Posted on 08/20/2006 7:49:39 AM PDT by mainepatsfan
This Day In History
SOVIETS INVADE CZECHOSLOVAKIA: August 20, 1968
On the night of August 20, 1968, approximately 200,000 Warsaw Pact troops and 5,000 tanks invade Czechoslovakia to crush the "Prague Spring"--a brief period of liberalization in the communist country. Czechoslovakians protested the invasion with public demonstrations and other non-violent tactics, but they were no match for the Soviet tanks. The liberal reforms of First Secretary Alexander Dubcek were repealed and "normalization" began under his successor Gustav Husak.
Pro-Soviet communists seized control of Czechoslovakia's democratic government in 1948. Soviet leader Joseph Stalin imposed his will on Czechoslovakia's communist leaders, and the country was run as a Stalinist state until 1964, when a gradual trend toward liberalization began. However, modest economic reform was not enough for many Czechoslovakians, and beginning in 1966 students and intellectuals began to agitate for changes to education and an end to censorship. First Secretary Antonin Novotny's problems were made worse by opposition from Slovakian leaders, among them Alexander Dubcek and Gustav Husak, who accused the central government of being dominated by Czechs.
In January 1968, Novotny was replaced as first secretary by Alexander Dubcek, who was unanimously elected by the Czechoslovakian Central Committee. To secure his power base, Dubcek appealed to the public to voice support for his proposed reforms. The response was overwhelming, and Czech and Slovak reformers took over the communist leadership.
(Excerpt) Read more at historychannel.com ...
Gore,Dean,Kerry,Hillary and others wept with joy at the sight of revolutionary justice being dished out to reactionaries,I'll wager.
Bump, and Thanks.
I don't know if you're kidding or not, but in the circles I travelled in that summer, reactions to Czecho certainly outed a significant number of real commies.
I'm as serious as a heart attack,friend.When you live in the belly of the beast,as do I,you don't joke about stuff like that.
Once the Soviets grabbed their share of Poland the UN would have put pressure on Britain and France to back off.
Alexander Dubcek was a socialist, but he believed in humanistic socialism. I don't believe that humanistic socialism is any more viable than the garden variety socialism.
That said, one of the joys of watching the fall of Communism in the Eastern Bloc countries was watching Dubcek return to a position in the Czechoslovak government, to work with President Havel. As part of the new government he went to the Soviet Union to negotiate with Gorbachev.
I hope after he left the Kremlin he went out to the wall to dance on Brezhnev's grave.
I did once heard of visiting Polish 'youths', on their way to Soviet Far East "Komosomol" boy scout type summer camps, that on their way through Moscow, they sliped away one night from their dorm, walked in there (around Lenin's Tomb), and pissed on a couple of those graves of Soviet leaders.
Gotta disagree with ya here.Except for Dean (whose age I don't know) all of the others are at least a few years older than me and I assure you that I recall the day vividly.I was fairly apolitical then but I remember thinking that this wasn't a good thing.
well let's see here...
The youngest is Gore.
Chances are he wasn't out of High School yet...
Dean and Hillary are about the same age. Hillary might have cared by then (she was in college) but I guess it's possible they cared...
All these people are the same age as my dad except Kerry, who is 4 years older.
Kerry was in Vietnam. I doubt he even knew what was doing on....
Dubcek return to a position in the Czechoslovak government, to work with President Havel. As part of the new government he went to the Soviet Union to negotiate with Gorbachev.
Talk about rubbing their noses in it.
Kerry was in Vietnam.
Really! Did he get any medals? I bet if he had only let people know that he was a vet he might've won.
I remember it, too. I think it was a Monday because Laugh-in on TV that night couldn't bring us out of the depression we felt at news of the invasion. It was a sad day all around.
couldn't tell ya :)
I actually think he was invading Cambodia on his own at this point :)
What's less certain is whether or not any of them were politically minded back then...but my hunch is that they were.
Considering that each and every one of them is more of an opportunist than a truly believing leftist moonbat, and yes I can show you were each and every one goes with which way the wind is blowing, chances are they were taking advantage of the popular ideas then....
And especially with Hillary and Kerry, they don't have any core beliefs except for a belief in power.
On this day in baby boomer history: the Beatles spend another day recording some of the more mediocre parts of the white album.
If any didn't, it could only be because they had not yet arrived at their present political stands.
A bit off topic, but 50 years ago this November, the Russians invaded Hungary.
I imagine it was.
bumping for later...
He was defecting to the Khmer Rouge. Like Gomez Addams, he had a weakness for all things he thinks of as French.
Should be the last ping for the day......sorry about the delayed ping to this thread.
Kerry was born in 43, Dean was born in 48, so was Gore. Hillary was born in 47, the same year as me, so these people were all at least 20 and probably in college. Kerry had already graduated from college and was serving in the Navy at the time of the invasion wasn't he? Since Gore's father was already a Senator, I'm sure he was politically minded. Hillary probably always had politics in her brain and I'm sure by the age of 20 was involved in college politics. Not sure about Dean, He was born into money, and reared in East Hampton, NY, (his father was a Republican believe it or not).
I remember watching as a twelve year-old kid. Made a big impression on me. Hated communists then, hate them now, some things never change.
Give Dean some credit. He has been of great help to the Republican party. He's about to deliver again.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.