August 1968Reputable sourceWell documented
The Prague Spring
On the timeline · around August 1968 ·
What happened
Reformist leader Alexander Dubček's attempt to build 'socialism with a human face' in Czechoslovakia alarmed Moscow. On the night of 20–21 August 1968, Warsaw Pact troops invaded and crushed the reforms. The Soviet leadership justified the invasion with the 'Brezhnev Doctrine' — the claim of a right to intervene in any threatened communist state.
Why it matters
Like Hungary in 1956, the crushing of the Prague Spring reaffirmed Soviet dominance of Eastern Europe and disillusioned many Western communists.