WHAT NATO KNEW ABOUT ROMANIA IN THE CONTEXT OF THE CZECHOSLOVAK CRISIS OF 1968
WHAT NATO KNEW ABOUT ROMANIA IN THE CONTEXT OF THE CZECHOSLOVAK CRISIS OF 1968

Summary/Abstract: The military invasion of Czechoslovakia by Warsaw Pact troops in August 1968, along with Romania’s opposition to Moscow’s actions, prompted NATO’s Political Committee to prepare a new political assessment of the situation in Central Europe. The Committee observed a shift in the military capabilities of the Warsaw Pact and the emergence of a delicate situation within the Soviet sphere of influence. Romania’s opposition was analyzed considering its military capabilities, as well as the country’s political and economic situation. NATO allies feared the prospect of Warsaw Pact military exercises on Romanian territory and considered that a Soviet military intervention in Romania—like the one in Czechoslovakia—could have triggered a crisis far more serious than that of August 1968, especially given the potential involvement of China in defending Romania.

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