Geopolitické aspekty sovětské agrese vůči Československu v srpnu 1968

• Main Author: Fidler, Jiří
• Other Authors: Hnízdo, Bořivoj
• Format: Doctoral Thesis
• Language: Czech
• Published: 2010
• Online Access: http://www.nusl.cz/ntk/nusl-299408

This dissertation examines the context of the aggressive incursion into Czechoslovakia by five armies of the Warsaw Pact in August 1968. In contrast to histographically favoured ideological conflicts, it tries to find an explanation for the whole operation by exploring basic aspects of the Soviet Union's power interests, especially on the military-strategic field. The problem in compiling this paper was a lack of primary information sources, which are still subject to the highest secrecy. In contrast, available information includes theoretical analyses of doctrinal issues in professional publications. However, I primarily used information on the practical implementation of organisational and conceptual directives, which were based on doctrinal and strategic concepts. In view of the close ties between Warsaw Pact armed forces, the basic outlines of Soviet strategic concepts can also be observed in their application under Czechoslovak conditions. Given the evident continuity of Soviet foreign and military policy from the thirties through to the eighties, geopolitical aspects of the Soviet Union's activities on the international scene can be defined. Irrespective of the ideological rejection of the terms "geopolitical" or "vital interests", Soviet political and military leadership was in principal governed by...