news-detail__perex">The 56th anniversary of the occupation of Czechoslovakia by the troops of the Warsaw Pact was commemorated today in front of the Czech Radio building in Prague by the highest representatives of the state, led by President Petr Pavlo. Minister of Defense Jana Černochová also laid a wreath at the memorial plaque, accompanied by the Chief of the General Staff of the ACR, Lieutenant General Karel Řehka.
Czechoslovakia began to be occupied by the troops of the Warsaw Pact states (the Soviet Union, the Polish People’s Republic, the German Democratic Republic, the Hungarian People’s Republic and the People’s Republic of Bulgaria) on the night of August 21, 1968. Thus ended the period of the so-called Prague Spring – an attempt by Czechoslovak communists to establish so-called socialism with human face. At that time, it was the radio that took care of informing the population the most. Although the occupiers tried to slow down the spread of information, most of the nation found out what was happening by nightfall. At Czechoslovak Radio, Soviet soldiers also clashed with an unarmed protesting crowd. By the end of 1968, the invasion claimed 137 dead, roughly 500 seriously and hundreds of lightly wounded.
According to Defense Minister Jana Černochová, we must never forget the courage of those who stood up to tyranny, nor the dark chapter of our history, when our national pride and patriotism were trampled on for more than twenty years. “The Kremlin does not change. He still uses traditional tools like tanks, blackmail and lies to satisfy his imperial appetites. The events of 1968 are a reminder to us of how fragile freedom and democracy are and how quickly they can be lost. Our own experience therefore tells us to support our friends who, facing the barbaric attacks of Russia, seek the same thing we already have and do not hesitate to fight and die for it. That is why we support Ukraine militarily, humanitarianly and diplomatically, which is bravely defending itself,” the minister wrote on the X network.
President Petr Pavel: Today’s Russia does not differ significantly from the Soviet Union at the time
The President of the Republic gave a keynote speech in front of the Czech Radio building on Vinohradská Street. Although, according to him, everything has already been said and explained about the events of August 21, 1968, there are still a number of reasons for commemoration. One is to honor the memory of the victims and show respect to all those who at that time had a clearly set moral compass and did not shy away from evil. Another is the fact that history tends to repeat itself.
“We should be very attentive and careful to see if there are any parallels with what we have already been through around us and in what is happening in our country and in the world. And if we don’t want to go through this again, we should pay extra attention to these signs, signals and tendencies,” said Pavel.
According to the president, today’s Russia does not differ significantly from the former Soviet Union. “They claim the legacy of the Soviet Union, their representatives openly support Stalin, they support the principles on which the Soviet Union operated and according to which it implemented its foreign policy,” he noted.
According to him, people should be careful and not let the idea be imposed on them that we would be better off with Russia. “It wasn’t. Our democracy is not perfect, just as the democratic world is not perfect. But as Churchill and many others said, of all the systems we know, it is indeed the worst, but at the same time the best we have tried so far,” concluded the president of the republic.
August 1968 and ČSLA
- The start of the invasion was set at 11:00 p.m. on August 20. The breach of the state border took place less than two hours earlier in the BÄRENSTEIN – VEJPRTY area. The Northern Group of Soviet troops (Poland) with one Polish army and the Southern Group of Soviet troops (Hungary) with one Hungarian motorized rifle division and one Bulgarian regiment began to occupy the territory of Czechoslovakia on the night of August 20-21.
- At that time, the army command had already been informed about the invasion, and on the order of the Minister of National Defense M. Dzúr, the army had to keep calm and not resist. Strategically important airfields where transport planes with airborne troops landed were the first to be occupied. Ground forces rolled into the interior of Czechoslovakia from the south and from the north.
- On August 26, the occupying army of almost half a million people was in the territory of the Czechoslovak Republic, with the strength of 27 divisions. With few exceptions, ČSLA did not clash with the occupiers and remained completely paralyzed. The majority of professional and basic service soldiers condemned the invasion by the troops of the Warsaw Pact states.
- The occupation of Czechoslovakia ended the period of the so-called Prague Spring. A wave of resistance and demonstrations arose against it, but they could not reverse the trend towards “normalization”. Dubček’s leadership gradually lost positions in the state and in the party, and Husák’s wing willing to cooperate with the Soviets came to power.
- In connection with the developments after August 21, many people decided to leave Czechoslovakia and go abroad. According to rough estimates, about 300,000 people emigrated.
- The occupation also hit ČSLA hard. The Soviet side demanded several divisional districts for its troops, where it intended to deploy up to 150,000 soldiers. After subsequent negotiations, there was a reduction to 75,000 soldiers and the departure of the rest of the occupying units by the beginning of November 1968. The Central Group of Soviet troops was concentrated in the territory of Czechoslovakia with the headquarters in Milovice in the strength of the army corps. It remained in Czechoslovakia until 1991, when the last railway transport with equipment and soldiers left the territory of the republic in the second half of June.
- The subsequent forced dislocation changes concerned about a hundred units of the ČSLA. In a very short time, the army moved 1,200 tanks, 700 armored personnel carriers and 1,100 guns. Nearly 5,000 professional soldiers, 24,000 regular service soldiers and 900 civilian military administration personnel left for the new garrisons. ČSLA released seven crews within 8 days, fourteen crews within two weeks and eleven crews within 23 days.
- In addition to dislocation problems, the army was also affected by a large-scale personnel purge, during which thousands of non-commissioned soldiers were fired from the army. The military command never managed to make up for this loss qualitatively, and the soldier’s profession gradually lost all credit in society.