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CZECHOSLOVAKIA. Prague. August 1968. Warsaw Pact tanks invade Prague.

The Prague Spring was a period of political liberalisation. It began on 5 January 1968, when reformist Alexander Dubček was elected First Secretary of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSČ), and continued until 21 August when the Soviet Union and other members of the Warsaw Pact invaded the country to halt the reforms.

The Prague Spring reforms were a strong attempt by Dubček to grant additional rights to the citizens of Czechoslovakia in an act of partial decentralisation of the economy and democratisation. The freedoms granted included a loosening of restrictions on the media, speech and travel. The reforms were not received well by the Soviets, who, after failed negotiations, sent half a million Warsaw Pact troops and tanks to occupy the country. A large wave of emigration swept the nation. A spirited non-violent resistance was mounted throughout the country, involving attempted fraternisation, painting over and turning street signs, defiance of various curfews, etc. While the Soviet military had predicted that it would take four days to subdue the country the resistance held out for eight months, and was only circumvented by diplomatic stratagems.

Czechoslovakia remained controlled until 1989, when the Velvet Revolution ended pro-Soviet rule peacefully, undoubtedly drawing upon the successes of the non-violent resistance twenty years earlier.

Photograph: Josef Koudelka/Magnum Photos

50 years ago today…

Never forget the horrors that come with communism.