Milestones in the History of U.S. Foreign Relations

<!DOCTYPE html> <html data-template="pages:app-root" lang="en" data-app=""><head><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0"><meta name="description" content="history.state.gov 3.0 shell"><link href="/resources/images/favicon.ico" rel="shortcut icon"><script src="">(function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start': new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0], j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src= 'https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f); })(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-WBD65RCC');</script><link href="/resources/css/all.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css"><title>Milestones in the History of U.S. Foreign Relations - Office of the Historian</title></head><body id="body">  <noscript><iframe src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/ns.html?id=GTM-WBD65RCC" height="0" width="0" style="display:none;visibility:hidden"></iframe></noscript>  <header class="hsg-header"> <section class="hsg-grid hsg-header-inner"> <div class="container hsg-header-content"> <div class="row"> <div class="col-sm-7"> <a href="/"> <img src="/resources/images/Office-of-the-Historian-logo_500x168.jpg" class="img-responsive" width="400" alt="Office of the Historian"> </a> </div> <div class="col-sm-5"> <div class="banner__search"> <div class="searchbox"> <form action="/search" method="get" class="main-form" id="navigationSearchForm"> <p class="form-group">  <input type="text" size="15" name="q" placeholder="Search..." class="form-control" id="search-box"> <button type="submit" class="hsg-link-button search-button btn"> <i class="hsg-search-button-icon"></i> </button> </p> </form> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </section> </header> <nav role="navigation" class="hsg-nav navbar navbar-default"> <div class="container hsg-nav-content"> <div class="navbar-header"> <button type="button" class="navbar-toggle collapsed" data-toggle="collapse" data-target="#navbar-collapse-1" aria-expanded="false"> <span class="sr-only">Menu</span> <i class="fa fa-bars"></i> <span class="toggle-text">Menu</span> </button>  </div> <div class="navbar-collapse collapse" id="navbar-collapse-1"> <ul class="nav navbar-nav"> <li class="dropdown"> <a href="/" shape="rect"> <span>Home</span> </a> </li> <li class="dropdown"> <a href="/historicaldocuments" class="dropdown-toggle" data-toggle="dropdown" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" aria-expanded="false"> <span>Historical Documents</span> </a> <ul class="dropdown-menu"> <li> <a href="/historicaldocuments"> <em>Foreign Relations of the United States</em> </a> </li> <li> <a href="/historicaldocuments/about-frus">About the <em>Foreign Relations</em> Series</a> </li> <li> <a href="/historicaldocuments/status-of-the-series">Current Status of the <em>Foreign Relations</em> Series</a> </li> <li> <a href="/historicaldocuments/frus-history">History of the <em>Foreign Relations</em> Series</a> </li> <li> <a href="/historicaldocuments/ebooks">Ebooks Initiative</a> </li> <li> <a href="/historicaldocuments/quarterly-releases">Quarterly Releases</a> </li> </ul> </li> <li id="index_nav" class="dropdown"> <a href="/departmenthistory" class="dropdown-toggle" data-toggle="dropdown" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" aria-expanded="false"> <span>Department History</span> </a> <ul class="dropdown-menu"> <li> <a href="/departmenthistory">Overview</a> </li>  <li> <a href="/departmenthistory/people/secretaries">Biographies of the Secretaries of State</a> </li> <li> <a href="/departmenthistory/people/principals-chiefs">Principal Officers and Chiefs of Mission</a> </li> <li> <a href="/departmenthistory/travels/secretary">Travels of the Secretary of State</a> </li> <li> <a href="/departmenthistory/travels/president">Travels of the President</a> </li> <li> <a href="/departmenthistory/visits">Visits by Foreign Heads of State</a> </li> <li> <a href="/departmenthistory/wwi">World War I and the Department</a> </li> <li> <a href="/departmenthistory/buildings">Buildings of the Department of State</a> </li> <li> <a href="/departmenthistory/diplomatic-couriers">U.S. Diplomatic Couriers</a> </li> </ul> </li> <li id="countries_nav" class="dropdown"> <a href="/countries" class="dropdown-toggle" data-toggle="dropdown" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" aria-expanded="false"> <span>Guide to Countries</span> </a> <ul class="dropdown-menu"> <li> <a href="/countries">Guide to Country Recognition and Relations</a> </li> <li> <a href="/countries/archives">World Wide Diplomatic Archives Index</a> </li> </ul> </li> <li id="resources_nav" class="dropdown"> <a href="" class="dropdown-toggle" data-toggle="dropdown" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" aria-expanded="false"> <span>More Resources</span> </a> <ul class="dropdown-menu"> <li> <a href="/tags">Browse Resources by Subject Tag</a> </li> <li> <a href="/conferences">Conferences</a> </li> <li> <a href="/about/contact-us">Contact Us</a> </li> <li> <a href="/developer">Developer Resources & APIs</a> </li> <li> <a href="/education">Educational Resources</a> </li> <li> <a href="/about/faq">Frequently Asked Questions</a> </li> <li> <a href="/milestones">Key Milestones</a> </li> <li> <a href="/open">Open Government Initiative</a> </li> <li> <a href="/departmenthistory/short-history">A Short History of the Department</a> </li> </ul> </li> <li class="dropdown"> <a href="/about" shape="rect"> <span>About Us</span> </a> </li> </ul> </div> </div> </nav> <div class="hsg-main"> <section class="hsg-grid hsg-main-inner"> <div class="container hsg-main-content"> <main id="content"> <div> <div class="row"> <nav class="hsg-breadcrumb hsg-breadcrumb--wrap" aria-label="breadcrumbs"><ol vocab="http://schema.org/" typeof="BreadcrumbList" class="hsg-breadcrumb__list"><li class="hsg-breadcrumb__list-item" property="itemListElement" typeof="ListItem"><a href="/" class="hsg-breadcrumb__link" property="item" typeof="WebPage"><span property="name">Home</span></a></li><li class="hsg-breadcrumb__list-item" property="itemListElement" typeof="ListItem"><a href="/milestones" class="hsg-breadcrumb__link" property="item" typeof="WebPage"><span property="name">Milestones</span></a></li><li class="hsg-breadcrumb__list-item" property="itemListElement" typeof="ListItem"><a href="/milestones/1961-1968" class="hsg-breadcrumb__link" property="item" typeof="WebPage"><span property="name">1961-1968</span></a></li><li class="hsg-breadcrumb__list-item" property="itemListElement" typeof="ListItem"><a href="/milestones/1961-1968/soviet-invasion-czechoslavkia" class="hsg-breadcrumb__link" property="item" typeof="WebPage" aria-current="page"><span property="name">Soviet Invasion of Czechoslovakia, 1968</span></a></li></ol></nav> </div> <div class="row"> <div class="hsg-navigation-wrapper"> <h2 class="hsg-navigation-title" id="navigation-title">Milestones: 1961–1968</h2> </div> </div> <div class="row"> <a data-doc="1961-1968.xml" data-root="1.4.4.22" data-current="1.4.4.24" class="page-nav nav-prev" data-template="pages:navigation-link" data-template-direction="previous" href="/milestones/1961-1968/tet"> <i class="glyphicon glyphicon-chevron-left"></i> </a> <a data-doc="1961-1968.xml" data-root="1.4.4.26" data-current="1.4.4.24" class="page-nav nav-next" data-template="pages:navigation-link" data-template-direction="next" href="/milestones/1961-1968/npt"> <i class="glyphicon glyphicon-chevron-right"></i> </a> <div class="hsg-width-main"> <div id="content-inner"> <div id="content-container"> <div class="alert alert-danger" role="alert"> <strong>NOTE TO READERS</strong> <br> “Milestones in the History of U.S. Foreign Relations” has been retired and is no longer maintained. For more information, please see <a href="/milestones">the full notice</a>.</div> <div class="content"><div class="tei-div3" id="soviet-invasion-czechoslavkia"> <h1 class="tei-head7">Soviet Invasion of Czechoslovakia, <span class="tei-date">1968</span> </h1> <p class="tei-p3">On <span class="tei-date">August 20, 1968</span>, the Soviet Union led <a href="/milestones/1953-1960/warsaw-treaty">Warsaw Pact</a> troops in an invasion of <span class="tei-placeName">Czechoslovakia</span> to crack down on reformist trends in <span class="tei-placeName">Prague</span>. Although the Soviet Union’s action successfully halted the pace of reform in Czechoslovakia, it had unintended consequences for the unity of the communist bloc.</p> <div class="tei-figure2"> <img src="https://static.history.state.gov/milestones/prague.jpg" class="tei-graphic" title=""> <div class="tei-head1">Czech youths holding Czechoslovakian ﬂags stand atop of an overturned truck as other Prague residents surround Soviet tanks in downtown Prague on Aug. 21, 1968. (AP Photo/Libor Hajsky/CTK)</div> </div> <p class="tei-p3">Before the <a href="/milestones/1937-1945">Second World War</a>, the nation of Czechoslovakia had been a strong democracy in <span class="tei-placeName">Central Europe</span>, but beginning in the mid 1930s it faced challenges from both the West and the East. In 1938, the leadership in <span class="tei-placeName">Great Britain</span> and <span class="tei-placeName">France</span> conceded the German right to takeover the <span class="tei-placeName">Sudetenland</span> in the Munich Agreement, but the Czech government condemned this German occupation of its western-most territory as a betrayal. In 1948, Czech attempts to join the U.S.-sponsored <a href="/milestones/1945-1952/marshall-plan">Marshall Plan</a> to aid postwar rebuilding were thwarted by Soviet takeover and the installation of a new communist government in Prague. For the next twenty years, Czechoslovakia remained a stable state within the Soviet sphere of influence; unlike in Hungary or Poland, even the rise of de-Stalinization after 1953 did not lead to liberalization by the fundamentally conservative Czech government.</p> <p class="tei-p3">In the 1960s, however, changes in the leadership in <span class="tei-placeName">Prague</span> led to a series of reforms to soften or humanize the application of communist doctrines within Czech borders. The Czech economy had been slowing since the early 1960s, and cracks were emerging in the communist consensus as workers struggled against new challenges. The government responded with reforms designed to improve the economy. In early 1968, conservative leader <span class="tei-persName">Antonin Novotny</span> was ousted as the head of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, and he was replaced by <span class="tei-persName">Alexander Dubcek</span>. The Dubcek government ended censorship in early 1968, and the acquisition of this freedom resulted in a public expression of broad-based support for reform and a public sphere in which government and party policies could be debated openly. In April, the Czech Government issued a formal plan for further reforms, although it tried to liberalize within the existing framework of the Marxist-Leninist State and did not propose a revolutionary overhaul of the political and economic systems. As conflicts emerged between those calling for further reforms and conservatives alarmed by how far the liberalization process had gone, Dubcek struggled to maintain control. </p> <p class="tei-p3">Soviet leaders were concerned over these recent developments in Czechoslovakia. Recalling the 1956 uprising in Hungary, leaders in <span class="tei-placeName">Moscow</span> worried that if Czechoslovakia carried reforms too far, other satellite states in <span class="tei-placeName">Eastern Europe</span> might follow, leading to a widespread rebellion against Moscow’s leadership of the Eastern Bloc. There was also a danger that the Soviet Republics in the East, such as the <span class="tei-placeName">Ukraine</span>, <span class="tei-placeName">Lithuania</span>, <span class="tei-placeName">Latvia</span>, and <span class="tei-placeName">Estonia</span> might make their own demands for more liberal policies. After much debate, the Communist Party leadership in Moscow decided to intervene to establish a more conservative and pro-Soviet government in Prague.</p> <p class="tei-p3">The Warsaw Pact invasion of <span class="tei-date">August 20–21</span> caught Czechoslovakia and much of the Western world by surprise. In anticipation of the invasion, the Soviet Union had moved troops from the Soviet Union, along with limited numbers of troops from <span class="tei-placeName">Hungary</span>, <span class="tei-placeName">Poland</span>, <span class="tei-placeName">East Germany</span> and <span class="tei-placeName">Bulgaria</span> into place by announcing Warsaw Pact military exercises. When these forces did invade, they swiftly took control of Prague, other major cities, and communication and transportation links. Given the escalating U.S. involvement in the conflict in Vietnam as well as past U.S. pronouncements on non-intervention in the East Bloc, the Soviets guessed correctly that the United States would condemn the invasion but refrain from intervening. Although the Soviet crackdown on Czechoslovakia was swift and successful, small-scale resistance continued throughout early 1969 while the Soviets struggled to install a stable government. Finally, in April of 1969, the Soviets forced Dubcek from power in favor of a more conservative administrator. In the years that followed, the new leadership reestablished government censorship and controls preventing freedom of movement, but it also improved economic conditions, eliminating one of the sources for revolutionary fervor. Czechoslovakia once again became a cooperative member of the Warsaw Pact.</p> <p class="tei-p3">The Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia was significant in the sense that it delayed the splintering of Eastern European Communism and was concluded without provoking any direct intervention from the West. Repeated efforts in the UN Security Council to pass a resolution condemning the attacks met with opposition from the Soviet Union, and the effort finally died away. The invasion did, however, temporarily derail progress toward détente between the Soviet Union and the United States. The NATO allies valued the idea of a lessening of tensions, and as a result they were determined not to intervene. Still, the invasion forced U.S. President <span class="tei-persName">Lyndon B. Johnson</span> to cancel a summit meeting with Soviet leader <span class="tei-persName">Leonid Brezhnev</span>. Although Brezhnev knew this was the most likely outcome of the invasion, he considered maintaining Soviet control in the East Bloc a higher priority in the short-term than pursuing détente with the West. As it turned out, the progress on arms control agreements were only delayed by a few years in the aftermath of the Prague Spring. </p> <p class="tei-p3">There were also long-term consequences. After the invasion, the Soviet leadership justified the use of force in Prague under what would become known as the Brezhnev Doctrine, which stated that Moscow had the right to intervene in any country where a communist government had been threatened. This doctrine, established to justify Soviet action in Czechoslovakia, also became the primary justification for the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, and even before that it helped to finalize the Sino-Soviet split, as Beijing feared that the Soviet Union would use the doctrine as a justification to invade or interfere with Chinese communism. Because the United States interpreted the Brezhnev Doctrine and the history of Soviet interventions in Europe as defending established territory, not expanding Soviet power, the aftermath of the Czech crisis also lent support to voices in the U.S. Congress calling for a reduction in U.S. military forces in Europe. </p> </div></div> </div> </div> </div>  <div class="hsg-width-sidebar"><aside class="hsg-aside--static"> <div><div class="hsg-panel"><div class="hsg-panel-heading"><h2 class="hsg-sidebar-title">Table of Contents</h2></div><ul class="hsg-list-group"><li class="hsg-list-group-item"><a href="/milestones/1961-1968/foreword" class="" id="toc-foreword"> <span class="tei-date">1961–1968</span>: The Presidencies of John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson</a></li><li class="hsg-list-group-item"><a href="/milestones/1961-1968/laos-crisis" class="" id="toc-laos-crisis">The Laos Crisis, 1960–1963</a></li><li class="hsg-list-group-item"><a href="/milestones/1961-1968/congo-decolonization" class="" id="toc-congo-decolonization">The Congo, Decolonization, and the Cold War, 1960–1965</a></li><li class="hsg-list-group-item"><a href="/milestones/1961-1968/pl-480" class="" id="toc-pl-480">USAID and PL–480, 1961–1969</a></li><li class="hsg-list-group-item"><a href="/milestones/1961-1968/bay-of-pigs" class="" id="toc-bay-of-pigs">The Bay of Pigs Invasion and its Aftermath, April 1961–October 1962</a></li><li class="hsg-list-group-item"><a href="/milestones/1961-1968/cuban-missile-crisis" class="" id="toc-cuban-missile-crisis">The Cuban Missile Crisis, October 1962 </a></li><li class="hsg-list-group-item"><a href="/milestones/1961-1968/alliance-for-progress" class="" id="toc-alliance-for-progress">Alliance for Progress and Peace Corps, <span class="tei-date">1961–1969</span> </a></li><li class="hsg-list-group-item"><a href="/milestones/1961-1968/limited-ban" class="" id="toc-limited-ban">The Limited Test Ban Treaty, <span class="tei-date">1963</span> </a></li><li class="hsg-list-group-item"><a href="/milestones/1961-1968/gulf-of-tonkin" class="" id="toc-gulf-of-tonkin">U.S. Involvement in the Vietnam War: the Gulf of Tonkin and Escalation, <span class="tei-date">1964</span> </a></li><li class="hsg-list-group-item"><a href="/milestones/1961-1968/india-pakistan-war" class="" id="toc-india-pakistan-war">The India-Pakistan War of <span class="tei-date">1965</span> </a></li><li class="hsg-list-group-item"><a href="/milestones/1961-1968/arab-israeli-war-1967" class="" id="toc-arab-israeli-war-1967">The 1967 Arab-Israeli War</a></li><li class="hsg-list-group-item"><a href="/milestones/1961-1968/tet" class="" id="toc-tet">U.S. Involvement in the Vietnam War: The Tet Offensive, <span class="tei-date">1968</span> </a></li><li class="hsg-list-group-item"><a href="/milestones/1961-1968/soviet-invasion-czechoslavkia" class="highlight" id="toc-soviet-invasion-czechoslavkia">Soviet Invasion of Czechoslovakia, <span class="tei-date">1968</span> </a></li><li class="hsg-list-group-item"><a href="/milestones/1961-1968/npt" class="" id="toc-npt">The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), <span class="tei-date">1968</span> </a></li></ul></div></div> </aside><aside id="sections" class="hsg-aside--section"><div class="hsg-panel"><div class="hsg-panel-heading"><h2 class="hsg-sidebar-title">Milestones</h2></div><ul class="hsg-list-group"><li class="hsg-list-group-item"><a href="/milestones/all"><span property="name">All</span></a></li></ul></div></aside></div> </div> </div> </main>  </div> </section> </div> <footer class="hsg-footer"> <section class="hsg-grid hsg-footer-top"> <div class="container"> <nav class="row"> <ul class="hsg-footer-list"> <h4>Learn more</h4> <li> <a href="/">Home</a> </li> <li> <a href="/search">Search</a> </li> <li> <a href="/about/faq">FAQ</a> </li> </ul> <ul class="hsg-footer-list"> <h4>Topics</h4> <li> <a href="/historicaldocuments/">Historical Documents</a> </li> <li> <a href="/departmenthistory/">Department History</a> </li> <li> <a href="/countries/">Countries</a> </li> </ul> <ul class="hsg-footer-list"> <h4>Contact</h4> <li> <a href="/about/">About Us</a> </li> <li> <a href="/about/contact-us">Contact Us</a> </li> </ul> <ul class="hsg-footer-list"> <h4>Policies</h4> <li> <a href="https://www.state.gov/section-508-accessibility-statement/">Accessibility Statement</a> </li> <li> <a href="https://www.state.gov/privacy-policy/">Privacy Policy</a> </li> <li> <a href="https://www.state.gov/external-link-policy-and-disclaimers/">External Link Policy</a> </li> <li> <a href="https://www.state.gov/copyright-information/">Copyright Information</a> </li> <li> <a href="/about/content-warning">Content Warning</a> </li> </ul> </nav> </div> </section> <section class="hsg-grid hsg-footer-bottom"> <div class="container"> <div class="row"> <address class="col-xs-12 col-sm-12 col-md-12"> <h4>Office of the Historian, Foreign Service Institute <br> <a href="https://www.state.gov">United States Department of State</a></h4> <p> <a href="mailto:history@state.gov">history@state.gov</a> </p> <p>Phone: 202-955-0200</p> <p>Fax: 202-955-0268</p> </address> </div> </div> </section> <section class="hsg-grid hsg-footer-nether"> <div class="container"> <div class="row"> <p><a href="mailto:history@state.gov?subject=Error%20on%20page%20%60%2Fexist%2Fapps%2Fhsg-shell%2Fmilestones%2F1961-1968%2Fsoviet-invasion-czechoslavkia%60&body=%0D%0A_________________________________________________________%0D%0APlease%20provide%20any%20additional%20information%20above%20this%20line%0D%0A%0D%0ARequested%20URL%3A%0D%0A%09https%3A%2F%2Fhistory.state.gov%2Fexist%2Fapps%2Fhsg-shell%2Fmilestones%2F1961-1968%2Fsoviet-invasion-czechoslavkia%0D%0A%0D%0AParameters%3A%0D%0A%09publication-id%3A%20%20milestones%0D%0A%09section-id%3A%20%20soviet-invasion-czechoslavkia%0D%0A%09x-method%3A%20%20get%0D%0A%09document-id%3A%20%201961-1968">Report an issue on this page</a></p> </div> </div> </section> </footer> <script src="/resources/scripts/app.all.js" type="text/javascript" async id="cite-script"></script>  <script async src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=G-GWKX1LXFD1"></script> <script> window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer ||[]; function gtag() { dataLayer.push(arguments); } gtag('js', new Date()); gtag('config', 'G-GWKX1LXFD1'); </script>  <script type="text/javascript" async src="https://dap.digitalgov.gov/Universal-Federated-Analytics-Min.js?agency=DOS" id="_fed_an_ua_tag"></script>  </body></html>

CINXE.COM

Milestones in the History of U.S. Foreign Relations - Office of the Historian