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On the night of 20–21 August 1968, the Soviet Union and its main allies in the Warsaw Pact—Bulgaria, Hungary, East Germany, and Poland—invaded the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic in order to halt Alexander Dubček's Prague Spring political liberalisation reforms. In the operation, codenamed ''Danube'', approximately 500,000 troops,〔(Soviet Invasion of Czechoslovakia ). Globalsecurity.org. Retrieved on 23 June 2011.〕 with Romania and Albania refusing to participate, attacked Czechoslovakia. 108 Czechs and Slovaks were killed and around 500 wounded in the invasion.〔(Soviet invasion of 1968 to have its own web page ). Aktualne.centrum.cz. Retrieved on 23 June 2011.〕〔 (August 1968 – Victims of the Occupation – Ústav pro studium totalitních režimů ). Ustrcr.cz. Retrieved on 23 June 2011.〕 The invasion successfully stopped the liberalisation reforms and strengthened the authority of the authoritarian wing within the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSČ). The foreign policy of the Soviet Union during this era was known as the Brezhnev Doctrine. ==Soviet fears== Leonid Brezhnev and the leadership of the Warsaw Pact countries were worried that the unfolding liberalizations in Czechoslovakia, including the ending of censorship and political surveillance by the secret police, would be detrimental to their interests. The first such fear was that Czechoslovakia would defect from the bloc, injuring the Soviet Union's position in a possible war with the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO). Not only would the loss result in a lack of strategic depth for the USSR,〔Karen Dawisha, "The 1968 Invasion of Czechoslovakia: Causes, Consequences, and Lessons for the Future" in ''Soviet-East European Dilemmas: Coercion, Competition, and Consent'' ed. Karen Dawisha and Philip Hanson (New York, NY: Homs and Meier Publishers Inc, 1981) 11〕 but it would also mean that it could not tap Czechoslovakia's industrial base in a potential war.〔Jiri Valenta, ''Soviet Intervention in Czechoslovakia, 1968: Anatomy of a Decision'' (Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1979) 3〕 Czechoslovak leaders had no intention of leaving the Warsaw Pact, but Moscow felt it could not be certain exactly what Prague's intentions were. Other fears included the spread of liberalization and unrest elsewhere in Eastern Europe. The Warsaw Pact countries feared that if the Prague Spring reforms went unchecked, then those ideals might very well spread to Poland and East Germany, upsetting the status quo there as well. Within the Soviet Union, nationalism in the republics of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Ukraine was already causing problems, and many were worried that events in Prague might exacerbate those problems.〔Jiri Valenta, "From Prague to Kabul," ''International Security'' 5, (1980), 117〕 KGB chairman Yuri Andropov and Ukrainian leaders Petro Shelest and Nikolai Podgorny were the most vehement proponents of military intervention.〔Mark Kramer. (Ukraine and the Soviet-Czechoslovak Crisis of 1968 (part 2) ). New Evidence from the Ukrainian Archives. ''Cold War International History Project Bulletin'', Issue 14/15. 2004. pp. 273–275.〕 In addition, part of Czechoslovakia bordered Austria and West Germany, which were on the other side of the Iron Curtain. This meant both that foreign agents could potentially slip into Czechoslovakia and into any member of the Communist Bloc and that defectors could slip out to the West.〔Valenta (Fn. 7) 17〕 The final concern emerged directly from the lack of censorship; writers whose work had been censored in the Soviet Union could simply go to Prague or Bratislava and air their grievances there, circumventing the Soviet Union's censorship. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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