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Year 11
AQA

International responses to the Prague Spring

I can explain the reactions of countries in the East and West to events in Czechoslovakia from 1968-69.

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New
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Year 11
AQA

International responses to the Prague Spring

I can explain the reactions of countries in the East and West to events in Czechoslovakia from 1968-69.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Alexander Dubček's Prague Spring reforms were seen as a threat by other Warsaw Pact leaders.
  2. The USSR worried that Czechoslovakia might leave the Warsaw Pact.
  3. The USSR led an invasion of Czechoslovakia in August 1968.
  4. The Prague Spring reforms were overturned and Dubček was replaced with Gustáv Husák.
  5. The West opposed the invasion but was unwilling to fight over Czechoslovakia.

Keywords

  • Warsaw Pact - a military alliance of Eastern European countries led by the Soviet Union during the Cold War

  • Barricade - something that is quickly put across a road or entrance to prevent people from going past

Common misconception

The Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia created the risk of war between the superpowers.

The USA opposed the invasion but was unwilling to become involved in a military conflict involving the USSR and so limited its oppositions to criticism rather than taking steps to protect Czechoslovakia.


To help you plan your year 11 history lesson on: International responses to the Prague Spring, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

Students could be given a card with some information about a country / individual and then asked to predict their response to the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia. Cards could include: the USA, Poland, Yugoslavia, Dubček, etc.
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Adult supervision recommended

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This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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Starter quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
Write the missing word. Czechoslovakia was a Soviet state.
Correct Answer: satellite, Satellite
Q2.
Write the misisng word. In the early 1960s, there were frequent shortages of goods in Czechoslovakia.
Correct Answer: consumer, Consumer
Q3.
Who became leader of Czechoslovakia in January 1968?
Antonín Novotný
Correct answer: Alexander Dubček
Leonid Brezhnev
Q4.
What name is given to the period in early 1968 when Dubček introduced reforms in Czechoslovakia?
Correct answer: Prague Spring
Pargue Summer
Prague Autumn
Prague Winter
Q5.
Write the missing word. Dubček's reforms were described as ' with a human face'.
Correct Answer: socialism, Socialism
Q6.
Which of the following was not a reform made by Dubček during the Prague Spring?
beginning of a 10-year plan to make Czechoslovakia democratic
Correct answer: Czechoslovakian exit from the Warsaw Pact
end of press censorship
increased trade with the West
reduction in the powers of the State Security (StB) secret police

Exit quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
Which military alliance was made up of Eastern European communist states?
Correct Answer: Warsaw Pact, the Warsaw Pact, warsaw pact, The Warsaw Pact, the warsaw pact
Q2.
Which communist countries supported Dubček's reforms during the Prague Spring?
Correct answer: East Germany
Poland
Romania
USSR
Correct answer: Yugoslavia
Q3.
How many troops invaded Czechoslovakia in August 1968?
Correct Answer: 500 000, 500000, 500,000, half a million
Q4.
What war was the US fighting at the same time as the invasion of Czechoslovakia?
Second World War
Korean War
Correct answer: Vietnam War
Gulf War
Q5.
Why did a meeting between Alexander Dubček and the Yugoslav leader Josip Tito increase Soviet concerns about Czechoslovakia?
Yugoslavia was a member of NATO.
Correct answer: Yugoslavia was not a member of the Warsaw Pact.
Yugolsavia had stopped being communist.
Q6.
Starting with the earliest, sort the following events into chronological order.
1 - Warsaw Pact leaders put pressure on Brezhnev to put an end to Dubček's reforms.
2 - Dubček hosted a visit from Tito, leader of Yugoslavia.
3 - 500 000 troops invaded Czechoslovakia.
4 - Ordinary people built barricades to resist the invasion.
5 - Dubček is replaced as leader by Husák.

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