From the pages of the South China Morning Post this week in 1968
Tank-led Soviet troops seized key points in Prague in a dawn invasion of Czechoslovakia.
Some Czechs were reported killed in street clashes and the nation's reformist leader, Alexander Dubcek, was described as 'under restriction' in the party's Central Committee building.
The anger of Czechs over the invasion, evidently aimed at toppling Dubcek's regime, erupted in street protests and attempts to barricade streets as Soviet tanks rumbled through the capital.
Announcing the invasion, the Soviet Union said troops had gone in at the request of the 'Czech government and party leaders', but failed to name any particular leaders. It was assumed the request must have been made by Kremlin supporters inside Czechoslovakia.
US President Lyndon Johnson was quick to denounce the invasion as tragic and contrived. He appealed to the Soviet Union and other intervening nations to withdraw their troops.
