Communist Purification in Czechoslovakia.

Have a little read: ... Andrej Zsoldos Mr. Osterlund 20th Century History 2003/04/30 Communist Purification in Czechoslovakia In August 1968, the Soviet Union under the leadership of Leonid Brezhnev has invaded Czechoslovakia to restore communism, to minimize western influence and to counterbalance any measures of democratization. As early as in the late 40's, under the leadership of Stalin, the Czechoslovakian officials were informed and warned not to accept the aid from the Marshall Plan proposed by the United States. The real reason that provoked Brezhnev and ignited his power to use his Soviet might, was the Prague Spring. This short era was gradually launched by Alexander Dubcek, the Secretary General of the Slovak Communist Party and the leader of Czechoslovakia from January 1968 till the invasion. The Soviet Union was technically forbidden to allow any state within their sphere of influence to turn or become democratic. After the invasion, Czechoslovakia's foreign and internal affairs were closely bonded with the Soviets', and so the Czechoslovak population felt isolated and even erased from the rest of Europe. However, towards the mid 1970's communism in Eastern Europe gradually began to lose its strength mainly thanks to the Helsinki Conference, which tackled European Cooperation and Security, in 1975. In August 1968, Leonid Brezhnev proceeded with an ideological purification on the last independent government in Eastern Europe and sought to end the cultural and economical reforms; and to crush the democratic efforts developed by Alexander Dubcek. Brezhnev however had many other motives and speculative reasons in intervening with Czechoslovakia's domestic matters. One of the major dilemmas that the Soviet Union faced during the Cold War was its struggle to monitor and to ensure that the other communist nations were running accordingly to the ideal communist system. This led to Leonid Brezhnev's unhappiness regarding the Communist Parties around the world. This was the main reason why had chosen Czechoslovakia, being geographically close and strategically advantageous to the Soviet Union. In addition, even though Czechoslovakia led its internal affairs towards democracy, its foreign affairs were "comradely" close with the Soviets, since it was the neighboring Superpower. Also many of the Czechoslovak representatives and governmental officials used to be trained and educated in the Soviet Union and therefore the government sometimes played a two-faced, or in other words a diplomatic, role. Even though Brezhnev did not really have a clear and solid motive for invading Czechoslovakia, he seemed to take advantage of the country's democratic popularity in the west. Since the Czechoslovak democrats cooperated both with native and Soviet communists, the western