Rule czechoslovakia in the capital prague cameramen secretly shoot this footage of soviet tanks arriving to put an end to what is known as the prague spring at dawn the czech government announces the invasion and appeals to the population to remain calm and offer no resistance but in some neighborhoods like this one near Wenceslas Square predominantly young residents try to stop the tanks tension rises following the arrest of alexander dubcek the czech leader who led the reforms constituting the prague spring a large spontaneous demonstration takes place in the Late Afternoon at the head of the procession as a czechoslovak in flag stained with blood more than twenty people lose their lives the secret footage quickly reaches the west and is broadcast on television in several countries. What sparked this violent military intervention what were the consequences who shot the footage and how to get to the other side of the iron curtain on the night of august twentieth one thousand nine hundred sixty eight camera crews scour the streets of prague to film the arrival of the first warsaw pact convoys the residents of prague are quick to respond several czech flags flutter in the wind on this truck and on this one too before dawn crowds take to the streets like here on the old city square Radio Broadcasts inform listeners of recent events and not just in prague czechoslovakia has woken up to a carefully planned military occupation the invasion began the night before with the occupation of prague airport around midnight twenty seven divisions of warsaw pact troops invade czechoslovakia its the Largest Military operation in europe since the end of World War Two it numbers over two hundred thousand soldiers four thousand five hundred Armored Vehicles and four hundred airplanes an airplane lands at prague airport every two minutes. By around five am the troops occupy communist Party Headquarters in prague czech leader of xander dubcek was arrested and taken to an unnamed location. Hundreds of people soon converge at Party Headquarters to express their anger. Things escalate when news spreads that at five forty five a young man was shot and a woman injured by a passing tank. A security cordon is quickly put in place surrounding the building tanks take up position. All roads leading to prague are sealed off this map shows downtown prague with the vault of a river the bridges that cross it and the huge Wenceslas Square. Troops occupied communist Party Headquarters prague castle the official residence of czech president botha government headquarters the ministry of the interior the National Assembly and t. V. And radio headquarters several reporters have been arrested in their equipment confiscated the reporter filming on the road to prague castle narrowly escapes arrest on the right a soldier jumps down from a tank hes spotted the camera the camera man tries to hide the photographer is wearing a light colored pants carrying a camera bag the soldier confiscates the photographers roll of film but he doesnt realize that another camera man is filming the scene since Early Morning cameramen have been cautious filming from a safe distance from balconies and apartment windows helped by progress events throughout the country people listen to a radio stations secret broadcasts but calls for calm do little to stop the protests the soviet occupation has destroyed all hope of political change what will become of the reforms instigated by dubcek and his supporters the end of censorship freedom of expression private enterprise the dreams of an alternative form of socialism. Hundreds of people converge on pragues Wenceslas Square many put themselves at risk. Oh i. Moved. Relations with moscow have been tense for months but reason negotiations left no hint of a sudden show of force eighteen days previous on august the third to object to the left isnt brought his flava station together with joseph smith coffee chairman of the National Assembly and president s of all botha soviet leader leoni brush makes his entrance despite all the smiles relations between moscow and prague are all but harmonious for months politburo member alexis kosygin has been trying to bring dubcek and the czech reformers back into line todays meeting will be their last chance this footage is shot outside the train station before negotiations began to object hopes to forestall the soviet menace of military intervention but eighteen days later back in prague on wednesday august twenty first one thousand nine hundred sixty eight outside czech radio headquarters around nine am several tanks approached the building this camera man keeps his distance the crowd rapidly surrounds the arriving tanks this is the radio building several barricades are in place on vino raja on this corner and two main intersections theyre designed to stop people entering the occupied radio headquarters the crowd gets larger and larger radio headquarters are on the left the tanks are surrounded. The people climb all over them like it when says last square trying to talk to the soldiers russian is obligatory in czech schools and progress events arent shy about telling the soldiers what they think of soviet occupation more tanks arrive from whence a slow square probably called in to support those already here the crowd follows them some holding briefcases everyone heads to radio headquarters when they reach the first barricade which includes a tram and three other vehicles the tanks come to a halt this leads to a confrontation on one side the tank cannons are pointed at the tram on the other people confront their occupiers the pressure mounts despite strict orders some soldiers become nervous and start to fire into the air things threaten to escalate in the background a tank passes the barricade via the sidewalk the other tanks follow but further down the avenue a second a barricade has been reinforced the tanks cant move forward without destroying it were just two hundred meters from radio headquarters the column of tanks advances its ten forty am local residents again try to reason with the soldiers but several minutes later the mood changes when tanks become bulldozers. The tank drives against the bus wobbles the camera man moves in closer. Footage by another camera man shot from an apartment balcony a vehicle is already on fire at the barricade in the background. It is now ten fifty five am the situation has changed dramatically in fifteen short minutes the soviets continue to target the barricades drawn by the smoke in the distance reporters have come to the intersection to shoot some of the most impressive footage from day one of the occupation images that document the accompanying violence a French Television crew traveling through prague shoots this footage color t. V. Reports are still quite rare in one thousand nine hundred sixty eight longer share a dark sweater and holding a check flag this is the same young man filmed from behind by another reporter a couple of minutes ago it takes courage to climb onto a moving tank its also very dangerous for target for use of captures this image for posterity in this wordage shot a short time later we once again secret out there at work he photographs another young protester riding a soviet tank bearing a check flag more footage of crude outta his photos are smuggled out and for safety reasons published under a different name a few minutes later outside the radio building which is behind the tram beside the tram the remains of the overturned bus at the first barricade here the bus before its destruction in white letters the slogan go home in russian. These images were shot with a telephoto lens from the window of a distant building they show the destruction here is worse than farther down the avenue. Like the flag wavers earlier this man armed with a bucket and a paintbrush is risking his life a sudden ball of flame in front of the radio building a gas tank has caught fire a war like situation other city districts remain calm or at noon everything stops for two minutes of silence to honor the first victims of the invasion. Wenceslas square has rarely seemed so empty ironies abound. Here twenty three years ago czechs a celebrated the end of nazi occupation and soviet liberation may seventeenth one thousand nine hundred forty five the war in europe is over Wenceslas Square is decorated with flags soldiers of the czech first army parade proudly theyd fought alongside the soviet red army to bring six years of nazi occupation to an end the tanks used for todays parade are soviet as are the uniforms worn by the soldiers on this truck slava parties on home translates as a glory to the resistance. Just several days earlier central prague had been a war zone on may sixteenth one thousand nine hundred forty five a crowd gathers on Old Town Square to catch a glimpse of the president and fraud vanish and his wife chanukah every turn from exile in london the man on the right in a dark military uniform is the soviet ambassador hes also here to welcome them just three years later in february nine hundred forty eight the communist led government takes control of czechoslovakia. Back to wednesday august twenty first one nine hundred sixty eight near radio headquarters and the first street barricade at around one pm a military vehicle loaded with munitions explodes destroying three buildings several people have jumped from windows the task at hand quickly changes from resistance to rescue this neighborhood registers most of the casualties by the afternoon cleanup operations will begin to remove the barricades this clock has stopped at one eleven pm the precise moment of the explosion and ambulances arriving at a downtown hospital filmed for the czech army like other footage and photographs its kept under wraps until the fall of communism in one nine hundred ninety it includes statements by eyewitnesses. This is a good. Record but if you say risky. Mission is to give us this issue you know. Theres still that shes going to be sure. That theres a shift neighbors you. Just get just you. Should. Be a pretty good player. Who. Has this inside of a. Position as english is if youre president because youre just the speech of the leader of a speech. Footage shot at another hospital one of the patients is a wounded fellow camera footage taken another prague neighborhoods many of the victims are young. The number of deaths in prague on this first day of soviet occupation rises to twenty two fifteen in the vicinity of the radio building. Here more footage and sound recorded throughout the day by the french crew you know if you please i. Mean if you. Even if they understood little of the immediate context let alone the language their footage is an important document of the events. The names of these under duke check and president s will borda are often chanted and checked svoboda also means liberty. To. You. At the end of the day demonstrators arrive in Wenceslas Square bearing flags spotted with blood. The marchers sing the Czechoslovakia National anthem. Who. Was who the white helmet held in our marchers hands was worn by one of the first victims a twenty seven year old worker who was shot whom who. A curfew begins at ten pm the National Television station has closed its broadcasts banned but like their radio colleagues technicians broadcast illegally from a construction site in a suburb. Their reports are filmed with equipment like this and broadcast locally the brave crews need to be careful and also cunning soviet helicopters fly over the area searching for antennas one hundred thirty kilometers south of prague the czech military protects this secret studio state television employees prepare a news broadcast sometimes things go very badly the invading troops have destroyed this relay station some one hundred kilometers from prague these images like those shot in the prague suburb and those filmed under the protection of the czech military show resistance to the soviets and tell viewers around the world that the country has been invaded thanks to their efforts on the evening of aug twenty first millions of Television Viewers in western europe see the first images of an occupied prague they may be hazy but the message is clear the next day aug twenty second another broadcast and a front for the soviet authorities in france a news anchor summarizes initial international response. Day brazil canada. Britain the United States and france the fight of as aleutian before the u. N. Security council condemning the armed intervention of the soviet union was countries in the internal affairs of the czechs the backend socialist republic. To be sustained to take us through that the images play off each other like a ping pong match at moscow airport president s for border is received cordially by soviet leader leoni brushing if moscow wants to show the world that relations with czechoslovakia remain friendly in fact out xander dubcek was originally taken to ukraine and then to moscow this footage from the kremlin shows soviet leaders was full border and dubcek dubcek appears disheveled and exhausted. Meanwhile in prague. The French Television crew shot this one to john august twenty fifth and one says last square. Local residents have been called on to bring all activity in the capital to a standstill for an hour accompanied by the sound of sirens and car horns. But people here do not yet know the meetings in moscow will end with a total capitulation. All the recent reforms are revoked censorship restored. Czech leaders liked object progressively remove. The socalled temporary presence of soviet troops in czechoslovakia will continue for twenty years until nine hundred ninety one. Ok. Move. On. From. The to. The business off the field. Cyber attacks on company and governmental acts as a menace is growing more and more serious his companions of your is going to sign the defense and. The talent affectiva on. Thanks and security even toss a ball in the edge of the World Wide Web proof cyber crime. It spawned. Six first day in school. The first cloning less of him in the door as grand a moment arrives. Joining a regular jane on her journey back to freedom. In our interactive documentary tour of an orangutan returns home on d w dot com arena tangs. 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