Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia

"Invasion of Czechoslovakia" redirects here. For the events of 1938–1945, see Occupation of Czechoslovakia (1938–1945).

Operation Danube
Part of the Cold War and the Prague Spring

From left to right, top to bottom: Prague students walk past a burning Soviet tank with a national flag · Hippie drawings on a Soviet truck · Crowd of Prague residents surround a Soviet tank · "Home!! Go home!" graffiti on an armored personnel carrier · Funeral of Jan Palach · Refugee camp in Austria · Protesters near burning Soviet tanks · Street fighting · Graffiti with Soviet and Nazi symbols under the inscription "ᛋᛋСР" (SSSR)
Date20–21 August 1968
Location
Czechoslovak Socialist Republic
Result Warsaw Pact victory
Belligerents
Warsaw Pact:
Soviet Union
 Poland
 Bulgaria
 Hungary
Logistics support:
East Germany[a]		  Czechoslovakia Supported by:
 Albania
 Romania
China[1]
Yugoslavia[2]
Commanders and leaders
Leonid Brezhnev
Nikolai Podgorny
Alexei Kosygin
Andrei Grechko
Ivan Yakubovsky
Konstantin Provalov
Władysław Gomułka
Marian Spychalski
Józef Cyrankiewicz
Wojciech Jaruzelski
Bolesław Chocha
Florian Siwicki
Todor Zhivkov
Dobri Dzhurov
János Kádár
Lajos Czinege
Walter Ulbricht		 Alexander Dubček
Ludvík Svoboda
Oldřich Černík
Martin Dzúr
Strength
Initial invasion:
250,000 (20 divisions)[3]
2,000 tanks[4]
800 aircraft
Peak strength:
350,000–400,000 Soviet troops, 70,000–80,000 from Poland, Bulgaria and Hungary[5]
6,300 tanks[6]		 235,000 (18 divisions)[7][8]
2,500–3,000 tanks
Casualties and losses
96 killed (84 in accidents)
87 wounded[9]
5 soldiers committed suicide[10]
10 killed (in accidents and suicides)[11]
4 killed (in accidents)
1 killed[12]		 137 civilians and soldiers killed,[13] 500 seriously wounded[14]
70,000 Czechoslovak citizens fled to the West immediately after the invasion. Total number of emigrants before the Velvet Revolution reached 300,000.[15]

On 20–21 August 1968, the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic was jointly invaded by four Warsaw Pact countries: the Soviet Union, the Polish People's Republic, the People's Republic of Bulgaria, and the Hungarian People's Republic. The invasion stopped Alexander Dubček's Prague Spring liberalisation reforms and strengthened the authoritarian wing of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSČ).

About 250,000 Warsaw Pact troops (rising afterwards to about 500,000), supported by thousands of tanks and hundreds of aircraft, participated in the overnight operation, which was code-named Operation Danube. The Socialist Republic of Romania and the People's Republic of Albania refused to participate.[16][17] East German forces, except for a small number of specialists, were ordered by Moscow not to cross the Czechoslovak border just hours before the invasion,[18] because of fears of greater resistance if German troops were involved, due to public perception of the previous German occupation three decades earlier.[19] 137 Czechoslovaks were killed[13] and 500 seriously wounded during the occupation.[14]

Public reaction to the invasion was widespread and divided, including within the communist world. Although the majority of the Warsaw Pact supported the invasion along with several other communist parties worldwide, Western nations, along with socialist countries such as Romania, and particularly the People's Republic of China and People's Socialist Republic of Albania condemned the attack. Many other communist parties also lost influence, denounced the USSR, split up or dissolved due to conflicting opinions. The invasion started a series of events that would ultimately pressure Brezhnev to establish a state of détente with U.S. President Richard Nixon in 1972 just months after the latter's historic visit to the PRC.


Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).

  1. ^ Rea, Kenneth "Peking and the Brezhnev Doctrine". Asian Affairs. 3 (1975) p. 22.
  2. ^ Bešlin, Milivoj (2011). "Односи Југославије и Совјетског Савеза 1968: Између нужности сарадње и принципа слободе" (PDF). Istraživanja Filozofskog fakulteta.
  3. ^ A Look Back ... The Prague Spring & the Soviet Invasion of Czechoslovakia Archived 29 April 2017 at the Wayback Machine. Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved on 11 June 2016.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference washpost was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference ency was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Invaze vojsk Varšavské smlouvy do Československa 21. srpna 1968. armyweb.cz. Retrieved on 11 June 2016.
  7. ^ Šatraj, Jaroslav. "Operace Dunaj a oběti na straně okupantů". Cтрановедение России (Reálie Ruska). Západočeská univerzita v Plzni. Archived from the original on 8 January 2008. Retrieved 17 November 2015.
  8. ^ Minařík, Pavel; Šrámek, Pavel. "Čs. armáda po roce 1945". Vojenstvi.cz. Retrieved 17 November 2015.
  9. ^ "The Soviet War in Afghanistan: History and Harbinger of Future War". Ciaonet.org. 27 April 1978. Archived from the original on 21 May 2012. Retrieved 13 February 2014.
  10. ^ Jak zemřeli vojáci armád při invazi '68: Bulhara zastřelili Češi, Sověti umírali na silnicích. Hospodářské noviny IHNED.cz. Retrieved on 11 June 2016.
  11. ^ Skomra, Sławomir. "Brali udział w inwazji na Czechosłowację. Kombatanci?" (in Polish). Agora SA. Retrieved 21 September 2013.
  12. ^ Gigov, Lyubomir (27 August 2024). "Bulgaria's Role in 1968 Invasion of Czechoslovakia". Bulgarian News Agency. Retrieved 4 December 2024.
  13. ^ a b Fraňková, Ruth (18 August 2017). "Historians pin down number of 1968 invasion victims". radio.cz. Archived from the original on 26 August 2017. Retrieved 30 August 2018.
  14. ^ a b "August 1968 – Victims of the Occupation". ustrcr.cz. Ústav pro studium totalitních režimů. Archived from the original on 18 July 2011. Retrieved 23 June 2011.
  15. ^ Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia Archived 31 July 2017 at the Wayback Machine. European Network Remembrance and Solidarity. Retrieved on 11 June 2016.
  16. ^ Cite error: The named reference Romania was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  17. ^ Cite error: The named reference Albania was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  18. ^ Cite error: The named reference ddr was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  19. ^ Cite error: The named reference nvatruppen was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
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