Word: czechoslovakias
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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After that, Katushev launched into a defense of the Brezhnev Doctrine. Western imperialists, he said, have taken to "openly supporting antisocialist forces and counter-revolutionary plots in Communist countries." The Kremlin, of course, justified its invasion of Czechoslovakia by claiming such threats existed there. And Katushev left little doubt that the Soviets would intervene elsewhere in Eastern Europe for the same reason. Quoting a recent article by Brezhnev, he said: "Our party will spare no effort in order to strengthen the cohesion of the Communist movement and will carry out its international duty...
...thousands of clandestine leaflets, Czechoslovakia's resistance leaders are instructing their countrymen on how to observe the first anniversary of the Soviet invasion. Since an estimated 75,000 Soviet troops are still inside their country, the underground leaders have prudently counseled against massive demonstrations. Instead, they intend to turn the observance into a dignified national "day of shame...
Ominous Visitor. It will also be a national day of tension. The government is making its own preparations for suppressing any defiant outbursts. In the first blatantly political arrests since the invasion, police have detained at least 50 persons for printing or distributing "antisocialist" leaflets. Czechoslovakia's Communist Party has issued stern warnings against "provocations." An ominous visitor has arrived in Prague. He is Soviet General Aleksei Epishev, chief political commissar of the Russian army and a member of the Soviet Central Committee, whose job it is to repress political dissent...
Meanwhile, Czechoslovakia's two top leaders, Party Boss Gustav Husák and President Ludvik Svoboda, are on "vacation" in the Crimea, where they have met with Soviet Party Boss Leonid Brezhnev and President Nikolai Podgorny. In all likelihood, the Russians openly pressed Husák to sign a statement formally approving the invasion; so far, he has stopped just short of doing that. But undoubtedly, they added a final warning that Moscow has ordered Aug. 21 to be a cool...
Hail of Stones. Despite the underground call for a show of only passive resistance, there is a danger that the anniversary may turn into something considerably more violent. Potentially, it is the most explosive time in Czechoslovakia since the invasion itself. After the Moscow-dictated dismissal of the liberal Alexander Dubček last April, the nation gradually sank into the depths of despair and sullenness. The factory workers who a year ago volunteered for weekend "Dubček shifts" without pay, in order to boost production, are today blatantly loafing on the job and pilfering supplies. The slowdown...