INFLUENCE OF THE SLOVAK FACTOR ON THE EVENTS OF AUGUST 1968 IN CZECHOSLOVAKIA

The article highlights the influence of the Slovak factor on the events of August 1968 in Czechoslovakia, when the troops of the Warsaw Pact countries were introduced to the country in order to curtail the democratic reforms of the "Prague Spring". The lower chronological limit of the study is dictated by the beginning of the invasion of the troops of the Warsaw Pact countries into Czechoslovakia on the night of August 20–21, 1968. The lower chronological limit of the study is dictated by the beginning of the invasion of the troops of the Warsaw Pact countries into Czechoslovakia on the night of August 20–21, 1968. The upper chronological limit of the article is determined by the completion of the work of the Congress of the Communist Party of Slovakia, which, not recognizing the results of the Extraordinary XIV Congress of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, destroyed Czechoslovak unity in the political confrontation with the Soviet Union and laid the foundations for the "normalization" regime. The research methodology in this article is based on the scientific principles of historicism, objectivity, and systematics. The author used such special-historical methods as historical-comparative, problem-chronological, historiographical analysis, etc. The article found that the occupation of Czechoslovakia by the troops of the Warsaw Pact countries in August 1968 stopped the process of federalization of the country. The USSR, having achieved its military goals in Czechoslovakia, suffered a political defeat because it failed to achieve the transfer of power in the country to the hands of pro-Kremlin politicians. This was evidenced by the reaction of the authorities and society to the presence of foreign troops in the Czechoslovak SSR and the results of the work of the Extraordinary General Assembly of the Congress of the Communist Party of Ukraine. The author found out that in order to "normalize" the situation in the Czechoslovak SSR, during the Moscow negotiations with representatives of the Czechoslovak authorities in August 1968, the USSR used the desire of Slovaks for equality in its own interests and promised support in the issue of the future state-legal system. As a result, the "father of the federation" G. Husak, who was present at the negotiations, pragmatically changed course and became a supporter of L. Brezhnev, thus destroying the unity of the Czechoslovak authorities in their views on the occupation of Czechoslovakia by the troops of the Warsaw Pact countries and its consequences. In the interests of the USSR, G. Husak prevented Slovak communists from supporting the decisions of the Extraordinary Central Committee of the Congress of the Communist Party of Ukraine at the Bratislava congress and, as the head of the party, actively participated in the "normalization" of the situation in Czechoslovakia in the fall of 1968. As a result, the process of federalization of Czechoslovakia, despite the gradual collapse of democratic reforms of the "Prague Spring", as expected, was quickly restored.