August 21st of 1968 is a black day in Czech history. People still recall
waking up on that fateful morning to find that Soviet-led Warsaw Pact tanks
had rolled into the county crushing all hope of implementing the democratic
reforms of the Prague Spring. Shocked citizens took to the streets in
protest of the invasion. Over 100 people were killed and 500 injured in
skirmishes with the invaders, many of whom had no clear idea of what they
were doing here and even where exactly they were. One of the key battles
was for the control of Czech Radio, similar to the one that took place at
the end of the Second World War.
Fifteen Prague citizens and radio
employees lost their lives in the clash with Soviet armed forces, who
eventually seized the building. Although radio broadcasting continued from
other locations, the public and media revolt was soon suppressed. In the
following period, also known as the "normalisation", hundreds of
employees were forced to leave the radio because of their political views,
and thousands of people across the country were sacked for speaking their
minds. Communist apparatchiks took over and those who did not flee the
country were forced to toe the party line or live as outcasts harassed by
the dreaded secret service. People closed up, trusting none but their
closest family and friends. Some thought it would be a couple of years
before things turned for the better, but the communist regime was to stay
in power for another twenty years.
It was the beginning of a dark chapter
in the country’s history which has left scars that will take years to
heal. Radio Prague will mark the upcoming anniversary with a number of
special programmes, remembering the events of 1968 and talking to
eyewitnesses about how the Soviet-led invasion impacted their lives.
Audiogallery: Archive materials from August 1968:
Radio Prague broadcast from August 25th, 1968
Radio Prague broadcast from August 25th, 1968
US President Lyndon B. Johnson urging the Soviet Union to withdraw its troops from occupied Czechoslovakia August 21, 1968
Deutsche Welle English language broadcast from August 21st, 1968 : report on a demonstration outside the Soviet Embassy in Bonn.
BBC broadcast August 21, 1968: interview with Reuben Falber, Assistant General Secretary of the Communist Party of Great Britain
BBC broadcast August 21, 1968: BBC correspondent Dennis Blakely reporting on the Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia from Moscow
BBC broadcast August 21, 1968: Moscow Radio reporting on the invasion of Czechoslovakia as “brotherly assistance” made at the request of the Czechoslovak government
BBC broadcast August 21, 1968: US President Lyndon B. Johnson condemning the Soviet-led invasion
BBC broadcast August 21, 1968: Jan Muzik, the Czechoslovak representative at the United Nations addressing the UN Security Council meeting on August 21st
BBC broadcast August 21, 1968: Lord Caradon, the British representative at the United Nations addressing the UN Security Council meeting on August 21st
BBC broadcast August 24, 1968: Czech students explaining how they had argued with Russian soldiers in the streets of Prague in an attempt to get them to return home Related articles:
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Photogallery:
The Old Town Hall in Prague has launched an exhibition of photographs by famous Czech photographer Josef Koudelka. The exhibition, entitled Josef Koudelka – Invasion 68 commemorates the 40th anniversary of 21 August 1968 – the day of the Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia. Many of the exhibited photos have not been published yet; the snapshots were smuggled to the West and Koudelka acknowledged his authorship as late as in 1984.
The photos by Josef Koudelka that were published |