Why did the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics invade Czechoslovakia in August 1968 ?
On the night of August 20 – August 21, 1968, the Soviet Union, Bulgaria, the German Democratic Republic (East Germany), Hungary and Poland invaded the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic in order to halt Alexander Dubček’s Prague Spring political liberalization reforms. In the operation, codenamed Danube, varying estimates of between 175,000 and 500,000 troops attacked Czechoslovakia; approximately 500 Czechoslovaks were wounded and 108 killed in the invasion. The invasion successfully stopped liberalization reforms and strengthened the authority of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. The foreign policy of the Soviet Union during this era would be known as the Brezhnev Doctrine.
