Archive: History | 1968 1968
Yuri Gagarin: to Prague via the stratosphere
Even after the death of Stalin in the Soviet Union and Klement Gottwald in
Czechoslovakia the 1950s remained a period of high political tension
between East and West. The Cold War was at its height; with it came the
arms race and the space race. Here is Czechoslovakia’s president Antonín
Novotný, in a New Year radio address on January 1 1958: More
Stalin and Gottwald: together in life and death
When Joseph Stalin died on March 5 1953, it sent shockwaves round the
world. In Czechoslovakia his personality cult had been almost as
overwhelming as in the Soviet Union itself. At the time of his death, work
was already well under way to build the biggest statue of the Soviet
dictator in the world – unveiled two years later in Letná Park. Stalin
had a close ally and kindred spirit in the Czechoslovak President, Klement
Gottwald, and Gottwald ignored warnings from his doctors in order to attend
his friend and protector’s funeral. Before leading the Czechoslovak
delegation to Moscow, he had a few words for his country’s citizens. More
Muscovites 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
Jiří 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
Former 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
Week of Freedom marks 20-year-anniversary of withdrawal of Soviet troops
On July 1, 1991, the Warsaw Treaty was officially dissolved and 36 years of
Czechoslovakia’s military alliance with the USSR came to an end. As a
consequence, Soviet troops stationed in the country during the 1968
invasion were gradually withdrawn – an anniversary that the Czech NGO
Opona is celebrating with a series of events entitled Week of Freedom,
starting Monday. Sarah Borufka spoke to David Gaydečka, one of the
organizers of Freedom Week about the events planned.
More
Lithuanians share their memories and regrets from the 1968 Soviet invasion
The international Mene Tekel project against totalitarianism began its
fifth year on Monday. One of the focuses this year is on the Baltic state
of Lithuania and the memories of Lithuanians who served in the Soviet
occupation of Czechoslovakia. Christian Falvey has this week’s Czech
History. More
The 1968 invasion of Czechoslovakia through the eyes of Soviet troops
August 21 marks the anniversary of the 1968 invasion of Czechoslovakia by
the Soviet Union and other communist countries. The occupation crushed an
attempt to reform the communist regime, and drove the country into two
decades of hard-line rule. What that all meant to the people of
Czechoslovakia has been looked at many times. In our special programme
today, we look at August 1968 from another perspective: that of the
occupiers.
More
Monument unveiled to Polish 'human torch' protestor against Soviet invasion
A monument was unveiled in Prague on Friday morning to Ryszard Siwiec, the
Polish man who set himself alight in September 1968 in protest at his
country’s participation in the Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia.
Siwiec committed suicide in Warsaw just weeks after the invasion and six
months before the Czech student Jan Palach made his own terrible sacrifice
in Prague. The monument was unveiled on the eve of the 42nd anniversary of
the invasion.
More
A world full of seekers: Christmas before and after the fall of communism
Exactly 20 years ago, Czechs and Slovaks were celebrating their first
Christmas for four decades without a hint of official
disapproval. While
the communists tolerated the trappings of Christmas – with Christmas
trees and traditional Czech Christmas carp in abundance – their tolerance
of Christian traditions was never more than skin deep. In the 1950s,
priests and members of religious orders were often locked up for their
beliefs, and the brief reforms of the 1960s were followed by another wave
of persecution, following the Soviet-led invasion of 1968. For this
programme I’m going to be talking to two people, who remember only too
well what it meant to be a practising Christian in communist
Czechoslovakia. They are the Protestant pastor, former Dean of the
Protestant Theological Faculty of Prague’s Charles University and former
dissident, Jakub Trojan, and the British translator Gerry Turner, who has
lived in Prague for many years and has had close links with the churches
here since before the fall of communism.
More
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