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Keywords

radio, 1968, resistance movement, youth, Czechoslovakia, invasion

Abstract

In 1968, an already tumultuous year throughout the world, Czechoslovakians showed immense bravery in the face of a Soviet-led invasion between August 21and August 27. While separate bodies of existing scholarship examine the role of radio in the resistance efforts and the part that youth played in these efforts, little scholarship examines the two in conjunction. This paper explores the ways in which radio impacted the actions of youth movements and encouraged cross-generational resistance among the Czech population during the invasion and subsequent occupation by the Soviet Union. Through an examination of radio broadcasts, photographs, and student accounts, this paper traces how Czechoslovakian youth reacted to radio broadcasts immediately preceding and during the Soviet invasion, as well as how they utilized radio as a tool to advance their vision for the future of Czechoslovakia and undermine the efforts of Soviet forces. This examination demonstrates that established and clandestine radio networks capitalized on shifting political attitudes towards communism among the nation’s growing youth movement and guided their response. Furthermore, the availability of radio networks as a channel of information and a tool of resistance empowered Czech youth and enabled them to work in tandem with older generations of Czech citizens.

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