e-Dossier: 50 Years after the suppression of the «Prague Spring»

«Have been taken under Soviet fire. Shots were directed at embassy building», the Swiss representation in Prague wired to Bern on 21 August 1968 at 11.30 a.m. (dodis.ch/50871). When, 50 years ago, troupes of the Warsaw Pact occupied Czechoslovakia in a sudden attack, the Swiss diplomats found themselves at the very center of the dramatic events.

The wave of solidarity for Czechoslovakia also expressed itself in a very generous policy with regard to accepting refugees. With its «open-hearted hospitality» (dodis.ch/50874), Switzerland became the most important receiving country in the European area.

On the occasion of the 50 years after the suppression of the «Prague Spring», the Dodis research center has compiled an e-Dossier assembling a range of historical documents from the online database Dodis.

You can find the e-Dossier here: e-Dossier

Photograph: Soviet tanks on Prague’s Wenceslas Square. The photograph showing this scene from the occupation was leaked to Swiss ambassador Campiche (dodis.ch/32516)