National Content: Belgium
Czechoslovakian spring frozen by an Eastern wind.
| Source | « Le Patriote illustré », n°36, the 8th of September 1968, p. 24-25. |
| Event referred to | 20th of august 1968: USSR Invasion of Czech Republic. |
| Technological characteristics | Type of file: Image Extension : pdf Characteristics Dimension of the file: < 1001 Ko Availability proposed: pdf document with zoom options |
| Description of the source | Kind of source: Newspaper article Origin of the source: Archives of the University of Liège (Belgium) Language: French Copyright issues: full availability |
| Contextualisation of the source | “Le Patriote Illustré” is a weekly newspaper of conservative catholic trend published from 1884 by Victor and Louis Jourdain. It has been very successful at the end of the 19th century. Its publication has been interrupted at the time of the two world wars. It was then associated with the newspaper “Chez Nous” which took the name “Chez Nous – Le Nouvel Illustré”, that name has finally been forsaken, it kept the name “Chez Nous”. It was read by catholic people. |
| Interpretation of the source | The article is presented on a double page : on the left page, we can find pictures showing Soviet tanks and the Czechoslovakian people as well as a Czechoslovakian caricature, etc. On the right page, we can find the text of the article. The journalist offers a first analysis of the events, and he harks back to the steps that led to the Soviet invasion. He replaces the events into their context, giving the reader the opportunity to imagine exactly the reasoning leading the actors of the Czechoslovakian invasion. He also proposes a hypothesis as for the real Russian motivation in that story. Finally, the journalist comes to the conclusion by using a vivid vocabulary and the conclusion he gives aims to make the reader react (“ A free sympathizing and solidary world…. But a passive world ! ”). |
| Original Contents | EXTRAIT : « Les 225.000 hommes de l’armée tchécoslovaque équipés de 3200 chars T55, ultra modernes, de 600 avions et de missiles à moyenne portée – missiles dont les Russes possèdent une double clé – ne pouvaient rien face à l’immense potentiel militaire des forces du pacte de Varsovie. Les Russes ont obtenu par la force à Moscou ce qu’ils avaient fait semblant de concéder à Cierna et Bratislava : une inféodation militaire et économique. La bise venue de l’Est a gelé pour longtemps le printemps politique d’une nation de 14 millions et demi d’habitants. Mais elle a fait plus encore. Déjà, certaines dissensions graves apparaissent entre la Slovaquie et la Bohème. Moscou compte et mise sur un futur démembrement pour renforcer son contrôle. » |
| Original Contents (English Translation) |