Following the fall of the Iron Curtain Soviet troops started to leave Europe. Czechoslovakia, as it then still was, was happy that the ‘temporary deployment’ of Soviet troops was coming to an end.

This article looks at the intent behind the occupation, and the events leading up to the Soviet’s departure.

Deployment or occupation?

On 5 January 1968, Alexandre Dubček became first secretary of the Czechoslovak Communist Party¹. He started a programme of reforms dubbed the Prague Spring². He granted the press freedom of expression, and rehabilitated victims of political purges³. He wanted to offer what he called “socialism with a human face,”⁴ to the delighted Czechoslovaks. They wanted more change and faster but Dubček insisted on a steady pace of reform⁵.

The Soviet Union and other Warsaw Pact countries considered them counter-revolutionary⁶. They wrote to Dubček on 15 July warning him that they felt it their duty to protect Czechoslovakia from these ideas⁷.

On the evening of 20 August, 250 000⁸ Soviet-led armed forces invaded Czechoslovakia⁹ from the south, east and north¹⁰.

The Soviets called this a “temporary deployment” of Soviet troops¹¹. This must be one of history’s greatest understatements.

Pulling out

On 26 February 1990, Czechoslovak President Vaclav Havel and Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev agreed the total withdrawal of Soviet troops from Czechoslovakia¹².

Soldiers, many of whom were frail, underfed and unhappy¹³, started pulling out on the same day at 14:40¹⁴.

Repatriating 75 000 troops and equipment was no mean feat. Convoys left twice a day until the Soviets stripped 83 garrisons and countless military zones of anything of value¹⁵. They took bathroom fittings, light switches and even the doors¹⁶.

Czechoslovak railwaymen worked overtime for free to run seven additional trains per day¹⁷. In total the Soviets repatriated^{18 19}:

• 75 000 troops, and their families.
• 2 505 BMP armoured carriers
• 1 220 T-62 tanks.
• 77 combat aircraft.
• 146 helicopters.

Despite promises to leave the sites ‘ecologically pure’, the clean up of these locations still continues²⁰.

References

1. Prague Spring; Britannica.com; 2018-03-07[↩]
2. Prague Spring; Britannica.com; 2018-03-07[↩]
3. Prague Spring; Britannica.com; 2018-03-07[↩]
4. Prague Spring; Britannica.com; 2018-03-07[↩]
5. Prague Spring; Britannica.com; 2018-03-07[↩]
6. Czechoslovak history; Britannica.com; 2016-03-07[↩]
7. Czechoslovak history; Britannica.com; 2016-03-07[↩]
8. A Look Back … The Prague Spring & the Soviet Invasion of Czechoslovakia; Central Intelligence Agency; 2013-04-30[↩]
9. Czechoslovak history; Britannica.com; 2016-03-07[↩]
10. A Look Back … The Prague Spring & the Soviet Invasion of Czechoslovakia; Central Intelligence Agency; 2013-04-30[↩]
11. 26 Feb 1990: Soviet troops begin pulling out of Czechoslovakia, decades after a ‘temporary deployment’; Czech Radio; 2020-02-26[↩]
12. 26 Feb 1990: Soviet troops begin pulling out of Czechoslovakia, decades after a ‘temporary deployment’; Czech Radio; 2020-02-26[↩]
13. Soviet Troops Begin Czech Pullout; All to Leave by ’91; Los Angeles Times; 1990-02-27[↩]
14. 26 Feb 1990: Soviet troops begin pulling out of Czechoslovakia, decades after a ‘temporary deployment’; Czech Radio; 2020-02-26[↩]
15. 26 Feb 1990: Soviet troops begin pulling out of Czechoslovakia, decades after a ‘temporary deployment’; Czech Radio; 2020-02-26[↩]
16. Soviet Troops Begin Czech Pullout; All to Leave by ’91; Los Angeles Times; 1990-02-27[↩]
17. The Pull—out of Soviet Troops from Czechoslovakia; Jiří Šedivý; Perspectives Winter 1993/1994[↩]
18. 26 Feb 1990: Soviet troops begin pulling out of Czechoslovakia, decades after a ‘temporary deployment’; Czech Radio; 2020-02-26[↩]
19. Soviet Troop Withdrawal from Czechoslovakia Begins; Associated Press; 1990-02-26[↩]
20. 26 Feb 1990: Soviet troops begin pulling out of Czechoslovakia, decades after a ‘temporary deployment’; Czech Radio; 2020-02-26[↩]

Remember: links were correct at time of publication.