Slovakia
21 August 1968
Invasion of Warsaw Pact troops, 20 – 21 August 1968
The military invasion to end the reform process in Czechoslovakia was the largest military activity in Europe since the end of the Second World War. It stopped the democratisation process and created conditions for its gains to be reversed by opponents. The period of ‘normalisation’ started for Slovakia and a new power elite was formed. Normalisation also damaged the emancipation gains achieved in the pre-invasion period.