For roughly seven months in what’s known as the Prague Spring, Czechoslovakia exercised a more lax form of communism, provoking the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact to invade in August 1968.
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The Fall Of The Soviet Union, In 36 Rarely-Seen Photos
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1 of 45The Prague Spring was a brief period of political liberalization in Czechoslovakia during the era of its domination by the Soviet Union after World War II. Daily Mirror/Mirrorpix via Getty Images 2 of 45The Soviet delegation arrived in Czechoslovakia for a Communist Party summit just days before troops of the Soviet-controlled Warsaw Pact invaded the country to forcefully restrain its liberalization efforts.Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images 3 of 45Bill Ray/The LIFE Picture Collection via Getty Images/Getty Images 4 of 45Imagno/Getty Images 5 of 45Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images 6 of 45After enjoying seven months of “liberalization,” Prague saw its city run over by tanks from member states of the Soviet-controlled Warsaw Pact.Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images 7 of 45Stan Wayman/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images 8 of 45Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images 9 of 45Imagno/Getty Images 10 of 45Bloodied and bruised, students protest the Soviet occupation. Sovfoto/UIG via Getty Images 11 of 45Czech President Ludvik Svoboda and First Secretary Alexander Dubček walk with protesters in a demonstration. Keystone-France/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images 12 of 45Dubček championed the reforms of the Prague Spring and sold it as “socialism with a human face.” Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images 13 of 45Ballard/Express/Getty Images 14 of 45Daily Mirror/Mirrorpix via Getty Images 15 of 45Residents of Prague try to pull one another out of the wreckage of a pummeling Soviet tank en route to the headquarters of the Czechoslovak Radio which was still free of censorship at this. Citizens had set up busses to barricade streets against the oncoming tanks, but to no avail. Sovfoto/Universal Images Group via Getty Images 16 of 45Getty Images 17 of 45Student protester and New Left intellectual Tariq Ali at a protest outside the Russian Embassy in London after the Soviet invasion of Prague.Ballard/Express/Getty Images 18 of 45"Fascist" is scribbled on the Warsaw Pact tanks that invaded Czechoslovakia after the Prague Spring.AFP/Getty Images 19 of 45Among the many slogans carried during Prague’s celebrations were such unusual ones as “Don’t Count Your Chickens Until They’re Hatched,” “We Want an Opposition Party,” and “Higher Salaries for Intellectuals.“Getty Images 20 of 45Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images 21 of 45The Soviet invasion of Prague prompted many protests even outside Czechoslovakia. A protester at the U.N. plaza holds up a sign that reads “To hell with tyranny.” Charles Bonnay/The LIFE Images Collection/Getty Images 22 of 45PhotoQuest/GettyImages 23 of 45Charles Bonnay/The LIFE Images Collection/Getty Images 24 of 45The Soviet’s invasion of Prague was seen by the world public as proof of its totalitarian rule. Imagno/Getty Images 25 of 45Prague citizens cheer on the Romanian state delegations at Prague Castle before the Prague Spring erupted in the streets.Sovfoto/UIG via Getty Images 26 of 45Students barricade a Prague street with a dump truck filled with sand and other vehicles, then swarm around Russian tank momentarily halted.Getty Images 27 of 45AFP/Getty Image 28 of 45Protesters in Prague set fire to a Soviet tank. Armies of tanks from state members of the Warsaw Pact, such as Hungary and Bulgaria, were involved in the Soviet-orchestrated invasion of the city. Sovfoto/UIG via Getty Images 29 of 45Soviet troops march through Prague in September 1968 and remained as a permanent presence in Czechoslovakia to deter further reforms. © Hulton-Deutsch Collection/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images 30 of 45ullstein bild via Getty Images 31 of 45Despite attempts from protesters to block the Soviet advance with vehicles and their own bodies, the tanks pushed through and left destruction in their wake.Sovfoto/UIG via Getty Images 32 of 45Other countries stood in solidarity with the Czechs. They saw the Soviet invasion as an abuse of power.Stan Wayman/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images 33 of 45Here is one such demonstration in London to show solidarity with the Dubcek administration. Staff/Mirrorpix/Mirrorpix via Getty Images 34 of 45Sovfoto/UIG via Getty Images 35 of 45The invasion of Prague was meant to crush the burgeoning liberal reforms from taking over and to give back control to the Soviet Union.AFP/Getty Images 36 of 45Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images 37 of 45Bill Ray/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images 38 of 45AFP/Getty Images 39 of 45The first public reappearance of Communist Party Secretary Alexander Dubček after his political exile following the Prague Spring as he is cheered on by a crowd of 250,000 people. Sovfoto/UIG via Getty Images 40 of 45An agreement was signed in October 1968 that the Warsaw Pact troops would partially withdraw from the country but Soviet troops remained until mid-1987.Sovfoto/UIG via Getty Images 41 of 45Jan Palach died in agony Jan. 19, 1969, three days after lighting himself on fire at Wenceslas square in Prague. He was protesting the continued Soviet occupation in Czechoslovakia following the Prague Spring.Leroux/AFP/Getty Images 42 of 45A day before the funeral of Jan Palach after his suicide protest, fellow protesters laid flowers and candles for his vigil. Palach was a student studying philosophy at Prague Faculty of Arts. Gerard Leroux/AFP/Getty Images 43 of 45Three Lions/Hulton Archive/Getty Images 44 of 45Czech residents mourn Prague Spring protester Jan Palach in January 1969 after he set himself on fire to protest the country’s Soviet occupation. Tens of thousands of people followed the coffin during his funeral. Palach had hoped to restart his nation’s push for liberalization.Gerard Leroux/AFP/Getty Images 45 of 45Like this gallery?Share it:
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44 Evocative Images Of The Prague Spring, When Czechoslovakia Tried To Escape Soviet Rule View Gallery
From January to August in 1968, Czechoslovakia enjoyed expanded liberties and economic decentralization under the leadership of Alexander Dubček after more than two decades of Soviet-imposed communism following the end of World War II.
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The Fall Of The Soviet Union, In 36 Rarely-Seen Photos
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1 of 45The Prague Spring was a brief period of political liberalization in Czechoslovakia during the era of its domination by the Soviet Union after World War II. Daily Mirror/Mirrorpix via Getty Images 2 of 45The Soviet delegation arrived in Czechoslovakia for a Communist Party summit just days before troops of the Soviet-controlled Warsaw Pact invaded the country to forcefully restrain its liberalization efforts.Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images 3 of 45Bill Ray/The LIFE Picture Collection via Getty Images/Getty Images 4 of 45Imagno/Getty Images 5 of 45Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images 6 of 45After enjoying seven months of “liberalization,” Prague saw its city run over by tanks from member states of the Soviet-controlled Warsaw Pact.Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images 7 of 45Stan Wayman/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images 8 of 45Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images 9 of 45Imagno/Getty Images 10 of 45Bloodied and bruised, students protest the Soviet occupation. Sovfoto/UIG via Getty Images 11 of 45Czech President Ludvik Svoboda and First Secretary Alexander Dubček walk with protesters in a demonstration. Keystone-France/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images 12 of 45Dubček championed the reforms of the Prague Spring and sold it as “socialism with a human face.” Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images 13 of 45Ballard/Express/Getty Images 14 of 45Daily Mirror/Mirrorpix via Getty Images 15 of 45Residents of Prague try to pull one another out of the wreckage of a pummeling Soviet tank en route to the headquarters of the Czechoslovak Radio which was still free of censorship at this. Citizens had set up busses to barricade streets against the oncoming tanks, but to no avail. Sovfoto/Universal Images Group via Getty Images 16 of 45Getty Images 17 of 45Student protester and New Left intellectual Tariq Ali at a protest outside the Russian Embassy in London after the Soviet invasion of Prague.Ballard/Express/Getty Images 18 of 45"Fascist” is scribbled on the Warsaw Pact tanks that invaded Czechoslovakia after the Prague Spring.AFP/Getty Images 19 of 45Among the many slogans carried during Prague’s celebrations were such unusual ones as “Don’t Count Your Chickens Until They’re Hatched,” “We Want an Opposition Party,” and “Higher Salaries for Intellectuals.“Getty Images 20 of 45Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images 21 of 45The Soviet invasion of Prague prompted many protests even outside Czechoslovakia. A protester at the U.N. plaza holds up a sign that reads “To hell with tyranny.” Charles Bonnay/The LIFE Images Collection/Getty Images 22 of 45PhotoQuest/GettyImages 23 of 45Charles Bonnay/The LIFE Images Collection/Getty Images 24 of 45The Soviet’s invasion of Prague was seen by the world public as proof of its totalitarian rule. Imagno/Getty Images 25 of 45Prague citizens cheer on the Romanian state delegations at Prague Castle before the Prague Spring erupted in the streets.Sovfoto/UIG via Getty Images 26 of 45Students barricade a Prague street with a dump truck filled with sand and other vehicles, then swarm around Russian tank momentarily halted.Getty Images 27 of 45AFP/Getty Image 28 of 45Protesters in Prague set fire to a Soviet tank. Armies of tanks from state members of the Warsaw Pact, such as Hungary and Bulgaria, were involved in the Soviet-orchestrated invasion of the city. Sovfoto/UIG via Getty Images 29 of 45Soviet troops march through Prague in September 1968 and remained as a permanent presence in Czechoslovakia to deter further reforms. © Hulton-Deutsch Collection/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images 30 of 45ullstein bild via Getty Images 31 of 45Despite attempts from protesters to block the Soviet advance with vehicles and their own bodies, the tanks pushed through and left destruction in their wake.Sovfoto/UIG via Getty Images 32 of 45Other countries stood in solidarity with the Czechs. They saw the Soviet invasion as an abuse of power.Stan Wayman/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images 33 of 45Here is one such demonstration in London to show solidarity with the Dubcek administration. Staff/Mirrorpix/Mirrorpix via Getty Images 34 of 45Sovfoto/UIG via Getty Images 35 of 45The invasion of Prague was meant to crush the burgeoning liberal reforms from taking over and to give back control to the Soviet Union.AFP/Getty Images 36 of 45Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images 37 of 45Bill Ray/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images 38 of 45AFP/Getty Images 39 of 45The first public reappearance of Communist Party Secretary Alexander Dubček after his political exile following the Prague Spring as he is cheered on by a crowd of 250,000 people. Sovfoto/UIG via Getty Images 40 of 45An agreement was signed in October 1968 that the Warsaw Pact troops would partially withdraw from the country but Soviet troops remained until mid-1987.Sovfoto/UIG via Getty Images 41 of 45Jan Palach died in agony Jan. 19, 1969, three days after lighting himself on fire at Wenceslas square in Prague. He was protesting the continued Soviet occupation in Czechoslovakia following the Prague Spring.Leroux/AFP/Getty Images 42 of 45A day before the funeral of Jan Palach after his suicide protest, fellow protesters laid flowers and candles for his vigil. Palach was a student studying philosophy at Prague Faculty of Arts. Gerard Leroux/AFP/Getty Images 43 of 45Three Lions/Hulton Archive/Getty Images 44 of 45Czech residents mourn Prague Spring protester Jan Palach in January 1969 after he set himself on fire to protest the country’s Soviet occupation. Tens of thousands of people followed the coffin during his funeral. Palach had hoped to restart his nation’s push for liberalization.Gerard Leroux/AFP/Getty Images 45 of 45Like this gallery?Share it:
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And if you liked this post, be sure to check out these popular posts:
The Fall Of The Soviet Union, In 36 Rarely-Seen Photos
Where Al-Qaeda Began: 48 Photos From The Soviet-Afghan War
33 Colorized Images That Capture The Endless Brutality Of World War II’s Eastern Front
1 of 45The Prague Spring was a brief period of political liberalization in Czechoslovakia during the era of its domination by the Soviet Union after World War II. Daily Mirror/Mirrorpix via Getty Images 2 of 45The Soviet delegation arrived in Czechoslovakia for a Communist Party summit just days before troops of the Soviet-controlled Warsaw Pact invaded the country to forcefully restrain its liberalization efforts.Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images 3 of 45Bill Ray/The LIFE Picture Collection via Getty Images/Getty Images 4 of 45Imagno/Getty Images 5 of 45Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images 6 of 45After enjoying seven months of “liberalization,” Prague saw its city run over by tanks from member states of the Soviet-controlled Warsaw Pact.Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images 7 of 45Stan Wayman/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images 8 of 45Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images 9 of 45Imagno/Getty Images 10 of 45Bloodied and bruised, students protest the Soviet occupation. Sovfoto/UIG via Getty Images 11 of 45Czech President Ludvik Svoboda and First Secretary Alexander Dubček walk with protesters in a demonstration. Keystone-France/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images 12 of 45Dubček championed the reforms of the Prague Spring and sold it as “socialism with a human face.” Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images 13 of 45Ballard/Express/Getty Images 14 of 45Daily Mirror/Mirrorpix via Getty Images 15 of 45Residents of Prague try to pull one another out of the wreckage of a pummeling Soviet tank en route to the headquarters of the Czechoslovak Radio which was still free of censorship at this. Citizens had set up busses to barricade streets against the oncoming tanks, but to no avail. Sovfoto/Universal Images Group via Getty Images 16 of 45Getty Images 17 of 45Student protester and New Left intellectual Tariq Ali at a protest outside the Russian Embassy in London after the Soviet invasion of Prague.Ballard/Express/Getty Images 18 of 45"Fascist” is scribbled on the Warsaw Pact tanks that invaded Czechoslovakia after the Prague Spring.AFP/Getty Images 19 of 45Among the many slogans carried during Prague’s celebrations were such unusual ones as “Don’t Count Your Chickens Until They’re Hatched,” “We Want an Opposition Party,” and “Higher Salaries for Intellectuals.“Getty Images 20 of 45Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images 21 of 45The Soviet invasion of Prague prompted many protests even outside Czechoslovakia. A protester at the U.N. plaza holds up a sign that reads “To hell with tyranny.” Charles Bonnay/The LIFE Images Collection/Getty Images 22 of 45PhotoQuest/GettyImages 23 of 45Charles Bonnay/The LIFE Images Collection/Getty Images 24 of 45The Soviet’s invasion of Prague was seen by the world public as proof of its totalitarian rule. Imagno/Getty Images 25 of 45Prague citizens cheer on the Romanian state delegations at Prague Castle before the Prague Spring erupted in the streets.Sovfoto/UIG via Getty Images 26 of 45Students barricade a Prague street with a dump truck filled with sand and other vehicles, then swarm around Russian tank momentarily halted.Getty Images 27 of 45AFP/Getty Image 28 of 45Protesters in Prague set fire to a Soviet tank. Armies of tanks from state members of the Warsaw Pact, such as Hungary and Bulgaria, were involved in the Soviet-orchestrated invasion of the city. Sovfoto/UIG via Getty Images 29 of 45Soviet troops march through Prague in September 1968 and remained as a permanent presence in Czechoslovakia to deter further reforms. © Hulton-Deutsch Collection/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images 30 of 45ullstein bild via Getty Images 31 of 45Despite attempts from protesters to block the Soviet advance with vehicles and their own bodies, the tanks pushed through and left destruction in their wake.Sovfoto/UIG via Getty Images 32 of 45Other countries stood in solidarity with the Czechs. They saw the Soviet invasion as an abuse of power.Stan Wayman/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images 33 of 45Here is one such demonstration in London to show solidarity with the Dubcek administration. Staff/Mirrorpix/Mirrorpix via Getty Images 34 of 45Sovfoto/UIG via Getty Images 35 of 45The invasion of Prague was meant to crush the burgeoning liberal reforms from taking over and to give back control to the Soviet Union.AFP/Getty Images 36 of 45Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images 37 of 45Bill Ray/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images 38 of 45AFP/Getty Images 39 of 45The first public reappearance of Communist Party Secretary Alexander Dubček after his political exile following the Prague Spring as he is cheered on by a crowd of 250,000 people. Sovfoto/UIG via Getty Images 40 of 45An agreement was signed in October 1968 that the Warsaw Pact troops would partially withdraw from the country but Soviet troops remained until mid-1987.Sovfoto/UIG via Getty Images 41 of 45Jan Palach died in agony Jan. 19, 1969, three days after lighting himself on fire at Wenceslas square in Prague. He was protesting the continued Soviet occupation in Czechoslovakia following the Prague Spring.Leroux/AFP/Getty Images 42 of 45A day before the funeral of Jan Palach after his suicide protest, fellow protesters laid flowers and candles for his vigil. Palach was a student studying philosophy at Prague Faculty of Arts. Gerard Leroux/AFP/Getty Images 43 of 45Three Lions/Hulton Archive/Getty Images 44 of 45Czech residents mourn Prague Spring protester Jan Palach in January 1969 after he set himself on fire to protest the country’s Soviet occupation. Tens of thousands of people followed the coffin during his funeral. Palach had hoped to restart his nation’s push for liberalization.Gerard Leroux/AFP/Getty Images 45 of 45Like this gallery?Share it:
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And if you liked this post, be sure to check out these popular posts:
The Fall Of The Soviet Union, In 36 Rarely-Seen Photos
Where Al-Qaeda Began: 48 Photos From The Soviet-Afghan War
33 Colorized Images That Capture The Endless Brutality Of World War II’s Eastern Front
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1 of 45The Prague Spring was a brief period of political liberalization in Czechoslovakia during the era of its domination by the Soviet Union after World War II. Daily Mirror/Mirrorpix via Getty Images 2 of 45The Soviet delegation arrived in Czechoslovakia for a Communist Party summit just days before troops of the Soviet-controlled Warsaw Pact invaded the country to forcefully restrain its liberalization efforts.Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images 3 of 45Bill Ray/The LIFE Picture Collection via Getty Images/Getty Images 4 of 45Imagno/Getty Images 5 of 45Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images 6 of 45After enjoying seven months of “liberalization,” Prague saw its city run over by tanks from member states of the Soviet-controlled Warsaw Pact.Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images 7 of 45Stan Wayman/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images 8 of 45Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images 9 of 45Imagno/Getty Images 10 of 45Bloodied and bruised, students protest the Soviet occupation. Sovfoto/UIG via Getty Images 11 of 45Czech President Ludvik Svoboda and First Secretary Alexander Dubček walk with protesters in a demonstration. Keystone-France/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images 12 of 45Dubček championed the reforms of the Prague Spring and sold it as “socialism with a human face.” Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images 13 of 45Ballard/Express/Getty Images 14 of 45Daily Mirror/Mirrorpix via Getty Images 15 of 45Residents of Prague try to pull one another out of the wreckage of a pummeling Soviet tank en route to the headquarters of the Czechoslovak Radio which was still free of censorship at this. Citizens had set up busses to barricade streets against the oncoming tanks, but to no avail. Sovfoto/Universal Images Group via Getty Images 16 of 45Getty Images 17 of 45Student protester and New Left intellectual Tariq Ali at a protest outside the Russian Embassy in London after the Soviet invasion of Prague.Ballard/Express/Getty Images 18 of 45"Fascist” is scribbled on the Warsaw Pact tanks that invaded Czechoslovakia after the Prague Spring.AFP/Getty Images 19 of 45Among the many slogans carried during Prague’s celebrations were such unusual ones as “Don’t Count Your Chickens Until They’re Hatched,” “We Want an Opposition Party,” and “Higher Salaries for Intellectuals.“Getty Images 20 of 45Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images 21 of 45The Soviet invasion of Prague prompted many protests even outside Czechoslovakia. A protester at the U.N. plaza holds up a sign that reads “To hell with tyranny.” Charles Bonnay/The LIFE Images Collection/Getty Images 22 of 45PhotoQuest/GettyImages 23 of 45Charles Bonnay/The LIFE Images Collection/Getty Images 24 of 45The Soviet’s invasion of Prague was seen by the world public as proof of its totalitarian rule. Imagno/Getty Images 25 of 45Prague citizens cheer on the Romanian state delegations at Prague Castle before the Prague Spring erupted in the streets.Sovfoto/UIG via Getty Images 26 of 45Students barricade a Prague street with a dump truck filled with sand and other vehicles, then swarm around Russian tank momentarily halted.Getty Images 27 of 45AFP/Getty Image 28 of 45Protesters in Prague set fire to a Soviet tank. Armies of tanks from state members of the Warsaw Pact, such as Hungary and Bulgaria, were involved in the Soviet-orchestrated invasion of the city. Sovfoto/UIG via Getty Images 29 of 45Soviet troops march through Prague in September 1968 and remained as a permanent presence in Czechoslovakia to deter further reforms. © Hulton-Deutsch Collection/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images 30 of 45ullstein bild via Getty Images 31 of 45Despite attempts from protesters to block the Soviet advance with vehicles and their own bodies, the tanks pushed through and left destruction in their wake.Sovfoto/UIG via Getty Images 32 of 45Other countries stood in solidarity with the Czechs. They saw the Soviet invasion as an abuse of power.Stan Wayman/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images 33 of 45Here is one such demonstration in London to show solidarity with the Dubcek administration. Staff/Mirrorpix/Mirrorpix via Getty Images 34 of 45Sovfoto/UIG via Getty Images 35 of 45The invasion of Prague was meant to crush the burgeoning liberal reforms from taking over and to give back control to the Soviet Union.AFP/Getty Images 36 of 45Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images 37 of 45Bill Ray/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images 38 of 45AFP/Getty Images 39 of 45The first public reappearance of Communist Party Secretary Alexander Dubček after his political exile following the Prague Spring as he is cheered on by a crowd of 250,000 people. Sovfoto/UIG via Getty Images 40 of 45An agreement was signed in October 1968 that the Warsaw Pact troops would partially withdraw from the country but Soviet troops remained until mid-1987.Sovfoto/UIG via Getty Images 41 of 45Jan Palach died in agony Jan. 19, 1969, three days after lighting himself on fire at Wenceslas square in Prague. He was protesting the continued Soviet occupation in Czechoslovakia following the Prague Spring.Leroux/AFP/Getty Images 42 of 45A day before the funeral of Jan Palach after his suicide protest, fellow protesters laid flowers and candles for his vigil. Palach was a student studying philosophy at Prague Faculty of Arts. Gerard Leroux/AFP/Getty Images 43 of 45Three Lions/Hulton Archive/Getty Images 44 of 45Czech residents mourn Prague Spring protester Jan Palach in January 1969 after he set himself on fire to protest the country’s Soviet occupation. Tens of thousands of people followed the coffin during his funeral. Palach had hoped to restart his nation’s push for liberalization.Gerard Leroux/AFP/Getty Images 45 of 45Like this gallery?Share it:
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1 of 45The Prague Spring was a brief period of political liberalization in Czechoslovakia during the era of its domination by the Soviet Union after World War II. Daily Mirror/Mirrorpix via Getty Images
2 of 45The Soviet delegation arrived in Czechoslovakia for a Communist Party summit just days before troops of the Soviet-controlled Warsaw Pact invaded the country to forcefully restrain its liberalization efforts.Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images
3 of 45Bill Ray/The LIFE Picture Collection via Getty Images/Getty Images
4 of 45Imagno/Getty Images
5 of 45Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images
6 of 45After enjoying seven months of “liberalization,” Prague saw its city run over by tanks from member states of the Soviet-controlled Warsaw Pact.Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images
7 of 45Stan Wayman/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
8 of 45Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images
9 of 45Imagno/Getty Images
10 of 45Bloodied and bruised, students protest the Soviet occupation. Sovfoto/UIG via Getty Images
11 of 45Czech President Ludvik Svoboda and First Secretary Alexander Dubček walk with protesters in a demonstration. Keystone-France/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images
12 of 45Dubček championed the reforms of the Prague Spring and sold it as “socialism with a human face.” Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images
13 of 45Ballard/Express/Getty Images
14 of 45Daily Mirror/Mirrorpix via Getty Images
15 of 45Residents of Prague try to pull one another out of the wreckage of a pummeling Soviet tank en route to the headquarters of the Czechoslovak Radio which was still free of censorship at this. Citizens had set up busses to barricade streets against the oncoming tanks, but to no avail. Sovfoto/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
16 of 45Getty Images
17 of 45Student protester and New Left intellectual Tariq Ali at a protest outside the Russian Embassy in London after the Soviet invasion of Prague.Ballard/Express/Getty Images
18 of 45"Fascist” is scribbled on the Warsaw Pact tanks that invaded Czechoslovakia after the Prague Spring.AFP/Getty Images
19 of 45Among the many slogans carried during Prague’s celebrations were such unusual ones as “Don’t Count Your Chickens Until They’re Hatched,” “We Want an Opposition Party,” and “Higher Salaries for Intellectuals.“Getty Images
20 of 45Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images
21 of 45The Soviet invasion of Prague prompted many protests even outside Czechoslovakia. A protester at the U.N. plaza holds up a sign that reads “To hell with tyranny.” Charles Bonnay/The LIFE Images Collection/Getty Images
22 of 45PhotoQuest/GettyImages
23 of 45Charles Bonnay/The LIFE Images Collection/Getty Images
24 of 45The Soviet’s invasion of Prague was seen by the world public as proof of its totalitarian rule. Imagno/Getty Images
25 of 45Prague citizens cheer on the Romanian state delegations at Prague Castle before the Prague Spring erupted in the streets.Sovfoto/UIG via Getty Images
26 of 45Students barricade a Prague street with a dump truck filled with sand and other vehicles, then swarm around Russian tank momentarily halted.Getty Images
27 of 45AFP/Getty Image
28 of 45Protesters in Prague set fire to a Soviet tank. Armies of tanks from state members of the Warsaw Pact, such as Hungary and Bulgaria, were involved in the Soviet-orchestrated invasion of the city. Sovfoto/UIG via Getty Images
29 of 45Soviet troops march through Prague in September 1968 and remained as a permanent presence in Czechoslovakia to deter further reforms. © Hulton-Deutsch Collection/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images
30 of 45ullstein bild via Getty Images
31 of 45Despite attempts from protesters to block the Soviet advance with vehicles and their own bodies, the tanks pushed through and left destruction in their wake.Sovfoto/UIG via Getty Images
32 of 45Other countries stood in solidarity with the Czechs. They saw the Soviet invasion as an abuse of power.Stan Wayman/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
33 of 45Here is one such demonstration in London to show solidarity with the Dubcek administration. Staff/Mirrorpix/Mirrorpix via Getty Images
34 of 45Sovfoto/UIG via Getty Images
35 of 45The invasion of Prague was meant to crush the burgeoning liberal reforms from taking over and to give back control to the Soviet Union.AFP/Getty Images
36 of 45Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images
37 of 45Bill Ray/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
38 of 45AFP/Getty Images
39 of 45The first public reappearance of Communist Party Secretary Alexander Dubček after his political exile following the Prague Spring as he is cheered on by a crowd of 250,000 people. Sovfoto/UIG via Getty Images
40 of 45An agreement was signed in October 1968 that the Warsaw Pact troops would partially withdraw from the country but Soviet troops remained until mid-1987.Sovfoto/UIG via Getty Images
41 of 45Jan Palach died in agony Jan. 19, 1969, three days after lighting himself on fire at Wenceslas square in Prague. He was protesting the continued Soviet occupation in Czechoslovakia following the Prague Spring.Leroux/AFP/Getty Images
42 of 45A day before the funeral of Jan Palach after his suicide protest, fellow protesters laid flowers and candles for his vigil. Palach was a student studying philosophy at Prague Faculty of Arts. Gerard Leroux/AFP/Getty Images
43 of 45Three Lions/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
44 of 45Czech residents mourn Prague Spring protester Jan Palach in January 1969 after he set himself on fire to protest the country’s Soviet occupation. Tens of thousands of people followed the coffin during his funeral. Palach had hoped to restart his nation’s push for liberalization.Gerard Leroux/AFP/Getty Images
45 of 45Like this gallery?Share it:
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44 Evocative Images Of The Prague Spring, When Czechoslovakia Tried To Escape Soviet Rule View Gallery
44 Evocative Images Of The Prague Spring, When Czechoslovakia Tried To Escape Soviet Rule View Gallery
44 Evocative Images Of The Prague Spring, When Czechoslovakia Tried To Escape Soviet Rule View Gallery
44 Evocative Images Of The Prague Spring, When Czechoslovakia Tried To Escape Soviet Rule View Gallery
44 Evocative Images Of The Prague Spring, When Czechoslovakia Tried To Escape Soviet Rule
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Known as the Prague Spring, this brief period of self-determination was short-lived after more than half a million Warsaw Pact troops were dispatched by the Soviet Union to reverse reforms and purge leaders who had instituted political changes.
The Conditions For The Prague Spring
Walter Sanders/The LIFE Picture Collection via Getty Images/Getty ImagesA parade of Soviet troops in Czechoslovakia after World War II. 1948.
Once World War II came to an end on Sept. 2, 1945, the world was left with a daunting new project: rebuilding much of Europe and Asia in the wake of destruction.
It was decided that Germany would be divided between the Americans, British, French, and Soviets, and that a committee would determine how the former Nazi state would atone for its actions. It was believed that Germany had to be divided so as not to pose a military threat. As such, the east side of the country was controlled by the Soviet Union while the west side went to the United States, United Kingdom, and France.
Meanwhile, the Soviets planned to establish a buffer zone of pro-Soviet countries in order to protect itself against Germany. This conglomeration of countries was known as the Eastern Bloc and it would come to include East Germany, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, and Albania.
While other Allies were not so comfortable with the idea of the Soviets expanding their influence in this way, they nonetheless agreed to Soviet occupation of Poland, Finland, Romania, Germany, and the Balkans if Stalin promised that he would allow those territories the right to national self-determination.
But Stalin had only loosely agreed that these countries would have this right and what exactly this right meant in the first place was never established. As such, the Eastern Bloc quickly became Soviet satellite states.
George Skadding/The LIFE Picture Collection via Getty Images/Getty ImagesBritish Prime Minister Winston Churchill during his now famous ‘Iron Curtain’ address.
On March 5, 1946, Churchill shared the stage with U.S. President Harry S. Truman to speak at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri. There, he addressed the danger of the Soviet’s sphere of influence in what’s popularly known as the “Iron Curtain” speech.
“From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the continent,” Churchill remarked poetically about the post-war division of Europe.
The tensions between the Allies and the expanding Soviet Union became the foundation for the Cold War.
Pressing For Liberalization
As the Cold War escalated in the early 1950s, both the United States and the Soviet Union solidified their relationship with their respective allies. In 1949, the U.S. and 11 other countries signed the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) as a preemptive bulwark against Soviet or German aggression.
Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty ImagesPolish Prime Minister Jozef Cyrankiewicz signs the Warsaw Pact.
In response to the addition of West Germany to NATO in 1955, Soviet Chairman Nikita Kruschev organized a military alliance called the Warsaw Pact between Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, the territory of East Germany, Hungary, Poland, and Romania along with the Soviet Union.
It quickly became clear to Soviet territories, however, that the Warsaw Pact was not so much an alliance as it was an insurance policy. The Pact worked to intimidate other territories into falling or remaining under Soviet power. In 1956, the countries under the Warsaw Pact were sent into Hungary to quell anti-Soviet uprisings and reinforce control.
Countries besides Hungary across the Eastern Bloc struggled to reconcile their personal identity with a strict Community regime. In Czechoslovakia, too, the heavy hand of Communism had strangled their economy. In the midst of an economic downturn in 1965, Czechoslovakia’s Soviet-backed General Secretary, Antonín Novotný, sought to restructure the country’s economy using a more liberal model. This inspired a country-wide call to reform other policies as well.
The Prague Spring
Sovfoto/UIG via Getty ImagesSoviet soldiers try to break through to the headquarters of the Czechoslovakia Radio but are barricaded by protesters.
Under Novotný, a new generation of Czechoslovakians arose who opposed the Soviet system. They found a leader in Alexander Dubček, a rising star in the Communist Party and a member of both central committees on the country’s Czech and Slovak federations.
Dubček began to rally support from fellow reformists against Novotný until the latter finally resigned in January 1968 with Dubček quickly named in his place.
After he took office, Dubček launched a reform program called “Czechoslovakia’s Road to Socialism” in an attempt to not only slowly democratize Czechoslovakian politics but to also revitalize the country’s stagnant economy.
The press now enjoyed more freedoms as did civilians while state controls were relaxed and individual rights expanded. Dubček described his platform as “socialism with a human face” as the Prague Spring swept across the country. While Dubček was careful to reassure Czechoslovakia’s loyalty to the Soviet bloc, the rapidity and depth of the reforms were too much Moscow to tolerate.
In July 1968, after a meeting between the Soviet Union and other satellite states, a letter was sent to Czechoslovakia that warned against the country’s continued reforms. Dubček refused to bend.
“We will keep following the direction that we started pursuing in January of this year,” Dubček responded in a televised address.
The Soviet Union responded by launching a military invasion into the country on Aug. 28, 1968, with tanks reaching the streets of Prague the same night.
Violence Ensues
More than 2,000 tanks and between 250,000 to 600,000 troops from the U.S.S.R., Hungary, Bulgaria, East Germany, and Poland invaded Czechoslovakia to put an end to the Prague Spring.
Soon, the streets of Prague, which had enjoyed at least seven months of liberalization under Dubček’s reforms were riddled with unrest.
Dubček urged civilians to cooperate with Warsaw Pact forces in a broadcast over Prague’s public radio.
“These may be the last reports you will hear because the technical facilities in our hands are insufficient,” read the last message from the broadcast at 5 a.m.
One of the first reforms during the Prague Spring was the cessation of censorship.
But the people of Prague did not heed his warning. Unarmed protesters threw their bodies into the paths of the tanks anyway in an attempt to blockade the streets from the Soviet invasion. A 1990 declassified report of the Prague Spring revealed that 82 people were killed during the occupation while 300 others were seriously injured. Many of the Prague Spring victims were shot, according to the report.
One of the first reforms during the Prague Spring was the cessation of censorship.
Former political advisor to the Czech president Václav Havel and political analyst, Jiri Pehe, remembered the protesters on the streets:
“I still remember people going to the tanks and going to the soldiers, and talking to the soldiers who did not even know where they were, they were saying: ‘This is a terrible mistake. What are you doing here? Why did you come?’”
Dubček remained defiant that the Prague Spring would survive Soviet oppression and declared, “They may crush the flowers, but they cannot stop the Spring.”
Dubček and other party leaders deemed complicit in the reforms were forcibly sent to Moscow.
Alexander Dubček’s Exile And The End Of The Prague Spring
Hulton Archive/Getty ImagesAlexander Dubček appeared a good compromise between the Soviet Union and Czechoslovakia as he had been trained in the U.S.S.R and locally opposed Novotny — until the public enjoyed too much freedom under his authority.
After being interrogated by Soviet Union government heads, Dubček was released and allowed to return to Czechoslovakia. Upon his return to Prague, Dubček gave an emotional address to the public.
He could not continue his speech without breaking into tears and then he went silent.
Czech journalist Margita Kollarová recalled the moment vividly:
Just as the Soviet curtain had broken his country’s spirit, so too had Dubček been broken.
“Like all of my other schoolmates, we were raised with this idea that the system might have problems, but that it was a humane system. This was drummed into us. After 1968, this all ended. We realized this was all lies,” Pehe added.
In January 1969, a 20-year-old student named Jan Palach stood in Prague’s Wenceslas Square, poured gasoline on himself, and set himself on fire. It was an extreme act of protest by the young Czech over the Soviet invasion of his city.
“People have to fight against evil when they can,” the badly burnt Palach had said to a psychiatrist who examined him after the incident.
Palach, who was a philosophy major, died three days later in the hospital after his self-immolation, all the while refusing to accept pain medication. His death became a wake-up call to Czechoslovakians who were desperately despaired after the Soviet occupation just five months earlier.
“After the euphoria of 1968, people had become depressed and beaten down. Palach wanted to shake them up,” said Zuzana Bluh, a student leader who helped organize Palach’s funeral.
An estimated 200,000 people mourned his death and marched through Prague during his funeral. Even today, a memorial in his honor is commemorated along with the anniversary of the Prague Spring.
The whole of Czechoslovakia mourned the suicide-protest of Jan Palach, a symbol of resistance against Soviet tyranny in the fall-out of the Prague Spring.
By April, civil unrest became such that Dubček was ousted as head of the Communist Party. He was replaced by Moscow-backed Gustav Husak, whose reign was to be far more strict. Under Husak, Czechoslovakia underwent a “normalization” period during which mass purges of supporters of the Prague Spring were implemented and traveling was restricted.
The whole of Czechoslovakia mourned the suicide-protest of Jan Palach, a symbol of resistance against Soviet tyranny in the fall-out of the Prague Spring.
Meanwhile, Dubček’s political career had come to an end. After resuming the largely ceremonial position of president of parliament, Dubček was briefly made ambassador to Turkey before he was finally pushed out of the Communist Party. He then moved to Slovakia with his wife and ended up working as a clerk in a quiet corner of the Forestry Department.
Despite the turbulent end to his work in politics, Dubček remains a hero to the people of Czechoslovakia, particularly among activists in subsequent movements such as the Velvet Revolution in 1989. But his biggest legacy will always be his persistence to usher in an era of liberty for the people of Czechoslovakia in the Prague Spring, no matter how fleeting it may have been.
Now that you’ve caught up on the brief but glavanizing Prague Spring, take a look at these vintage Soviet propaganda posters from the era of Joseph Stalin. Next, discover 31 creepy monuments from the heydays of Communism.
