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From the ArchivesPlaying cat-and-mouse with the Soviets to keep on air
In the days immediately after the Soviet invasion in August 1968, staff at
Czechoslovak Radio played a cat-and-mouse game with the occupying forces.
For the first couple of days, they managed to continue broadcasting
directly from the radio headquarters, despite the presence of tanks
outside. More
From the ArchivesShock and disillusionment: students respond to the 1968 Soviet invasion
For the younger generation that had grown up after the end of World War II,
the Soviet-led invasion of August 1968 was traumatic. The Prague Spring had
brought an atmosphere of optimism and genuine enthusiasm for change, and
all these hopes were crushed overnight. In this week’s From the Archives,
we’ll hear what students had to say at the time, as recorded by
Czechoslovak and foreign radio stations as the occupation unfolded. More
From the ArchivesWords, words, words… The United Nations and the 1968 invasion
In this week’s From the Archives we continue our look at how radio
covered the Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia in August 1968. Today we
follow the part played by the United Nations. Within just a few hours of
the tanks crossing the border, the UN Security Council met for a special
meeting to discuss what to do about the invasion. Czechoslovakia’s
Ambassador to the UN, Jan Mužík was unequivocal: More
From the ArchivesAugust 21 1968 on the airwaves
In the course of 1968 the Soviet Union made it increasingly clear that it
disapproved strongly of the Prague Spring reforms. Yet, despite mounting
tensions with Moscow, the Soviet led invasion on the night from August
20-21 1968, came as a huge shock. Today we are going to hear some of the
broadcasts from that fateful day. We start with Radio Moscow, with an
official Soviet version of events. More
From the ArchivesAlexander Dubček: hope and despair in 1968
The political reforms of the 1960s accelerated dramatically when on January
5 1968 Alexander Dubček became First Secretary of the Communist Party, the
most powerful position in the country. Dubček immediately set
Czechoslovakia on a course of economic and political reform, to create what
was described as “socialism with a human face”. Today we are going to
hear two recordings of Dubček from 1968 that show both the hopes with
which the year started and the despair which followed the Soviet invasion
in August. More
Current AffairsMuscovites faced with powerful 1968 invasion testimony
Czech born Magnum photographer Josef Koudelka’s unique collection of
photographs documenting the 1968 Russian-led invasion of Czechoslovakia
opened at the Lumiere Brothers Gallery in Moscow on Friday. At the
exhibition’s opening the photographer said he hoped the unique testimony
would help dispel the myth that the invasion of Czechoslovakia was an act
of solidarity with its people. More
From the ArchivesJiří Dienstbier remembers a fateful day
Because August 21 is the fortieth anniversary of the Soviet invasion of
Czechoslovakia in 1968 and the radio played such a central role in the
events of those dramatic days, in this edition of From the Archives we
shall be hearing the memories of one of the key journalists involved in
those dramatic events. Jiří Dienstbier was one of Czechoslovak Radio’s
star reporters at the time. Later he was to become one of the best-known
dissidents of the ‘70s and ‘80s, and after the Velvet Revolution he was
the country’s first post-communist foreign minister. On the morning of
August 21 1968, he was one of several radio journalists, playing a
cat-and-mouse game with the Soviet occupiers, as the Soviets tried to
silence the radio station. In some of the recordings that survive, you can
hear quite distinctly tanks and machine-gun fire in the background. More
Current AffairsFormer Czech TV correspondent’s book explores Russian perspective on August 21 Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia
Ahead of the 43-year anniversary of Czechoslovakia’s invasion by the
Soviet Union and her main allies on August 21, a new book offers a hitherto
little explored perspective on this traumatic chapter of Czech history.
Titled “Invasion 1968. The Russian View”, it explores Russians’
attitudes towards the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia and the trauma
that some of the Soviet soldiers involved in it experienced in its wake.
Sarah Borufka spoke to the editor, former Russian correspondent for Czech
TV Josef Pazderka, about the Russian experience of the historic event,
their view of the 1968 invasion today and what inspired him to put the book
together in the first place. More
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