Conflict in Czechoslovakia 1968 causes. Attitude of the local population

Commanders L. I. Brezhnev
I. G. Pavlovsky
I. I. Yakubovsky
P. K. Koshevoy L. Svoboda
A. Dubcek Strengths of the parties up to 500,000 people
5000 tanks and armored personnel carriers forces beyond government control Military losses Cm. Cm.

Operation Danube (Invasion of Czechoslovakia listen)) - the introduction of Warsaw Pact troops (except Romania) into Czechoslovakia, which began on August 21, 1968 and ended the 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.

Background

The Soviet leadership feared that if the Czech 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, which allows, among other things, the use military force, if necessary, received the name “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.

Considering the folding 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”.

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. In the territory Western Ukraine, Poland and the GDR conducted exercises of signal troops.

On 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 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 a military operation against 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, Shvestka and Biljak with a request for assistance " effective assistance and support” in order to wrest Czechoslovakia “from the imminent danger of counter-revolution.”

In mid-August, L. Brezhnev called A. Dubcek twice and asked why the promises in Bratislava were not happening personnel changes. But Dubcek replied that personnel matters are 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 group " healthy strength“The materials prepared in Moscow for the text of the Appeal to the Czechoslovak people were sent to the CPC. 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.

On August 18, a meeting of the leaders of the USSR, East Germany, Poland, Bulgaria and Hungary took place in Moscow. Relevant events were agreed upon, including a speech by the “healthy forces” of the HRC 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

T-54 tanks

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. Wherein big 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 training 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 was appointed its leader Ground forces, Deputy Minister of Defense of the USSR, Army General I. G. Pavlovsky.

At the first stage, the main role was assigned to airborne troops. The air defense forces, navy and 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 thousand, and total- up to 500 thousand people, about 5 thousand 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 Soviet troops of the 1st Guards Tank, 20th Guards Combined Arms, 16th Air Armies (Group of Soviet Forces in Germany), 11th Guards Combined Arms Army (Belarusian Military District), 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 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
• The Central Front was formed on the basis of the control of the Baltic Military District with the inclusion of troops from 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, the Southern Front was deployed to cover the active group in Hungary. 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 disembarkation airborne divisions Five divisions of military transport aviation were allocated to the Commander-in-Chief "Danube".

At the call of the president of the country and the Czech Radio, the citizens of Czechoslovakia did not provide armed resistance to the occupying forces. 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, and exchanged road signs to impede the advance of troops, they 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 Communist Party of the Czechoslovakia, the XIV Congress of the Communist Party of the Czechoslovakia began meetings ahead of schedule on the territory of the plant in Vysočany (Prague district), although without delegates from Slovakia. 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.

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. Husak, 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. Airplane with cargo (9 tons butter) during landing was fired from the ground from a machine gun at an altitude of 300 meters 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.

Loss data known armed forces other countries participating in the operation. So, 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 settlements 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.

On the territory of Czechoslovakia, Soviet military presence remained 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. Five states condemned the military intervention governments of four socialist countries - Yugoslavia, Romania, Albania, China, as well as a number of communist parties in Western countries.

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

Demonstrators poster

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 three texts leaflets signed "Union of Communards".

Statements

August 21 last year happened tragic event: Warsaw Pact troops invaded friendly Czechoslovakia.

This action was intended to stop democratic path development, which the whole country has 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 is human face available.

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.

T. Baeva, Y. Vishnevskaya, I. Gabai, N. Gorbanevskaya, Z. M. Grigorenko, M. Dzhemilev, N. Emelkina, S. Kovalev, V. Krasin, A. Levitin (Krasnov), L. Petrovsky, L . Plyushch, G. Podyapolsky, L. Ternovsky, I. Yakir, P. Yakir, A. Yakobson

Possible motivations for the deployment of troops

Military-strategic aspect: voluntarism of Czechoslovakia during foreign policy during the Cold War, it 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 CPSU Central Committee the opportunity, on the one hand, to deal with internal opposition, on the other hand, to increase one’s authority, and thirdly, to prevent the 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. Communist parties Western Europe lost mass support, since the impossibility of “socialism with a human face” was practically shown.

It has been argued 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. “detente”, 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 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.”

see also

Notes

1. Battles of Russia. Nikolay Shefov. Military-historical library. M., 2002.
2. V. Musatov. About the Prague Spring of 1968
3. “We were preparing to attack the flank of NATO troops.” Interview of V. Volodin with retired Lieutenant General Alfred Gaponenko. Time for News, No. 143. 08.08.2008.
4. Team of authors.. - M.: Triada-farm, 2002. - P. 333. - 494 p. - ( Government program“Patriotic education of citizens Russian Federation for 2001-2005". Institute Military History 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.
5. Pavlovsky I.G. Memories of the entry of Soviet troops into Czechoslovakia in August 1968. News. August 19, 1989.
6. Team of authors. Russia (USSR) in the wars of the second half of the 20th century. - M.: Triada-farm, 2002. - P. 336. - 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.
7. Team of authors. Russia (USSR) in the wars of the second half of the 20th century. - M.: Triada-farm, 2002. - P. 337. - 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.
8. http://www.dunay1968.ru/groupings.html Composition of the Warsaw Pact troops grouping.
9. ArtOfWar. Interview. Lev Gorelov: Prague, 1968
10. 21. srpen 1968 (Czech)
11. P. Weil In August '68. Rossiyskaya Gazeta, August 20, 2008.
12. Historici: Obětí srpnové okupace je více (Czech)
13. Invaze vojsk si v roce 1968 vyžádala životy 108 Čechoslováků (Czech)
14. Russia and the USSR in the wars of the 20th century: Statistical research. - M.: OLMA-PRESS, 2001. - P. 533.
15. Interview with WWII veteran pilot V. F. Rybyanov
16. Prague Spring: a look after 40 years
17. In memory of Alexander Dubcek. Human rights in Russia, June 18, 2007
18. http://psi.ece.jhu.edu/~kaplan/IRUSS/BUK/GBARC/pdfs/dis60/kgb68-5.pdf About the demonstration on Red Square on August 25, 1968. KGB note.
19. http://www.yale.edu/annals/sakharov/documents_frames/Sakharov_008.htm Letter from Andropov to the Central Committee about the demonstration.
20. http://www.memo.ru/history/DISS/chr/chr3.htm Information about the demonstration in the “Chronicle of Current Events” bulletin
21. Vakhtang Kipiani. We are ashamed that our tanks are in Prague. "Kievskie Vedomosti".

The entry of troops into Czechoslovakia in 1968 is the most tragic event in the history of the socialist bloc.

The consequence of this event was the crisis of the world socialist and communist movement and global disappointment, which gave way to enthusiasm and participation.

Prerequisites

The sixties were a time of universal prosperity. In Africa, many colonies gained independence, Western countries economic and cultural growth was observed, and the democratic movement reached its apogee.

In Western society, there has been a certain turn towards socialism: states were rolling out social programs, limiting the power of large enterprises, influential social groups became workers and representatives of the middle class. Liberalization also occurred in the countries of the Eastern bloc.

In the USSR, this was the era of Kosygin, whose activities resulted in a sharp increase in labor productivity, the economy and the standard of living of citizens. Certain elements of capitalism were introduced into the economy (self-financing, economic independence of enterprises, monetary incentives for workers), and the state abandoned total ideological control over society.

The symbol of the general upsurge in the USSR was space program. Czechoslovak leader Alexander Dubcek went the furthest. He began to build completely democratic regime, oriented to the West. Dubcek's program included the following items:

• Providing to citizens democratic rights– freedom of speech, press, movement;
• Relaxation of government control over funds mass media;
• Facilitating the procedure for opening private enterprises;
• Permission to open political clubs and create new ones political parties;
• General democratization of life and decentralization of power.

The reforms of Dubcek and his associates, despite their outward radicalism, did not aim complete waste from the previous course, in contrast to the demands of the Hungarian revolutionaries in 1956. The country remained in the socialist bloc. However, in Moscow they were perceived as a betrayal.

Soviet rulers declared that Dubcek was "returning the country to a bourgeois republic." The leaders of Poland, the GDR, and Bulgaria were also not satisfied with the behavior of the reformers. It seemed to zealous communists that the Czechoslovak events would lead to the collapse of the entire socialist bloc. An entire empire will collapse, especially since Czechoslovakia in this “empire” was one of the westernmost regions - a kind of defensive outpost in the Cold War.

At first, they tried to resolve conflict issues peacefully, through negotiations, or by imposing sanctions against Czechoslovakia. In the USSR they were afraid that such “revolts” could happen in other social networks. countries. And the withdrawal of the Czechs from the Warsaw Pact is generally a disaster. But the Czechoslavak leadership avoided and ignored the proposal for negotiations in every possible way. The USSR decided to use force against this country as a last resort, and the leadership of Czechoslovakia was informed about this.

Western capitalist countries They also did not sleep, offering their services and assistance to the Czechs, supporting their “rebellion.” Germany and the USA especially tried.

Operation Danube

The deployment of tank troops began on the night of August 20-21, 1968. 300 thousand soldiers and officers and 7 thousand tanks invaded Czechoslovakia. Then we landed in Prague soviet planes. The Czechoslovak army did not offer any resistance to the troops, obeying the orders of the new leader of the country, Ludwik Svoboda.

Under the supervision of Soviet representatives, a new Czechoslovak government consisting of conservatives was formed. At first, it was decided to arrest all the reformers, but fearing a general civil disobedience, it was decided to come to an agreement with them. Many reform officials remained in the government but were transferred to lower positions; Dubcek himself, for example, served as ambassador to Turkey.

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 system military security, was unacceptable for the USSR.

Within 36 hours, the armies of the Warsaw Pact countries established full 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 entry of troops into the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic, cardinal change Czechoslovak leadership course. The process of political and economic reforms in the country. 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 CPC adopted the document “Lessons from the crisis development in the party and society after the XIII Congress of the CPC,” which generally condemned political course Alexander Dubcek and his entourage.

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 Soviet government"On December 5, 1989, the decision to send allied troops into Czechoslovakia was recognized as erroneous as unjustified interference in the internal affairs of a sovereign state.

December 10, 1989 after the victory" 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 seats. "Reconstruction" was carried out "Parliament, where Communist Party 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 state border 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

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 " world system 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 pay 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 a fight with the “canned” neo-Stalinists, tried to draw 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 creative activity, 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 carry out domestic policy, not forgetting about the USSR.

Warsaw Pact on the offensive

"Soviet Union and others socialist countries, faithful to international duty and the Warsaw Pact, must send in their troops to assist Czechoslovakia people's army in protecting 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. Military operation The Danube became not an idea, but a reality.
"Danube"

The specificity of the USSR military campaign against Czechoslovakia was the choice impact force. The main role was assigned to the airborne troops Soviet army. Troops air defense, Navy And rocket troops strategic purpose were put on high alert. The actions of the international army were carried out on three fronts - the Carpathian, Central and Southern fronts were created. Considering the role assigned to air force, 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 General Staff were captured. At 10 a.m., KGB officers took 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 the public, dividing socialist camp on consonants and disagreements. 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.