On this day 46 years ago (1968), the Bratislava meeting of “the Six”, the leaders of the Warsaw Pact countries including the leaders of the Czechoslovak Communist Party, takes place. Among other things, the joint proclamation emphasizes that the protection and strengthening of socialist achievements in individual socialist countries are “the common international obligation of all socialist countries”. During the talks, Radko Kaska, aide to Drahomir Kolder, hands Shelest a draft “letter of invitation” appealing for assistance in the face of counterrevolution. On August 3, representatives from the Soviet Union, East Germany, Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, and Czechoslovakia meet in Bratislava and sign the Bratislava Declaration. The declaration affirms unshakable fidelity to Marxism-Leninism and proletarian internationalism and declares an implacable struggle against bourgeois ideology and all antisocialist forces. The Soviet Union expresses its intention to intervene in a Warsaw Pact country if a bourgeois system--a pluralist system of several political parties--is established (this is later referred to as the “Brezhnev Doctrine”). After the Bratislava conference Soviet troops leave Czechoslovak territory but remain stationed along its borders. Dubcek, who was a Slovak politician, made no attempt to mobilize the Czechoslovak army to resist an invasion. Learn more about the events in 1968 in our chronology at: coldwar.hu/html/en/chronologies/1945-1991/Chronology_1968.html Learn more about the Bratislava meeting on: onwar/aced/data/cite/czechoslovak1968.html In the picture below, you can see Alexander Dubček who was a leader of Czechoslovakia. He attempted to reform the communist regime during the Prague Spring: media.npr.org/news/images/2008/aug/21/dubcek200-eb15eb669f03ed2b0d64e464f903f5f334da2e31-s3-c85.jpg
Posted on: Sun, 03 Aug 2014 10:37:37 +0000
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