PRAGUE INVASION

C.AUGUST 1968

Protestors march down a street in the Czech capital in response to the Warsaw Pact invasion of the country. On 20 August Soviet, Polish, Hungarian, East German and other Warsaw Pact forces crossed the border into Czechoslovakia. The move was in response to the recent shift away from strict communist policy by the new leader of the Czech Communist Party, Alexander Dubcek. The invasion was reminiscent of the 1956 invasion of Hungary in response to similar political moves towards reform and more Western-aligned policies. Condemned by the United States at the time and sparking mass protests in Prague, the invasion nonetheless succeeded in reversing the reforms of the Dubcek government.