GCSE History | The Cold War and the Invasion Of Czechoslovakia

History Quiz - Cold War: 1963-1969 - The Invasion Of Czechoslovakia (Questions)

Explore the Prague Spring of 1968, when reforms in Czechoslovakia challenged Soviet control and the Cold War superpowers watched closely as tanks rolled into Prague.

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Fascinating Fact:

The period of reform is called the Prague Spring. Many Czechs and Slovaks hoped for a fairer and more open form of communism.

In GCSE History, this topic explores why reforms began in Czechoslovakia in 1968, how the Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact forces responded, and what the invasion revealed about Cold War power.

Key Terms

Prague Spring: A period of political reform in Czechoslovakia in 1968, led by Alexander Dub?ek, aiming to relax censorship and increase personal freedoms.
Brezhnev Doctrine: A Soviet policy that claimed the USSR could intervene in any communist country if its actions threatened socialism in the wider bloc.
Warsaw Pact: A military alliance of communist states in Eastern Europe, led by the Soviet Union, formed to counter NATO during the Cold War.

Frequently Asked Questions (Click to see answers)

What was the Prague Spring in Czechoslovakia in 1968?

The Prague Spring was a series of reforms introduced in Czechoslovakia in 1968 that tried to create a more liberal, democratic style of communism, including freer media and more debate.

Why did the Soviet Union invade Czechoslovakia in 1968?

The Soviet Union invaded because leaders in Moscow feared that Czechoslovakia’s reforms would weaken communist control, spread to other states, and damage Soviet authority in Eastern Europe.

How should I revise the invasion of Czechoslovakia for GCSE History?

For revision, learn the causes, the main events of August 1968, and the consequences such as the Brezhnev Doctrine, then practise exam questions that compare Czechoslovakia with other Cold War crises.

Try These Related Quizzes

Which Soviet leader was forced to resign as Communist Party Secretary in 1964, and replaced by Brezhnev, Kosygin and the ideologist Suslov?

[ ]	Khrushchev
[ ]	Malenkov
[ ]	Ponamaryev
[ ]	Andropov

Which hard line Communist leader was replaced as Secretary of the Czechoslovak Communist Party a few months before the Warsaw Pact invasion?

[ ]	Gottwald
[ ]	Novotny
[ ]	Grotewohl
[ ]	Strougal

What name is usually given to the series of reforms passed by the new Party leadership in Czechoslovakia in nearly 1968, in an atmosphere of optimism - especially among young people?

[ ]	The Czech Spring
[ ]	The Czechoslovak Spring
[ ]	The Prague Spring
[ ]	The New Turning Point

What name was given to the Soviet view that Communist states should enjoy only limited sovereignty, as even their internal policies could affect their neighbours?

[ ]	The Molotov Doctrine
[ ]	The Bulganin Doctrine
[ ]	The Chernenko Doctrine
[ ]	The Brezhnev Doctrine

Which Warsaw Pact state refused to join in the invasion of Czechoslovakia in August 1968?

[ ]	Romania
[ ]	Albania
[ ]	Yugoslovia
[ ]	Poland

Who was the Czechoslovak Party Secretary whose name is associated with the reforms introduced there in early 1968?

[ ]	Palach
[ ]	Sik
[ ]	Benes
[ ]	Dubcek

From which part of Czechoslovakia did the new leader come?

[ ]	Bohemia
[ ]	Slovakia
[ ]	Moravia
[ ]	Teschen

Who was the President of Czechoslovakia during 1968?

[ ]	Hacha
[ ]	Svoboda
[ ]	Zatopek
[ ]	Masaryk

Who was the Soviet choice of Czechoslovak Party Secretary after the invasion?

[ ]	Kadar
[ ]	Gomulka
[ ]	Zhivkov
[ ]	Husak

10.

Which of the Warsaw Pact invaders of 1968 did not share a border with Czechoslovakia?

[ ]	Bulgaria
[ ]	Hungary
[ ]	The Soviet Union
[ ]	East Germany

History Quiz - Cold War: 1963-1969 - The Invasion Of Czechoslovakia (Answers)

Which Soviet leader was forced to resign as Communist Party Secretary in 1964, and replaced by Brezhnev, Kosygin and the ideologist Suslov?

[x]	Khrushchev
[ ]	Malenkov
[ ]	Ponamaryev
[ ]	Andropov

Khrushchev had made mistakes: the so-called "Virgin Lands" scheme in Central Asia and the failure to defeat the United States in the Cuba Crisis of 1962, among them

Which hard line Communist leader was replaced as Secretary of the Czechoslovak Communist Party a few months before the Warsaw Pact invasion?

[ ]	Gottwald
[x]	Novotny
[ ]	Grotewohl
[ ]	Strougal

Czechoslovakia seemed to be going the way of Hungary in 1956: liberal reforms in a heady atmosphere of liberation and the ousting of previous, more repressive leaders

What name is usually given to the series of reforms passed by the new Party leadership in Czechoslovakia in nearly 1968, in an atmosphere of optimism - especially among young people?

[ ]	The Czech Spring
[ ]	The Czechoslovak Spring
[x]	The Prague Spring
[ ]	The New Turning Point

The new reforms, particularly relaxation of censorship, permission to travel abroad and the right to create political parties other than the Communists, alarmed the USSR and its other allies

What name was given to the Soviet view that Communist states should enjoy only limited sovereignty, as even their internal policies could affect their neighbours?

[ ]	The Molotov Doctrine
[ ]	The Bulganin Doctrine
[ ]	The Chernenko Doctrine
[x]	The Brezhnev Doctrine

The Soviet Union and most of its allies believed that members of the Soviet bloc should expect to have their policies, domestic and foreign, criticised and amended by their neighbours

Which Warsaw Pact state refused to join in the invasion of Czechoslovakia in August 1968?

[x]	Romania
[ ]	Albania
[ ]	Yugoslovia
[ ]	Poland

One member state of the Warsaw Pact believed that all members should be freer to pursue their own policies

Who was the Czechoslovak Party Secretary whose name is associated with the reforms introduced there in early 1968?

[ ]	Palach
[ ]	Sik
[ ]	Benes
[x]	Dubcek

A new leadership contrasted starkly with its Stalinist predecessors which had repressed the Czechoslovak people since 1948

From which part of Czechoslovakia did the new leader come?

[ ]	Bohemia
[x]	Slovakia
[ ]	Moravia
[ ]	Teschen

Czechoslovakia was divided between the industrialised and advanced west, and the more backward and agricultural east

Who was the President of Czechoslovakia during 1968?

[ ]	Hacha
[x]	Svoboda
[ ]	Zatopek
[ ]	Masaryk

The Czechoslovak head of state was the President, more of a figurehead than the Party Secretary