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| 1968 | Dubcek, Alexander |  |
| 5th Jan Prague Rep Starts when Alexander Dubcek comes to power & runs until August 20 when the Soviet Union and its Warsaw Pact allies (except for Romania) invade the country |
| April Dubcek launches an "Action Programme" of liberalisations which include increased freedom of the press, emphasis on consumer goods, and the possibilty of a more democratic multi-party government |
| May Anounces the Fourteenth Party Congress will convene on September 9 & incorporate the Action Programme into the party statutes, draft a federalization law, and elect a new Central Committee |
| June Brezhnev and the leadership of the Warsaw Pact countries are concerned about Dubcek's reforms, which they fear weaken the position of the Communist Bloc during the Cold War |
| June Bratislava Representatives from Russia, East Germany, Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, and Czechoslovakia meet in Bratislava and sign the Bratislava Declaration |
| June Russia agrees with Czechoslovakia to withdraw their troops (still stationed in Czechoslovakia since the June maneuvers) and permit the September 9 Party Congress |
| June Warsaw Pact military practice manoeuvers are held in Czechoslovakia in late June |
| 3rd Aug Bratislava In the Bratislava Declaration Russia expresses its intention to intervene in a Warsaw Pact country if a "bourgeois" system-a pluralist system of several political parties is ever established |
| 20th Aug Prague Rep Dubcek calls upon his people not to resist |
| 20th Aug Prague Rep Dubcek, who had been arrested on the night of August 20, ss taken to Moscow for negotiations, it was agreed that Dubcek would remain in office and that a program of moderate reform would continue |
| 20th Aug Prague Rep Eastern Bloc armies from 5 Warsaw Pact countries invaded the CSSR, Russian tanks ranging in number from 5,000 to 7,000 fill the streets, followed by Warsaw Pact troops ranging from 200,000 to 600,000 |
| 20th Aug Prague Rep The occupation is followed by a wave of emigration, unseen before and stopped shortly after (estimate: 70,000 immediately, 300,000 in total), typically of highly qualified people |
| 20th Aug The Soviet Press prints an unsigned request, allegedly by Czechoslovak party and state leaders, for "immediate assistance, including assistance with armed forces" |
| 9th Sep At the 14th KSC Party Congress (conducted secretly, immediately following the intervention), it was emphasised that no member of the leadership had invited Russian intervention |
| 1968 | Gernik, Oldrich | |
| Prague Rep Gernik persues a more liberal regime after the "Prague Spring" |
| 1969 | Dubcek, Alexander | |
| Dubcek is replaced as First Secretary by Gust v Hus k, and a period of "Normalisation" begins |
| 1969 | Palac, Jan | |
| 19th Jan Student Jan Palach sets himself on fire in Prague's Wenceslas Square to protest the renewed suppression of free speech |
