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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.
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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:
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MailboxMailbox
In Mailbox this week: Insight Central Europe comes to an end; listeners’
response to the 40th anniversary of the 1968 Soviet-led invasion and Radio
Prague’s broadcasts marking the anniversary. Listeners quoted: Roger
Tidy, Andrew J Popper, Steven R. Lare, Stephen Hrebenach.
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MailboxMailbox
This week in Mailbox: The 40th anniversary of the Warsaw Pact invasion of
Czechoslovakia, Joe Hewer’s memories of a 1956 trip to Czechoslovakia, a
1970 Radio Prague print to commemorate the anniversary of the liberation of
Czechoslovakia, weapons used by two Czech Olympic medallists, Kateřina
Emmons and David Kostelecký. Listeners quoted: Jayanta Chakrabarty, Joe
Hewer, Bill Smith, Steve Price.
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Letter from PragueMy parents’ ‘68
This week no topic in the Czech Republic was more dominant than the 40th
anniversary of the Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia. On August 21st,
tanks and soldiers moved in, and forever changed the course of the
country,
crushing reforms that had made life in Czechoslovakia tolerable compared
to
the Stalinist 1950s. But all too soon, the reforms came to an end. In the
weeks which followed, many Czechs and Slovaks opted to escape, among them
my parents – only a few years married. They were among the first to
leave: that same night of the 21st crossing the Austrian border in a
borrowed car – an East German-made Trabant – that would see them all
the way through to Paris. More
Current AffairsEnvironmental damage caused by Soviet troops not yet fully repaired
The Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia resulted in a permanent Soviet
military presence on Czech soil. Between 1968 and 1991 –when the last of
the Soviet troops finally left the country – they operated in 73
localities. The environmental damage they caused is taking years to repair
and has already cost billions of crowns. Jakub Kašpar is a spokesman for
the Czech Environment Ministry:
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Current AffairsCzech state honours for foreign dissidents who protested against 1968 invasion
Soviet propaganda described the invasion of Czechoslovakia as “brotherly
help” to a nation threatened by “counter-revolutionary forces”, and
the Warsaw Pact forces that occupied the country in August 1968 came from
Russia, East Germany, Poland, Hungary and Bulgaria. But not all the
citizens of those countries agreed with the invasion, and several of them
risked their lives to protest against Moscow’s crackdown. On Thursday,
nine of them received medals in gratitude from Czech prime minister Mirek
Topolánek.
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Current AffairsCzech Radio marks fortieth anniversary of Soviet-led invasion
August 21st, 2008 marks 40 years since Warsaw pact troops moved into
Czechoslovakia, crushing the reform movement known as the Prague Spring.
The invasion shocked many Czechs who came to the defence of the
Czechoslovak Radio building (now Czech Radio) on Vinohradská Street.
Dominik Jun was there in the run up to the commemoration and filed this
report.
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Current AffairsWarsaw-Pact invasion recreated at National Museum
Exhibitions have been taking place all over Prague recently to commemorate
the Warsaw-Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia on August 21, 1968. But perhaps
the biggest of all the displays was unveiled on Thursday, exactly 40 years
after the Soviet tanks rolled in. ‘… And the tanks arrived’ sees
Prague’s National Museum – to this day a symbol of the occupation –
returned to the way it looked in 1968. For one month only, a 1960’s-style
kiosk, vintage cars, and of course, a Soviet tank stand outside the museum.
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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.
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