As the Soviet Union worked tirelessly to keep
the Iron Curtain up and strong after the second world war, Czechoslovakia unintentionally
became a threat to this objective. As a satellite state of the Union, Czechoslovakia
was meant to remain a firm communist-led country, just like the rest of the Eastern Bloc… So, when a new Czech government began a process
of reform known as the “Prague Spring”, the Soviet Union quickly became concerned. In hopes of quelling these liberating reform
efforts, the Soviets reached out to their Warsaw Pact allies to plan an invasion into
Czechoslovakia and intervene. Poland, Bulgaria, East Germany, and Hungary
subsequently threw their support behind this Soviet plan - but two nations refused to do
so. Both Albania and Romania were unwilling to
join the invasion, and Romania’s Nicolae Ceaușescu went out of his way to condemn
the operation. So what made Romania so unwilling to join
the Warsaw Pact Invasion of Czecho-slovakia?... First, let’s rewind a bit so we can understand
what really happened in the Czechoslovakia “Prague Spring”... When Alexander Dubček succeeded Antonín
Novotný as the First Secretary of the Communist Party
of Czecho-slovakia on January 5, 1968, one of his main goals was to continue a process
of liberalization reforms that had slowly begun. He quickly began to rectify previous policies
to allow for more freedoms and less censorship, and wanted to establish a state run by “socialism
with a human face”. After only a few months, Dubček had revised
the constitution in favor of more civil rights, started a rehabilitation process for political
dissidents during the Stalin era, and was working toward democratizing the government
at the request of the people. These reforms were proving successful, and
this time of newfound freedoms became known as the “Prague Spring”. Dubček was highly confident in his ability
to continue these sweeping changes, whilst maintaining stability and a socialist state,
but the Soviet Union was not so sure… The drastic shift in Czechoslovakia’s structure
set off alarm bells for the Soviets and even some of their other satellite states. What would this mean for communism as a whole? And how would this affect the Soviet dominance
throughout the Eastern Bloc? Well, according to the Soviets, the effect
would be negative and therefore must be prevented. Negotiations were first attempted between
Czechoslovakia and the Soviet Union, as the latter hoped to push the former back in what
they deemed to be the right direction. These negotiations, unfortunately, failed
though, and the Soviets were forced to come to an alternative conclusion. With the 1956 Hungary Uprising still fresh
in the mind of Moscow, it seemed like the only option would be to crush a possible revolution
before it could even begin… Almost ready to take action, the Soviets now
reached out to some of their fellow Warsaw Pact allies to recruit support for their intervention
and to give a message of Unity. The Warsaw Pact was a defense treaty that
had been formed by the Soviet Union, Bulgaria, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Albania
and actually Czechoslovakia as well. Much to the pleasure of the eager Soviets,
four of these nations decided to join the cause and more or less bully their wavering
ally into complying with the rest of the Pact once again. Bulgaria, East Germany, Hungary, and Poland
were now ready to intervene on behalf of the Soviet Union and Communist Bloc as a whole,
but Albania and Romania were less willing. Albania was already at odds with the Soviet
Union over political disagreements within Albania and relating to the Soviet Union’s
post-Stalin changes. When the rest of the Eastern Bloc began to
discuss an invasion of Czechoslovakia to intervene with their politics, which the Soviets may
have also wanted to do to Albania after the latter turned down suggestions for policy
changes, Albania hit its breaking point with all of the Warsaw states. Enough was enough, and with the escalation
of tensions, Albania formally withdrew from the Warsaw Pact in September of 1968… Romania was the other country that refused
to participate in this planned invasion and was definitely not subtle about its opposition
either. The Socialist Republic of Romania had been
no more friendly with the Soviets than the Albanians were as of recent times, and their
leader, Ceauşescu, had already voiced his support for the freedoms of Czechoslovakia. After declining to join his nation’s allies
for the invasion of Czechoslovakia, Romania’s leader took his opinions public in Bucharest. Giving a speech to 100,000 Romanian people
in the Palace Square, he condemned the actions of the Soviet Unions and the other Warsaw
Pact states, calling the invasion plan a "grave error [which] constituted a serious danger
to peace in Europe and for the prospects of world socialism". He went on to further implore his citizens
to take up arms in defense of their country if the Soviets were to ever intend to do to
them what they were about to do to Czechoslovakia… The reaction from the Romanians was overwhelmingly
positive. This declaration also solidified Romania’s
developing distance from the Soviet influence and authority and showed Moscow and the world
that Ceauşescu could not be pressured into compliance. He wasn’t the only one either. In the west,
Canada, Denmark, France, Paraguay, and the U.K. and U.S. were all concerned by this sudden
incursion and requested a session of the U.N. Security Council. The Soviet Union attempted to justify the
invasion to their skeptics, saying that it was “fraternal assistance” for a fellow
socialist state. This argument was not convincing enough, and
the U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. even went as far in his condemnation as to state that,
"the kind of fraternal assistance that the Soviet Union is according to Czecho-slovakia
is exactly the same kind that Cain gave to Abel"... Despite all of these criticisms and opposition,
the Soviets and their allies still invaded Czechoslovakia. Roughly 200,000 troops in total crossed the
border on the night of August 20th. The local military didn’t respond to this
attack. Protestors continued to fight back and demonstrate
while journalists and radio stations refused to easily be silenced by the Soviets, but
they too were overpowered. Many of Czechoslovakia’s leaders were arrested
and taken back to Moscow as the Warsaw states stomped out any rebellion they left behind. Even with all of the foreign governments denouncing
the invasion, no military action was taken to stop it from happening. A week after the invasion began, Dubček was
returned to Czechoslovakia, from Moscow, where he gave a heart wrenching speech announcing
that he had decided with the Soviets to put an end to the liberal reforms he had worked
so hard for. This slowly destroyed the Dubček administration,
and by the summer of 1969, he was ousted from his position in favor of another, who helped
to serve the Soviets’ agenda… This aggressive intervention was overall a
risky endeavor for the East. Albania was lost from the Warsaw Pact, and
Romania put a heavy wedge between its own Republic and the rest of the Union and surrounding
allies. For the next two decades, Romania stood as
an increasingly independent nation from Moscow’s authority, and the reason was made abundantly
clear during Ceaușescu’s bold Bucharest speech. He was convinced that the actions of the Soviets
and the other Warsaw states were deeply flawed, for one, because he truly believed that it
was not within the ethics of any socialist state to interfere in such a way with another. He also strictly denied the dominance of the
Soviets over the rest of the Bloc, saying plainly that “no one can be an advisor”
or “guide” to another socialist state. The decisions must be made and processes carried
out by the individual state, party, and people. Romanian Leader was in favor of independence
within the Bloc, both for his own nation and for his allies. This, coupled with the fact that Romania had
already been attempting to sever some of its ties with Moscow, was enough to make Ceaușescu
refuse to participate in and subsequently condemn the invasion of Czechoslovakia. It was a brave decision at that moment, especially
given the obvious risk, that even he identified in his address, of a following Warsaw Pact
invasion into the Republic of Romania. Some critics from his own party, even commented
that the speech was an outright mistake and only invited a Soviet invasion - putting all
of Romania at risk in what was seen as a “useless” address. Not entirely useless though, the speech and
Romania’s position did bring in support and sudden friendliness from the West. The following year, U.S. President Richard
Nixon even paid a visit to Bucharest for a meeting with the Romanian president, who was
now seen as the only potential friend within the Communist Bloc. Whether Ceaușescu knew this reaction would
come from the Western world or not may have had an additional influence on his decision
to join or condemn the invasion, but either way it does appear that he would have likely
opted out of it at the very least. His strong stance of individualism within
the Eastern Bloc and his disagreement with the fundamental ethics and strategy behind
the invasion could alone be a convincing argument to reject a call to join the other Warsaw
Pact states for an intervention.
