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Alexander Dubcek replaces Antonin Novotny as Party leader and declares his intention to press ahead with extensive reforms. Novotny was criticized by party liberals and intellectuals for his government's poor economic performance and his anti-Slovak prejudice. Dubcek is seen as the perfect compromise candidate, acceptable to both the orthodox party members and reform wing.
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Communist Party leadership approves enlargement of the economic reform program started in 1967. Journalists, students, and writers call for the repeal of the 1966 Press censorship law.
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Public rallies held in Prague and other cities and towns in support of reform policies voice growing criticism of Novotny's presidency.
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Novotny resigns as president, after facing pressure by party liberals.
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General Ludvik Svoboda is elected president of Czechoslovakia. Svoboda was a war hero who had also served in the Czechoslovak legion at the start of the Russian Civil War in 1918.
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Action Program of the Communist Party is published, part of the effort to provide "socialism with a human face." It calls for the "democratization" of the political and economic system. The document refers to a "unique experiment in democratic communism." The Communist Party would now have to compete with other parties in elections. The document envisages a gradual reform of the political system over a 10-year period.
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A new government is formed under Dubcek. The liberalization process goes full swing. Press continues to become more outspoken in support of freedoms.
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Czechoslovak leaders visit Moscow: Soviet leadership expresses dissatisfaction with developments in Czechoslovakia.
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A number of high-ranking Soviet military officials visit Czechoslovakia to lay the groundwork for Soviet military exercises.
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Representatives of the Communist parties of the Soviet Union, Hungary, Poland, East Germany, and Bulgaria meet in Warsaw. They send a strongly worded diplomatic note warning the new Czechoslovak leaders that the situation endangers the common interests of other socialist countries.
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Negotiations are held between the presidiums of the Czechoslovak and Soviet communist parties. Dubcek argues that reforms did not endanger the role of the party but built public support. The Soviets do not accept these arguments and sharply criticize the Czechoslovak moves. Threats of invasion are made.
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The Kremlin decides on the invasion of Czechoslovakia. Commander of Soviet Central Forces stated to the assembled Soviet military leaders: "the invasion will take place even if it leads to a third world war."
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Czechoslovakia is invaded by an estimated 500,000 troops from the armies of five Warsaw pact countries (Soviet Union, Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, and East Germany) overnight into Aug. 21.
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State radio announces invasion by troops from five Warsaw Pact countries. It says the invasion took place without the knowledge of the Czechoslovak authorities. The President calls upon all citizens of the Republic to keep the peace and not resist the advancing armies because the defense of our borders is now impossible. The army is given orders to remain in its barracks and not to offer resistance.
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Crowds and Soviet troops confront one another on Old Town Square and Wenceslas Square. Tanks appear at the Museum and start firing at nearby buildings and the National Museum.
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Czechoslovak leaders sign the so-called Moscow protocol which renounces parts of the reform program and agrees to the presence of Soviet troops in Czechoslovakia.
