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1968: Soviet crackdown on ‘Prague Spring’

Dozens of people are killed in a massive military clampdown in Czechoslovakia by five Warsaw Pact countries, in August 1968.

Several members of the liberal Czechoslovak leadership are arrested, including Prime Minister Alexander Dubcek.

Since Mr Dubcek became Communist Party leader in January 1968, democratic reforms - dubbed the ‘Prague Spring’ - had been gathering pace in the face of Soviet disapproval.

In this report, originally broadcast on 21 August 1968, the ´óÏó´«Ã½â€™s Peter Dorling is at ´óÏó´«Ã½ Monitoring’s Caversham headquarters.

With the aid of a telex operator, he conducts a text interview with an unnamed opponent of the crackdown in a Prague hotel.

Originally broadcast on 21 August 1968.

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