signs to impede the advance of troops, took to the streets, tried to explain to the soldiers the essence of the events taking place in Czechoslovakia, and appealed to the Russian-Czechoslovak brotherhood. Citizens demanded the withdrawal of foreign troops and the return of party and government leaders taken to the USSR.

  Without knowing anything, we arrived in Prague on the evening of August 20, we wanted to take a good look at the Czech miracle - and when we woke up early in the morning on the 21st, that’s when it all began! For some reason we weren’t scared, but it, of course, “got on our nerves” - to see the Czechs driven to the extreme, and opposite them - the poor, innocent, Soviet soldiers driven to the same extreme! It was madness, and we, of course, all four days thought that it was about to “begin” - it was a devilishly conceived pure war of nerves between Prague residents and Soviet soldiers. I do not discount the incident, during which one person died, and yet I must say: both groups opposing each other behaved bravely and humanely.

  On the initiative of the Prague City Committee of the CPC, underground meetings of the XIV Congress of the CPC began ahead of schedule on the territory of the plant in Vysočany (Prague district), although without delegates from Slovakia who did not have time to arrive. Representatives of the conservative group of delegates at the congress were not elected to any of the leadership positions in the Communist Party of Human Rights.

  Negotiations in Moscow

  The Soviet leadership was forced to look for a compromise solution. Members of the leadership of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China who were taken to the USSR were taken to Moscow. President L. Svoboda also arrived in Moscow together with G. Gusak, who at that moment was the deputy head of government.

  On August 26, 1968, near the city of Zvolen (Czechoslovakia), an An-12 from the Tula 374 VTAP (captain N. Nabok) crashed. According to the pilots, the plane with a cargo (9 tons of butter) was fired from the ground from a machine gun at an altitude of 300 meters during landing and, as a result of damage to the 4th engine, fell several kilometers short of the runway. 5 people died (burned alive in the resulting fire), the gunner-radio operator survived. . However, according to Czech historians and archivists, the plane crashed into a mountain.

  Near the village of Zhandov near the city of Ceska Lipa, a group of citizens, blocking the road to the bridge, impeded the movement of the Soviet T-55 tank of sergeant major Yu. I. Andreev, who at high speed was catching up with the column that had gone ahead. The foreman decided to turn off the road so as not to overwhelm people, and the tank collapsed from the bridge along with the crew. Three servicemen were killed.

  The losses of the USSR in technology are not precisely known. In units of the 38th Army alone, 7 tanks and armored personnel carriers were burned in the first three days on the territory of Slovakia and Northern Moravia.

  Data are known about the losses of the armed forces of other countries participating in the operation. Thus, the Hungarian army lost 4 soldiers killed (all were non-combat losses: accident, illness, suicide). The Bulgarian army lost 2 people - one sentry was killed at the post by unknown persons (and a machine gun was stolen), 1 soldier shot himself.

  Further events

  At the beginning of September, troops were withdrawn from many cities and towns of Czechoslovakia to specially designated locations. Soviet tanks left Prague on September 11, 1968. On October 16, 1968, an agreement was signed between the governments of the USSR and Czechoslovakia on the conditions for the temporary presence of Soviet troops on the territory of Czechoslovakia, according to which part of the Soviet troops remained on the territory of Czechoslovakia “in order to ensure the security of the socialist commonwealth.” On October 17, 1968, a phased withdrawal of some troops from the territory of Czechoslovakia began, which was completed by mid-November.

  The Soviet military presence remained on the territory of Czechoslovakia until 1991.

  International assessment of the invasion

  On August 21, representatives of a group of countries (USA, UK, France, Canada, Denmark and Paraguay) spoke at the UN Security Council demanding that the “Czechoslovak issue” be brought to a meeting of the UN General Assembly. Representatives of Hungary and the USSR voted against. Then the representative of Czechoslovakia demanded that this issue be removed from consideration by the UN. The governments of four socialist countries - Yugoslavia, Romania, Albania (which withdrew from the Warsaw Pact in September), the People's Republic of China, as well as a number of communist parties in Western countries, condemned the military intervention of five states.

  Protests in the USSR

  In the Soviet Union, some members of the intelligentsia protested the entry of Soviet troops into Czechoslovakia.

  Protest demonstration on August 25, 1968 in Moscow

  Rally in memory of Palach

  The demonstration on 25 August was not an isolated act of protest against the entry of Soviet troops into Czechoslovakia.

  “There is reason to believe that the number of these cases is much greater than what was found out,” writes the Chronicle, and gives several examples:

  On January 25, 1969, on the day of Jan Palach’s funeral, two students of Moscow University went to Mayakovsky Square with a poster on which were written two slogans: “Eternal memory of Jan Palach” and “Freedom of Czechoslovakia.” They stood on the square, behind the Mayakovsky monument, for about 12 minutes. Gradually a silent crowd began to gather around them. Then a group of young men without armbands approached the girls and called themselves vigilantes. They took away and tore up the poster, and the students, after consultation, were released.

  Leaflets

  On August 21, leaflets protesting against the presence of Allied troops in Czechoslovakia appeared in the Moscow writers' houses at the Airport and in Zyuzino, as well as in the Moscow State University dormitory on the Lenin Hills. One of the three texts of the leaflets is signed “Union of Communards”.

  Statements

  On August 21 last year, a tragic event occurred: troops of the Warsaw Pact countries invaded friendly Czechoslovakia.

  This action was aimed at stopping the democratic path of development that the entire country had embarked on. The whole world watched with hope the post-January development of Czechoslovakia. It seemed that the idea of ​​socialism, discredited during the Stalin era, would now be rehabilitated. The tanks of the Warsaw Pact countries destroyed this hope. On this sad anniversary, we declare that we continue to disagree with this decision, which jeopardizes the future of socialism.

  We stand in solidarity with the people of Czechoslovakia, who wanted to prove that socialism with a human face is possible.

  These lines are dictated by pain for our homeland, which we want to see truly great, free and happy.

  And we are firmly convinced that a people who oppresses other peoples cannot be free and happy.

  Possible motivations for the deployment of troops

  Military-strategic aspect: Czechoslovakia's voluntarism in foreign policy during the Cold War threatened the security of the border with NATO countries; Until 1968, Czechoslovakia remained the only ATS country without USSR military bases.

  Ideological aspect: the ideas of socialism “with a human face” undermined the idea of ​​​​the truth of Marxism-Leninism, the dictatorship of the proletariat and the leading role of the communist party, which, in turn, affected the power interests of the party elite.

  Political aspect: the harsh crackdown on democratic voluntarism in Czechoslovakia gave members of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the CPSU the opportunity, on the one hand, to deal with internal opposition, on the other, to increase their authority, and thirdly, to prevent disloyalty of allies and demonstrate military power to potential opponents.

  Consequences

  As a result of Operation Danube, Czechoslovakia remained a member of the Eastern European socialist bloc. The Soviet group of troops (up to 130 thousand people) remained in Czechoslovakia until 1991. The agreement on the conditions for the presence of Soviet troops on the territory of Czechoslovakia became one of the main military-political results of the entry of troops of five states, which satisfied the leadership of the USSR and the Department of Internal Affairs. However, Albania withdrew from the Warsaw Pact as a result of the invasion.

  The suppression of the Prague Spring increased the disillusionment of many on the Western left with the theory of Marxism-Leninism and contributed to the growth of ideas of "Eurocommunism" among the leadership and members of Western communist parties - which subsequently led to a split in many of them. The communist parties of Western Europe lost mass support, since the impossibility of “socialism with a human face” was practically shown.

  Paradoxically, the military action in Czechoslovakia in 1968 accelerated the advent of the so-called period in relations between East and West. “détente”, based on the recognition of the territorial status quo that existed in Europe and the so-called implementation by Germany under Chancellor Willy Brandt. “new eastern policy”.

  Operation Danube prevented possible reforms in the USSR: “For the Soviet Union, the strangulation of the Prague Spring turned out to be associated with many serious consequences. The imperial “victory” in 1968 cut off the oxygen to reforms, strengthening the position of dogmatic forces, strengthening great-power features in Soviet foreign policy, and contributing to increased stagnation in all spheres.”

  see also

  Notes

  1. Stolarik, M. Mark. The Prague Spring and the Warsaw Pact Invasion of Czechoslovakia, 1968: Forty Years Later. - Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers, 2010. - P. 137–164. - ISBN 9780865167513.
  2. Conflicted Memories: Europeanizing Contemporary Histories, edited by Konrad H. Jarausch, Thomas Lindenberger, p. 43
  3. Back to the Business of Reform , Time Magazine(16 August 1968). Retrieved April 27, 2010.
  4. A Look Back … The Prague Spring & the Soviet Invasion of Czechoslovakia . Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved on 11 June 2016.
  5. Washington Post, (Final Edition), 21 August 1998, (Page A11)
  6. http://armada.vojenstvi.cz - Střední skupina sovětských vojsk v Československu
  7. Soviet Invasion of Czechoslovakia. Globalsecurity.org. Retrieved on June 23, 2011.
  8. Invaze vojsk Varšavské smlouvy do Československa 21. srpna 1968 . armyweb.cz. Retrieved on 11 June 2016.
  9. Operace Dunaj a oběti na straně okupantů (undefined) . Regional Studies of Russia (Reálie Ruska). Zapadočeská univerzita v Plzni. Retrieved November 17, 2015.
  10. Čs. armáda po roce 1945 (undefined) . Vojenstvi.cz. Retrieved November 17, 2015.
  11. Russia and the USSR in the wars of the 20th century: Statistical study. - M.: OLMA-PRESS, 2001. - P. 533.
  12. Skomra, Slawomir Brali udział w inwazji na Czechosłowację. Combatanci?(Polish). Agora SA. Retrieved September 21, 2013.
  13. Georgi LUKOV. BULGARIAN MILITARY PARTICIPATION IN THE CZECHOSLOVASHKITE ASSUMPTION 1968. The material was presented before the Anniversary Scientific Conference on the occasion of the 50th year. CVA, V. Tarnovo, 5 Oct. 2001 Publ. on Sat. "Army, State, Society" 2002
  14. (Czech) August 1968 – Victims of the Occupation – Ústav pro studium totalitních režimů . Ustrcr.cz. Retrieved on June 23, 2011.
  15. 21. srpen 1968 (Czech)
  16. P. Weil In August 68th. Rossiyskaya Gazeta, August 20, 2008.
  17. Jak zemřeli vojáci armád při invazi "68: Bulhara zastřelili Češi, Sověti umírali na silnicích . Hospodářské noviny IHNED.cz. Retriev edited on 11 June 2016.
  18. Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia . European Network Remembrance and Solidarity. Retrieved on 11 June 2016.
  19. Battles of Russia. Nikolay Shefov. Military-historical library. M., 2002.
  20. V. Musatov. About the Prague Spring of 1968
  21. “We were preparing to strike the flank of NATO troops.” Interview of V. Volodin with retired Lieutenant General Alfred Gaponenko. Time for News, No. 143. 08.08.2008.
  22. Team of authors. Russia (USSR) in the wars of the second half of the 20th century. - M.: Triada-farm, 2002. - P. 333. - 494 p. - (State program “Patriotic education of citizens of the Russian Federation for 2001-2005.” Institute of Military History of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation.). - 1000 copies. with reference to “Military history of the Fatherland from ancient times to the present day.” In 3 vols., T. 3. M.: Institute of Military History, 1995. P. 47.
  23. “Results” No. 43 (907) dated 10/28/2013
  24. Pavlovsky I. G. Memories of the entry of Soviet troops into Czechoslovakia in August 1968. News. August 19, 1989.

  On the night of August 21, 1968, troops from five Warsaw Pact countries (USSR, Bulgaria, Hungary, East Germany and Poland) were brought into Czechoslovakia. The operation, codenamed "Danube", was aimed at stopping the process of reforms taking place in Czechoslovakia, initiated by the first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, Alexander Dubcek - the "Prague Spring".

  From a geopolitical point of view, a dangerous situation arose for the USSR in one of the key countries of Eastern Europe. The prospect of Czechoslovakia withdrawing from the Warsaw Pact, which would result in an inevitable undermining of the Eastern European military security system, was unacceptable for the USSR.

  Within 36 hours, the armies of the Warsaw Pact countries established complete control over Czechoslovak territory. On August 23-26, 1968, negotiations took place in Moscow between the Soviet and Czechoslovak leadership. Their result was a joint communique, in which the timing of the withdrawal of Soviet troops was made dependent on the normalization of the situation in Czechoslovakia.

  On October 16, 1968, an agreement was signed between the governments of the USSR and Czechoslovakia on the conditions for the temporary presence of Soviet troops on the territory of Czechoslovakia, according to which part of the Soviet troops remained on the territory of Czechoslovakia “in order to ensure the security of the socialist commonwealth.” In accordance with the agreement, the Central Group of Forces (CGV) was created. The headquarters of the Central Military Command was located in the town of Milovice near Prague. The treaty contained provisions on respect for the sovereignty of Czechoslovakia and non-interference in its internal affairs. The signing of the agreement became one of the main military-political results of the entry of troops of five states, which satisfied the leadership of the USSR and the Warsaw Department.

  On October 17, 1968, the phased withdrawal of allied troops from the territory of Czechoslovakia began, which was completed by mid-November.

  As a result of the introduction of troops into Czechoslovakia, a radical change in the course of the Czechoslovak leadership occurred. The process of political and economic reforms in the country was interrupted. In 1969, at the April plenum of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, Gustav Husak was elected first secretary. In December 1970, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia adopted the document “Lessons of the crisis development in the party and society after the XIII Congress of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia,” which generally condemned the political course of Alexander Dubcek and his circle.

  In the second half of the 1980s, the process of rethinking the Czechoslovak events of 1968 began. In the “Statement of the leaders of Bulgaria, Hungary, the GDR, Poland and the Soviet Union” dated December 4, 1989 and in the “Statement of the Soviet Government” dated December 5, 1989, the decision to introduce Allied troops to Czechoslovakia was considered erroneous as unjustified interference in the internal affairs of a sovereign state.

  On December 10, 1989, after the victory of the Velvet Revolution (the bloodless overthrow of the communist regime as a result of street protests in November-December 1989), Czechoslovak President Gustav Husak resigned and a new coalition government of national accord was formed, in which the communists and the opposition received the same number of places. A “reconstruction” of the parliament was carried out, where the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia lost its majority. On December 28-29, 1989, the reorganized parliament elected Alexander Dubcek as its chairman.

  The agreement stipulated that the withdrawal of troops would take place in three stages: Stage 1 - February 26, 1990 - May 31, 1990; 2nd stage - June 1, 1990 - December 31, 1990; 3rd stage - January 1, 1991 - June 30, 1991.

  The withdrawal began on the day the agreement was signed. The last train departed from Milovice on June 19, 1991. Already on June 21, he crossed the state border of the USSR. On June 27, 1991, the last commander of the Central Military District, Colonel General Eduard Vorobiev, left the Czechoslovakia.

  The material was prepared based on information from RIA Novosti and open sources

  45 years since the invasion of Czechoslovakia PHOTO

  At two o'clock in the morning on August 21, 1968, a Soviet An-24 passenger plane requested an emergency landing at Prague's Ruzyne Airport. The controllers gave the go-ahead, the plane landed, and servicemen from the 7th Guards Airborne Division stationed in Kaunas disembarked. The paratroopers, under the threat of using weapons, seized all the facilities of the airfield and began receiving An-12 transport aircraft with paratrooper units and military equipment. Transport An-12s landed on the runway every 30 seconds. This is how the operation to occupy Czechoslovakia, carefully developed by the USSR, began and ended with the so-called. The Prague Spring was a process of democratic reforms carried out by the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia under the leadership of Alexander Dubcek.

  The operation to capture Czechoslovakia, which was called the Danube, involved the armies of four socialist countries: the USSR, Poland, Hungary and Bulgaria. The GDR army was also supposed to enter the territory of Czechoslovakia, but at the last moment the Soviet leadership was afraid of the analogy with 1939 and the Germans did not cross the border. The main striking force of the grouping of troops of the Warsaw Pact countries was the Soviet Army - these were 18 motorized rifle, tank and airborne divisions, 22 aviation and helicopter regiments, with a total number, according to various sources, from 170 to 240 thousand people. About 5,000 tanks alone were involved. Two fronts were created - the Carpathian and Central, and the size of the combined group of troops reached half a million military personnel. The invasion was, according to the usual Soviet habit, presented as assistance to the fraternal Czechoslovak people in the fight against counter-revolution.

  Of course, there was no sign of any counter-revolution in Czechoslovakia. The country fully supported the Communist Party, which began political and economic reforms in January 1968. In terms of the number of communists per 1000 people, Czechoslovakia ranked first in the world. With the beginning of the reforms, censorship was significantly weakened, free discussions took place everywhere, and the creation of a multi-party system began. A desire was stated to ensure complete freedom of speech, assembly and movement, to establish strict control over the activities of security agencies, to facilitate the organization of private enterprises and to reduce state control over production. In addition, it was planned to federalize the state and expand the powers of the authorities of the constituent entities of Czechoslovakia - the Czech Republic and Slovakia. All this, of course, worried the leadership of the USSR, which pursued a policy of limited sovereignty towards its vassals in Europe (the so-called “Brezhnev Doctrine”). They repeatedly tried to persuade Dubcek’s team to remain on a short leash with Moscow and not strive to build socialism according to Western standards. Persuasion did not help. In addition, Czechoslovakia remained a country where the USSR was never able to deploy either its military bases or tactical nuclear weapons. And this moment was, perhaps, the main reason for such a military operation disproportionate to the scale of the country - the Kremlin Politburo needed to force the Czechoslovaks to obey themselves at any cost. The leadership of Czechoslovakia, in order to avoid bloodshed and destruction of the country, withdrew the army to the barracks and gave the Soviet troops the opportunity to freely decide the fate of the Czechs and Slovaks. The only type of resistance that the occupiers encountered was civil protest. This was especially evident in Prague, where unarmed city residents staged a real obstruction to the invaders.

  At three o'clock in the morning on August 21 (it was also a Wednesday), Prime Minister Chernik was arrested by Soviet soldiers. At 4:50 a column of tanks and armored personnel carriers headed towards the building of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, where a twenty-year-old resident of Prague was shot dead. In Dubcek's office, the Soviet military arrested him and seven members of the Central Committee. At seven in the morning the tanks headed to Vinogradskaya 12, where Radio Prague was located. Residents managed to build barricades there, tanks began to break through, and fire was opened on people. That morning, seventeen people died near the Radio building, another 52 were injured and taken to the hospital. After 14:00, the arrested leadership of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia was put on a plane and taken to Ukraine with the assistance of the country's president, Ludwig Svoboda, who fought as best he could against the puppet government of Biljak and Indra (thanks to Svoboda, Dubcek was saved and then transported to Moscow). A curfew was introduced in the city; in the dark, soldiers opened fire on any moving object.

  01. In the evening, European time, the UN Security Council held an emergency meeting in New York, at which it adopted a resolution condemning the invasion. The USSR vetoed it.

  
  02. Trucks with students holding national flags in their hands began driving around the city. All key objects of the city were taken under control by Soviet troops.
  03. At the National Museum. Residents of the city immediately surrounded the military equipment and entered into conversations with the soldiers, often very sharp and tense. Shooting was heard in certain areas of the city, and the wounded were constantly being taken to hospitals.
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  06. In the morning, young people began to build barricades, attack tanks, threw stones and petrol bottles at them, and tried to set fire to military equipment.
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  08. Inscription on the bus: Soviet cultural center.
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  10. One of the wounded as a result of soldiers firing into the crowd.
  11. Massive acts of sabotage began throughout Prague. To make it difficult for military personnel to navigate the city, Prague residents began to destroy street signs, knock down signs with street names and house numbers.
  12.
  13. Soviet soldiers broke into the Church of St. Martin in Bratislava. First they shot at the windows and tower of the medieval church, then they broke the locks and got inside. The altar and donation box were opened, the organ and church supplies were broken, paintings were destroyed, benches and the pulpit were broken. The soldiers climbed into the crypts with burials and broke several gravestones there. This church was robbed throughout the day by different groups of military personnel.
  14. Units of Soviet troops enter the city of Liberec
  15. Dead and wounded after the military stormed Prague Radio.
  16. Entry to unauthorized persons is strictly prohibited
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  19. The walls of houses, shop windows, and fences have become a platform for merciless criticism of the occupiers.
  20. “Run home, Ivan, Natasha is waiting for you,” “Not a drop of water, not a loaf of bread for the occupiers,” “Bravo, guys! Hitler”, “USSR, go home”, “Twice occupied, twice taught”, “1945 - liberators, 1968 - occupiers”, “We were afraid of the West, we were attacked from the East”, “Not hands up, but heads up!” , “You have conquered space, but not us”, “An elephant can’t swallow a hedgehog”, “Don’t call it hatred, call it knowledge”, “Long live democracy. Without Moscow" - these are just a few examples of such wall-mounted propaganda.
  21. “I had a little soldier, I loved him. I had a watch - the Red Army took it." 22. On Old Town Square.
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  25. I remember a contemporary interview with a Prague woman who, on the 21st, together with her friends from the university, went into the city to look at the Soviet military. “We thought there were some scary invaders there, but in fact, there were very young guys with peasant faces sitting on the armored personnel carriers, a little scared, constantly clutching their weapons, not understanding what they were doing here and why the crowd was reacting so aggressively to them. It was the commanders who told them that they had to go and save the Czech people from the counter-revolution.”
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  39. Homemade leaflet from those that they tried to distribute to Soviet soldiers. 40. Today, at the Prague Radio building, where people defending the radio station died on August 21, 1968, a memorial ceremony was held, wreaths were laid, and that morning broadcast from 1968, when the radio reported the attack on the country, was broadcast. The announcer reads the text, and in the background you can hear shooting on the street.
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  49. Candles are burning at the site of the National Museum, where a monument to student Jan Palach, who committed self-immolation, is erected.
  50.
  51. At the beginning of Wenceslas Square there is an exhibition - a documentary film about the events of the “Prague Spring” and August 1968 is shown on a large screen, there is an infantry fighting vehicle with a characteristic white line, an ambulance of those years, there are stands with photographs and reproductions of Prague graffiti.
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  57. 1945: we kissed your fathers > 1968: you shed our blood and take away our freedom.
  According to modern data, 108 Czechoslovak citizens were killed and more than 500 wounded during the invasion, the vast majority of them were civilians. On the first day of the invasion alone, 58 people were killed or mortally wounded, including seven women and an eight-year-old child.

  The result of the operation to remove the leadership of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia and the occupation of the country was the deployment of a Soviet military contingent in Czechoslovakia: five motorized rifle divisions, totaling up to 130 thousand people, 1,412 tanks, 2,563 armored personnel carriers and Temp-S operational-tactical missile systems with nuclear warheads. A leadership loyal to Moscow was brought to power, and the party was purged. The Prague Spring reforms were completed only after 1991.

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

  | USSR participation in Cold War conflicts. Events in Czechoslovakia (1968)

  Events in Czechoslovakia
  (1968)

  Deployment of troops into Czechoslovakia (1968), also known as Operation Danube or the Invasion of Czechoslovakia - in waters of Warsaw Pact troops (except Romania) to Czechoslovakia, which began August 21, 1968 and put an end to Prague Spring reforms.

  The largest contingent of troops was allocated from the USSR. The combined group (up to 500 thousand people and 5 thousand tanks and armored personnel carriers) was commanded by Army General I. G. Pavlovsky.

  The Soviet leadership feared that if the Czechoslovak communists pursued a domestic policy independent of Moscow, the USSR would lose control over Czechoslovakia. Such a turn of events threatened to split the Eastern European socialist bloc both politically and military-strategically. The policy of limited state sovereignty in the countries of the socialist bloc, including the use of military force if necessary, was called the “Brezhnev Doctrine” in the West.

  At the end of March 1968 The CPSU Central Committee sent classified information about the situation in Czechoslovakia to party activists. This document stated: “...recently events have been developing in a negative direction. In Czechoslovakia, there are growing protests by irresponsible elements demanding the creation of an “official opposition” and showing “tolerance” towards various anti-socialist views and theories. The past experience of socialist construction is incorrectly highlighted, proposals are put forward about a special Czechoslovak path to socialism, which is contrasted with the experience of other socialist countries, attempts are made to cast a shadow on the foreign policy of Czechoslovakia and the need for an “independent” foreign policy is emphasized. There are calls for the creation of private enterprises, the abandonment of the planned system, and the expansion of ties with the West. Moreover, a number of newspapers, radio and television are promoting calls for “the complete separation of the party from the state,” for the return of Czechoslovakia to the bourgeois republic of Masaryk and Benes, for the transformation of Czechoslovakia into an “open society,” and others...”

  March 23 In Dresden, a meeting of the leaders of parties and governments of six socialist countries took place - the USSR, Poland, the GDR, Bulgaria, Hungary and Czechoslovakia, at which the Secretary General of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia A. Dubcek was sharply criticized.

  After the meeting in Dresden, the Soviet leadership began to develop options for action regarding Czechoslovakia, including military measures. The leaders of the GDR (W. Ulbricht), Bulgaria (T. Zhivkov) and Poland (W. Gomulka) took a tough position and to a certain extent influenced the Soviet leader L. Brezhnev.

  The Soviet side did not exclude the option of NATO troops entering the territory of Czechoslovakia, which carried out maneuvers under the code name “Black Lion” near the borders of Czechoslovakia.

  Considering the current military-political situation, spring 1968 The joint command of the Warsaw Pact, together with the General Staff of the USSR Armed Forces, developed an operation code-named “Danube”.

  April 8, 1968 The commander of the airborne forces, General V.F. Margelov, received a directive according to which he began planning the use of airborne assault forces on the territory of Czechoslovakia. The directive stated: “The Soviet Union and other socialist countries, faithful to their international duty and the Warsaw Pact, must send their troops to assist the Czechoslovak People’s Army in defending the Motherland from the danger looming over it.” The document also emphasized: “... if the troops of the Czechoslovak People's Army react with understanding to the appearance of Soviet troops, in this case it is necessary to organize interaction with them and jointly carry out the assigned tasks. If the ChNA troops are hostile to the paratroopers and support conservative forces, then it is necessary to take measures to localize them, and if this is not possible, to disarm them.”

  During April - May Soviet leaders tried to “bring some sense” to Alexander Dubcek, to draw his attention to the danger of the actions of anti-socialist forces. At the end of April, Marshal I. Jakubovsky, Commander-in-Chief of the United Armed Forces of the Warsaw Pact countries, arrived in Prague to prepare for military exercises of the Warsaw Pact countries on the territory of Czechoslovakia.

  May 4th Brezhnev met with Dubcek in Moscow, but no mutual understanding could be reached.

  May 8 in Moscow A closed meeting of the leaders of the USSR, Poland, East Germany, Bulgaria and Hungary took place, during which a frank exchange of views took place on measures in connection with the situation in Czechoslovakia. Even then, proposals were made for a military solution. However, at the same time, the leader of Hungary J. Kadar, referring to, stated that the Czechoslovak crisis cannot be solved by military means and it is necessary to look for a political solution.

  At the end of May The government of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic agreed to conduct military exercises of the Warsaw Pact countries called “Šumava”, which took place June 20 - 30 with the involvement of only the headquarters of units, formations and signal troops. WITH June 20 to June 30 For the first time in the history of the military bloc of socialist countries, 16 thousand personnel were brought into the territory of Czechoslovakia. WITH July 23 to August 10, 1968 On the territory of the USSR, the German Democratic Republic and Poland, the Neman logistics exercises were held, during which the troops were redeployed for the invasion of Czechoslovakia. On August 11, 1968, major air defense exercises “Heavenly Shield” were held. Signal troops exercises were held on the territory of Western Ukraine, Poland and the German Democratic Republic.

  July 29 - August 1 A meeting was held in Cierna nad Tisou, in which the full composition of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee and the Presidium of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Communist Party together with President L. Svoboda took part. The Czechoslovak delegation at the negotiations mainly presented a united front, but V. Bilyak adhered to a special position. At the same time, a personal letter was received from candidate member of the Presidium of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia A. Kapek with a request to provide his country with “brotherly assistance” from the socialist countries.

  IN end of July Preparations for the military operation in Czechoslovakia were completed, but the final decision on its conduct had not yet been made. August 3, 1968 A meeting of the leaders of six communist parties took place in Bratislava. The statement adopted in Bratislava contained a phrase about collective responsibility in defending socialism. In Bratislava, L. Brezhnev was given a letter from five members of the leadership of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia - Indra, Kolder, Kapek, Shvestka and Biljak with a request for “effective assistance and support” in order to wrest Czechoslovakia “from the impending danger of counter-revolution.”

  Mid August L. Brezhnev called A. Dubcek twice and asked why the promised personnel changes in Bratislava were not happening, to which Dubcek replied that personnel matters were decided collectively, by the plenum of the Party Central Committee.

  August 16 In Moscow, at a meeting of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee, a discussion of the situation in Czechoslovakia took place and proposals for the deployment of troops were approved. At the same time, a letter from the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee addressed to the Presidium of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China was accepted. August 17 Soviet Ambassador S. Chervonenko met with the President of Czechoslovakia L. Svoboda and reported to Moscow that at the decisive moment the President would be together with the CPSU and the Soviet Union. On the same day, the materials prepared in Moscow for the text of the Appeal to the Czechoslovak people were sent to the group of “healthy forces” in the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. It was planned that they would create a Revolutionary Workers' and Peasants' Government. A draft appeal was also prepared by the governments of the USSR, East Germany, Poland, Bulgaria and Hungary to the people of Czechoslovakia, as well as to the Czechoslovak army.

  August 18 A meeting of the leaders of the USSR, East Germany, Poland, Bulgaria and Hungary took place in Moscow. Relevant measures were agreed upon, including a speech by the “healthy forces” of the Communist Party of Human Rights asking for military assistance. In a message to the President of Czechoslovakia, Svoboda, on behalf of the participants in the meeting in Moscow, one of the main arguments noted the receipt of a request for military assistance to the Czechoslovak people from the “majority” of the members of the Presidium of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia and many members of the government of Czechoslovakia.
  

  Operation Danube

  The political goal of the operation was to change the political leadership of the country and establish a regime loyal to the USSR in Czechoslovakia. The troops were supposed to seize the most important objects in Prague, the KGB officers were supposed to arrest Czech reformers, and then the Plenum of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia and the session of the National Assembly were planned, where the top leadership was supposed to change. In this case, a large role was assigned to President Svoboda.

  The political leadership of the operation in Prague was carried out by K. Mazurov, a member of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee.

  Military preparation for the operation was carried out by the Commander-in-Chief of the United Armed Forces of the Warsaw Pact countries, Marshal I. I. Yakubovsky, but a few days before the start of the operation, the Commander-in-Chief of the Ground Forces, Deputy Minister of Defense of the USSR, Army General I. G. Pavlovsky was appointed its leader.

  At the first stage, the main role was assigned to the airborne troops. The air defense forces, navy and strategic missile forces were put on heightened combat readiness.

  TO August 20 a group of troops was prepared, the first echelon of which numbered up to 250,000 people, and the total number - up to 500,000 people, about 5,000 tanks and armored personnel carriers. To carry out the operation, 26 divisions were involved, of which 18 were Soviet, not counting aviation. The invasion included Soviet troops of the 1st Guards Tank, 20th Guards Combined Arms, 16th Air Armies (Group of Soviet Forces in Germany), 11th Guards Army (Baltic Military District), 28th Combined Arms Army (Belarusian Military district), the 13th and 38th combined arms armies (Carpathian Military District) and the 14th Air Army (Odessa Military District).

  The Carpathian and Central fronts were formed:
  ☑ Carpathian Front was created on the basis of the administration and troops of the Carpathian Military District and several Polish divisions. It included four armies: the 13th, 38th combined arms, 8th Guards Tank and 57th Air Force. At the same time, the 8th Guards Tank Army and part of the forces of the 13th Army began moving to the southern regions of Poland, where Polish divisions were additionally included in their composition. Commander Colonel General Bisyarin Vasily Zinovievich.
  ☑ Central Front was formed on the basis of the control of the Baltic Military District with the inclusion of troops of the Baltic Military District, the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany and the Northern Group of Forces, as well as individual Polish and East German divisions. This front was deployed in the GDR and Poland. The Central Front included the 11th and 20th Guards Combined Arms Armies and the 37th Air Armies.

  Also, to cover the active group in Hungary, the Southern Front was deployed. In addition to this front, the Balaton task force (two Soviet divisions, as well as Bulgarian and Hungarian units) was deployed on the territory of Hungary to enter Czechoslovakia.

  In general, the number of troops brought into Czechoslovakia was:
  ☑ USSR- 18 motorized rifle, tank and airborne divisions, 22 aviation and helicopter regiments, about 170,000 people;
  ☑ Poland- 5 infantry divisions, up to 40,000 people;
  ☑ GDR- motorized rifle and tank divisions, up to 15,000 people in total (according to press publications, it was decided to abandon the introduction of GDR units into Czechoslovakia at the last moment; they played the role of a reserve on the border;
  ☑ from Czechoslovakia there was an operational group of the NNA of the GDR of several dozen military personnel);
  ☑ Hungary- 8th motorized rifle division, separate units, total 12,500 people;
  ☑ Bulgaria- 12th and 22nd Bulgarian motorized rifle regiments, with a total number of 2164 people. and one Bulgarian tank battalion, armed with 26 T-34 vehicles.

  The date of entry of troops was set for the evening of August 20, when a meeting of the Presidium of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia was held. On the morning of August 20, 1968, a secret order was read to the officers on the formation of the Danube High Command.

  Army General I. G. Pavlovsky, whose headquarters was deployed in the southern part of Poland, was appointed commander-in-chief. Both fronts (Central and Carpathian) and the Balaton operational group, as well as two guards airborne divisions, were subordinate to him. On the first day of the operation, to ensure the landing of airborne divisions, five divisions of military transport aviation were allocated to the Commander-in-Chief "Danube".
  

  Chronology of events

  At 22:15 on August 20 The troops received the Vltava-666 signal about the start of the operation. IN 23:00 August 20 a combat alert was declared among the troops intended for the invasion. The signal to move was transmitted through closed communication channels to all fronts, armies, divisions, brigades, regiments and battalions. At this signal, all commanders had to open one of the five secret packages stored in their possession (the operation was developed in five versions), and burn the four remaining ones in the presence of the chiefs of staff without opening them. The opened packages contained an order to begin Operation Danube and to continue hostilities in accordance with the Danube-Canal and Danube-Canal-Globus plans.

  “Orders for interaction for Operation Danube” were developed in advance. White stripes were applied to military equipment participating in the invasion. All Soviet and Union-made military equipment without white stripes was subject to “neutralization,” preferably without firing. In case of resistance, stripless tanks and other military equipment were subject to destruction without warning and without commands from above. When meeting with NATO troops, they were ordered to stop immediately and not to shoot without a command.

  Troops were brought in in 18 places from the territory of the GDR, Poland, the USSR and Hungary. Units of the 20th Guards Army from the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany (Lieutenant General Ivan Leontievich Velichko) entered Prague and established control over the main objects of the capital of Czechoslovakia. At the same time, two Soviet airborne divisions were landed in Prague and Brno.

  IN 2 a.m. August 21 The advanced units of the 7th Airborne Division landed at the Ruzyne airfield in Prague. They blocked the main facilities of the airfield, where Soviet An-12s with troops and military equipment began to land. The seizure of the airfield was carried out using a deceptive maneuver: a Soviet passenger plane approaching the airfield requested an emergency landing due to alleged damage on board. After permission and landing, paratroopers from the plane seized the airport control tower and ensured the landing of the landing planes.

  At the news of the invasion in Dubcek’s office, the Presidium of the Communist Party of the Czechoslovakia urgently convened. The majority - 7 to 4 - voted for a statement from the Presidium condemning the invasion. Only members of the Presidium Kolder, Bilyak, Shvestka and Rigo acted according to the original plan. Barbirek and Piller supported Dubcek and O. Chernik. The calculation of the Soviet leadership was for the superiority of the “healthy forces” at the decisive moment - 6 versus 5. The statement also contained a call for the urgent convening of a party congress. Dubcek himself, in his radio appeal to the residents of the country, called on citizens to remain calm and prevent bloodshed and an actual repetition of the Hungarian events of 1956.

  TO 4:30 am August 21 The Central Committee building was surrounded by Soviet troops and armored vehicles, Soviet paratroopers burst into the building and arrested those present. Dubcek and other members of the Central Committee spent several hours under the control of the paratroopers.

  IN 5:10 am August 21 A reconnaissance company of the 350th Guards Parachute Regiment and a separate reconnaissance company of the 103rd Airborne Division landed. Within 10 minutes they captured the airfields of Turany and Namešti, after which a hasty landing of the main forces began. According to eyewitnesses, transport planes landed at the airfields one after another. The landing party jumped off without waiting for a complete stop. By the end of the runway, the plane was already empty and immediately picked up speed for a new takeoff. With minimal intervals, other planes with troops and military equipment began to arrive here. Then the paratroopers, using their military equipment and captured civilian vehicles, went deep into the country.

  TO 9:00 am August 21 in Brno, paratroopers blocked all roads, bridges, exits from the city, radio and television buildings, the telegraph office, the main post office, administrative buildings of the city and region, printing houses, train stations, as well as the headquarters of military units and military industry enterprises. CHNA commanders were asked to remain calm and maintain order. Four hours after the landing of the first groups of paratroopers, the most important objects of Prague and Brno were under the control of the Allied forces. The main efforts of the paratroopers were aimed at capturing the buildings of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, the government, the Ministry of Defense and the General Staff, as well as the radio and television building. According to a pre-developed plan, columns of troops were sent to the main administrative and industrial centers of Czechoslovakia. Formations and units of the allied forces were stationed in all major cities. Particular attention was paid to protecting the western borders of Czechoslovakia.

  At 10 a.m. Dubček, Prime Minister Oldřich Černik, Chairman of Parliament Josef Smrkovský (English) Russian, members of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia Josef Špaček and Bohumil Šimon, and head of the National Front Frantisek Kriegel (English) Russian. They were taken out of the building of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China by KGB officers and StB officers who collaborated with them, and then they were taken to the airfield in Soviet armored personnel carriers and taken to Moscow.

  By the end of the day on August 21 24 divisions of the Warsaw Pact countries occupied the main objects on the territory of Czechoslovakia. The troops of the USSR and its allies occupied all points without the use of weapons, since the Czechoslovak army was ordered not to resist.
  

  Actions of the Human Rights Committee and the population of the country

  In Prague, protesting citizens tried to obstruct the movement of troops and equipment; All signs and street name boards were knocked down, all maps of Prague were hidden in stores, while the Soviet military only had outdated maps from the war. In this regard, control over radio, television and newspapers was belatedly established. The “healthy forces” took refuge in the Soviet embassy. But they could not be persuaded to form a new government and hold a Plenum of the Central Committee. The media have already declared them traitors.

  At the call of the president of the country and the Czech Radio, the citizens of Czechoslovakia did not offer armed resistance to the invading troops. However, everywhere the troops met passive resistance from the local population. The Czechs and Slovaks refused to provide the Soviet troops with drink, food and fuel, changed road signs to impede the advance of troops, took to the streets, tried to explain to the soldiers the essence of the events taking place in Czechoslovakia, and appealed to the Russian-Czechoslovak brotherhood. Citizens demanded the withdrawal of foreign troops and the return of party and government leaders taken to the USSR.

  On the initiative of the Prague City Committee of the CPC, underground meetings of the XIV Congress of the CPC began ahead of schedule on the territory of the plant in Vysočany (Prague district), although without delegates from Slovakia who did not have time to arrive.

  Representatives of the conservative group of delegates at the congress were not elected to any of the leadership positions in the Communist Party of Human Rights.
  

  Losses of the parties

  Almost no fighting took place. There were isolated cases of attacks on the military, but the overwhelming majority of Czechoslovakians did not resist.

  According to modern data, 108 Czechoslovak citizens were killed and more than 500 wounded during the invasion, the vast majority of them were civilians. On the first day of the invasion alone, 58 people were killed or mortally wounded, including seven women and an eight-year-old child.

  The largest number of civilian casualties was in Prague in the area of ​​the Czech Radio building. Perhaps some of the victims were undocumented. Thus, witnesses report Soviet soldiers shooting at a crowd of Prague residents on Wenceslas Square, which killed and injured several people, although data on this incident was not included in the reports of the Czechoslovak Security Service. There is numerous evidence of the death of civilians, including minors and the elderly, in Prague, Liberec, Brno, Kosice, Poprad and other cities of Czechoslovakia as a result of the unmotivated use of weapons by Soviet soldiers.

  Total from August 21 to September 20, 1968 The combat losses of the Soviet troops amounted to 12 people killed and 25 wounded and injured. Non-combat losses for the same period were 84 killed and killed, 62 wounded and injured. Also, as a result of a helicopter crash in the Teplice area, 2 Soviet correspondents were killed. It should be noted that the surviving helicopter pilot, fearing that he would have to bear responsibility for the accident, fired several bullets from a pistol at the helicopter, and then declared that the helicopter was shot down by the Czechoslovaks; this version was official for some time, and correspondents K. Nepomnyashchy and A. Zvorykin appeared, including in internal KGB materials, as victims of “counter-revolutionaries.”

  August 26, 1968 An An-12 from the Tula 374th VTAP (captain N. Nabok) crashed near the city of Zvolen (Czechoslovakia). According to the pilots, the plane with a cargo (9 tons of butter) was fired from the ground from a machine gun at an altitude of 300 meters during landing and, as a result of damage to the 4th engine, fell several kilometers short of the runway. 5 people died (burned alive in the resulting fire), the gunner-radio operator survived. However, according to Czech historians and archivists, the plane crashed into a mountain.

  Near the village of Zhandov near the city of Ceska Lipa, a group of citizens, blocking the road to the bridge, impeded the movement of the Soviet T-55 tank of sergeant major Yu. I. Andreev, who at high speed was catching up with the column that had gone ahead. The foreman decided to turn off the road so as not to overwhelm people, and the tank collapsed from the bridge along with the crew. Three servicemen were killed.

  The losses of the USSR in technology are not precisely known. In units of the 38th Army alone, 7 tanks and armored personnel carriers were burned in the first three days on the territory of Slovakia and Northern Moravia.

  Data are known about the losses of the armed forces of other countries participating in the operation. Thus, the Hungarian army lost 4 soldiers killed (all were non-combat losses: accident, illness, suicide). The Bulgarian army lost 2 people - one sentry was killed at the post by unknown persons (and a machine gun was stolen), 1 soldier shot himself.
  

  Subsequent events and international assessment of the invasion

  IN early September troops were withdrawn from many cities and towns of Czechoslovakia to specially designated locations. Soviet tanks left Prague on September 11, 1968. On October 16, 1968, an agreement was signed between the governments of the USSR and Czechoslovakia on the conditions for the temporary presence of Soviet troops on the territory of Czechoslovakia, according to which part of the Soviet troops remained on the territory of Czechoslovakia “in order to ensure the security of the socialist commonwealth.” October 17, 1968 A phased withdrawal of some troops from the territory of Czechoslovakia began, which was completed by mid-November.

  IN 1969 In Prague, students Jan Palach and Jan Zajic committed self-immolation a month apart in protest against the Soviet occupation.

  As a result of the introduction of troops into Czechoslovakia, the process of political and economic reforms was interrupted. At the April (1969) plenum of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, G. Husak was elected first secretary. Reformers were removed from office, and repression began. Several tens of thousands of people left the country, including many representatives of the country's cultural elite.

  On the territory of Czechoslovakia, the Soviet military presence remained until 1991.

  On August 21, representatives of a group of countries(USA, UK, France, Canada, Denmark and Paraguay) spoke at the UN Security Council with a demand to bring the “Czechoslovak issue” to a meeting of the UN General Assembly.

  Representatives of Hungary and the USSR voted against. Then the representative of Czechoslovakia demanded that this issue be removed from consideration by the UN. The governments of four socialist countries - Yugoslavia, Romania, Albania (which left the Warsaw Pact in September), China, as well as a number of communist parties in Western countries - condemned the military intervention of five states.
  

  Possible motivations for the deployment of troops and consequences

  By official version of the CPSU Central Committee and the ATS countries(except Romania): the government of Czechoslovakia asked its allies in the military bloc to provide armed assistance in the fight against counter-revolutionary groups that, with the support of hostile imperialist countries, were preparing a coup d'etat to overthrow socialism.

  Geopolitical aspect: The USSR stopped the possibility on the part of its satellite countries of revising the unequal interstate relations that ensured its hegemony in Eastern Europe.

  Military-strategic aspect: Czechoslovakia’s voluntarism in foreign policy during the Cold War threatened the security of the border with NATO countries; before 1968 year, Czechoslovakia remained the only ATS country where there were no military bases of the USSR.

  Ideological aspect: the ideas of socialism “with a human face” undermined the idea of ​​the truth of Marxism-Leninism, the dictatorship of the proletariat and the leading role of the communist party, which, in turn, affected the power interests of the party elite.

  Political aspect: the harsh crackdown on democratic voluntarism in Czechoslovakia gave members of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee the opportunity, on the one hand, to deal with internal opposition, on the other, to increase their authority, and thirdly, to prevent the disloyalty of allies and demonstrate military power to potential opponents.

  As a result of Operation Danube, Czechoslovakia remained a member of the Eastern European socialist bloc. The Soviet group of troops (up to 130 thousand people) remained in Czechoslovakia until 1991. The agreement on the conditions for the presence of Soviet troops on the territory of Czechoslovakia became one of the main military-political results of the entry of troops of five states, which satisfied the leadership of the USSR and the Department of Internal Affairs. However, Albania withdrew from the Warsaw Pact as a result of the invasion.

  The suppression of the Prague Spring increased the disillusionment of many on the Western left with the theory of Marxism-Leninism and contributed to the growth of ideas of “Eurocommunism” among the leadership and members of Western communist parties - which subsequently led to a split in many of them. The communist parties of Western Europe lost mass support, since the impossibility of “socialism with a human face” was practically shown.

  Milos Zeman was expelled from the Communist Party in 1970 for disagreeing with the entry of Warsaw Pact troops into the country.

  It has been suggested that Operation Danube strengthened the US position in Europe.

  Paradoxically, the military action in Czechoslovakia in 1968 accelerated the advent of the so-called period in relations between East and West. “détente”, based on the recognition of the territorial status quo that existed in Europe and the so-called implementation by Germany under Chancellor Willy Brandt. "new eastern policy".

  Operation Danube prevented possible reforms in the USSR: “For the Soviet Union, the strangulation of the Prague Spring turned out to be associated with many serious consequences. The imperial “victory” in 1968 cut off the oxygen to reforms, strengthening the position of dogmatic forces, strengthened great power features in Soviet foreign policy, and contributed to increased stagnation in all spheres.”
  

  Material from Wikipedia - the free encyclopedia

  On August 20, 1968, the military operation Danube began. International (mainly Soviet) troops “took” Prague in record time, capturing all strategically important objects.

  Brezhnev Doctrine

  At the end of the 60s, the “world system of socialism” tested its strength. Relations with fraternal peoples were difficult, but in relations with the West there was a stalemate “détente”. You could breathe easy and turn your attention to Eastern Europe. The battle for the “correct” understanding of the Union of Allied Countries on the sidelines of NATO was called the “Brezhnev Doctrine.” The doctrine became the right to invade the guilty Czechoslovakia. Who else will defend socialism, distorted by independence, and dispel the spring dissent in Prague?

  Dubcek and reforms

  In December 1967, Alexander Dubcek took over the leadership of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. He came, entered into the fight against the “canned” neo-Stalinists, and tried to paint a new socialism “with a human face.” “Socialism with a human face” is freedom of the press, speech and the repressed - echoes of the social democracy of the West. Ironically, one of those released, Gustav Husak, would later replace the innovator Dubcek as first secretary of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia under the patronage of Moscow. But that’s later, but for now Dubcek, together with the President of Czechoslovakia, proposed the country a “Program of Action” - reforms. The innovations were unanimously supported by the people and the intelligentsia (the signature of 70 people under the article “Two Thousand Words”). The USSR, remembering Yugoslavia, did not support such innovations. Dubcek was sent a collective letter from the Warsaw Pact countries calling on him to stop his creative activities, but the first secretary of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia did not want to give in.

  Warning conference

  On July 29, 1968, in the city of Cienra nad Tisou, Brezhnev and Dubcek finally reached an agreement. The USSR pledged to withdraw allied troops from the territory of Czechoslovakia (there were some - they were introduced for training and joint maneuvers) and to stop attacks in the press. In turn, Dubcek promised not to flirt with the “human face” - to pursue domestic policy, not forgetting the USSR.

  Warsaw Pact on the offensive

  “The Soviet Union and other socialist countries, faithful to their international duty and the Warsaw Pact, must send their troops to assist the Czechoslovak People's Army in defending the Motherland from the danger looming over it.” This directive was received by the commander of the airborne troops, General Margelov. And this happened back in April 1968, in other words, before the conclusion of the Bratislava Agreement on July 29, 1968. And on August 18, 1968, at a joint conference of the USSR, East Germany, Hungary, Poland and Bulgaria, they read a letter from the “true socialists” of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia asking for military assistance. The military operation "Danube" became not an idea, but a reality.
  "Danube"

  The specificity of the USSR military campaign against Czechoslovakia was the choice of striking force. The main role was assigned to the airborne troops of the Soviet army. The air defense forces, navy and strategic missile forces were put on heightened combat readiness. The actions of the international army were carried out on three fronts - the Carpathian, Central and Southern fronts were created. Given the role assigned to the air forces, the participation of air armies was provided for on each of the fronts. At 23:00 on August 20, the combat alarm sounded and one of the five sealed packages with the operation plan was opened. Here was the plan for Operation Danube.

  On the night of August 20-21

  A passenger plane approaching the Czech Ruzina airport requested an emergency landing and received it. From that moment on, from two o'clock in the morning, the airport was captured by the 7th Airborne Division. While in the Central Committee building, Dubcek addressed the people on the radio with an appeal to prevent bloodshed. Less than two hours later, Dubcek and the Presidium of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, eleven people assembled by him, were arrested. Capturing the airport and the opposition was the main objective of Operation Danube, but Dubcek's reforms were contagious. At 5 a.m. on August 21, a reconnaissance company of the 350th Guards Parachute Regiment and a reconnaissance company of the 103rd Airborne Division landed on the territory of Czechoslovakia. Within ten minutes, a continuous stream of soldiers disembarking from planes managed to capture two airports. Troops with equipment marked with white stripes moved inland. Four hours later, Prague was occupied - the Allied troops captured the telegraph, military headquarters, and train stations. All ideologically important objects - the buildings of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, the government, the Ministry of Defense and the General Staff - were captured. At 10 a.m., KGB officers escorted Alexander Dubchek and others like him out of the Central Committee building.

  Results

  Two days after the actual end of the campaign, negotiations between the interested parties took place in Moscow. Dubcek and his comrades signed the Moscow Protocol, which as a result allowed the USSR not to withdraw its troops. The protectorate of the USSR extended for an indefinite period, until the normal situation in Czechoslovakia was resolved. This position was supported by the new First Secretary Husak and the President of Czechoslovakia L. Svoboda. Theoretically, the withdrawal of troops from the territory of Czechoslovakia was completed in mid-November 1968; in practice, the presence of military forces of the Soviet army lasted until 1991. Operation Danube shook up the public, dividing the socialist camp into those who agreed and disagreed. Marches of dissatisfied people took place in Moscow and Finland, but in general, Operation Danube showed the strength and seriousness of the USSR and, importantly, the full combat readiness of our army.