Warsaw Pact Invasion of 1968

On the night of August 20, 1968, Soviet-led Warsaw Pact troops invaded Czechoslovakia to halt the liberalizing reforms of the Prague Spring. Overwhelming key military, transport, and communication hubs, the invasion forcefully restored Moscow's control and led to the Brezhnev Doctrine. Though nonviolent civilian resistance emerged, the crackdown ended Alexander Dubček's vision of reform and solidified Soviet hegemony in Eastern Europe for decades.