Context / Invasion. Prague
Invasion. Prague / Context
Invasion. Prague
Probably everyone has ever faced with a situation when you This is not a single photo — it is one of 250 components
look at a picture that someone for some reason has referred of the series «Invasion - Prague 1968» that were published
to as a classic or called «one of the most important works by The Sunday Times Magazine with the signature of P. P.
of the 20th century» and you absolutely do not understand (Prague Photographer). In 1969, this series won a gold medal
what is special about this picture.
by Robert Cap, also without the author’s instructions. And
Here are the clock and the perspective of the street. For only in 1984 the author was officially known — Joseph
some reason this image is widely known, it is reprinted in Koudelka was that Prague photographer — the picture shows
books, shown in lectures and, perhaps, you saw it hanging his hand with a watch showing 12:20 p. m. on August 22, 1968.
somewhere in the interior. But why is it so good? If you find
a suitable boulevard and wait until half past one, the same
picture can be made. Or will not it work? The answer to
this question lies in the context of the shot. However, first
of all we should think about what a photograph is. This
is the documentation of events or the play of lines and
perspectives, or may be the transfer of the author’s subtle
experiences, the method of self-expression, psychotherapy,
the service industry, «painting for the lazy»? There is no
one correct answer to this question, because photography is
all at once. That is why to apply the picturesque evaluation
criteria to a documentary photograph is just as wrong as to
look for social tension in a still life. And now, armed with the
thought that a photograph can be different and for different
things, the viewer looks at the picture. Perhaps this is one of
the best examples to explain that strange concept of context.
If you find a suitable bou-
levard and wait until half
past one, the same picture
can be made. Or will not
it work?
4
Less than two days before the moment the picture was
taken, on August 21 at 2:00 a.m., the dispatch service of
the Ruzyne airport received a request for an emergency
landing from the Soviet passenger AN-24. The plane
received the permission for landing, however, instead of
passengers on board there were the paratroopers from the
Seventh Airborne Division who took over the airport and
ensured the landing of the AN-12 flying with paratroopers
and combat equipment. Simultaneously, troops from
the Warsaw Treaty countries were invading the territory
of Czechoslovakia in 18 places of the border, from the
territories of East Germany, the Polish People’s Republic,
the Hungarian People’s Republic and the USSR.
And even earlier there was the Prague Spring — the
period when Czechoslovakia tried to build «socialism with
a human face», giving its citizens democratic freedoms,
weakening censorship, allowing freedom of speech and
movement. Such reforms could not be approved by the
leadership of the Soviet Union (they were perceived as
anti-Soviet activities, the danger of a split of the Soviet
block, even as the possibility of Czechoslovakia joining
NATO), and in early summer, after numerous attempts to
«discourage» the leadership of Czechoslovakia, a resolution
on a military invasion was adopted. By August 20, about
500,000 people and 5,000 units of equipment were ready in
the military operation «Danube»; white strips were applied
to all equipment. An order was given to decontaminate all
the «bandless» Soviet and Allied production techniques
(if possible without firing), and if it was impossible —
to shoot without warning.
After the night «emergency landing» in Ruzyne, by
4.30 a. m., the Central Committee building in Prague was
surrounded and the country’s leaders were arrested, at
5 a. m. within 10 minutes the airfields of Turzhany and
Namesht were took over (immediately after the takeover,
the landing of the main invasion forces began), by 9:00
armored personnel carriers were took over. At 10 a.m.
the Committee for State Security (KGB) officers took the
arrested leaders of Czechoslovakia from the building of the
Central Committee, pushed them into armored personnel
carriers, transported them to the airport from where they
were delivered to Moscow.
On August 21, by the end of the day, Czechoslovakia
was invaded. The Czechoslovak army had previously been
ordered not to resist, so the invasion took place without
battles. However, the resistance was provided by ordinary
people. In Prague, all the signs with street names were
removed, the residents made barricades to slow the progress
of technology. In Prague itself, many people gathered at
Wenceslas Square who literally with their own hands tried
to stop the tank columns moving. Invading soldiers were not
soulless invaders, they themselves did not really understand
why they were sent to a formerly fraternal state. They were
told that they would be shot, however, the army did not
resist, and people tried to explain at first… But nerves were
heated, locals threw incendiary mixture, and soldiers until
5