Czechoslovakia: 1918-1968: A Record of National Martyrdom

The story of Czechoslovakia has meaning far beyond the suffering and hopes of its 14 million people. Its establishment in 1918 was a tribute to aspirations for national self-determination and democracy in Central and Eastern Europe. Its betrayal by the Western powers in 1938 at Munich was a milestone of Hitler’s march to conquer Europe. Its submersion under Communist control in 1948 intensified the Cold War. Its efforts to liberalize, and perhaps even democratize, in 1968 gave hope to the people of the Communist countries seeking freedom. Its invasion by the Soviet Union is a sign of both the depth of the crisis gripping Communism and of the grave threat Communist totalitarianism continues to present to the world.

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