Silver Coin Nonviolent Resistance of Citizens against the Entry of Warsaw Pact Troops 2018 Proof

Non-violent spontaneous resistance of citizens against the entry of Warsaw Pact troops in August 1968

Exclusive silver coin issued in Slovakia by the Kremnica Mint in 2018 in top quality proof weighing 18 g is dedicated to the 50th anniversary of the invasion of Czechoslovakia by Warsaw Pact troops.

The reverse of the coin depicts a fragment of Ladislav Bielik's photograph "Man with exposed chest in front of an occupation tank" on the background accompanied by the numeral "50" and the inscription "výročie", which expresses the 50th anniversary of the invasion of Czechoslovakia by Warsaw Pact troops. The inscription 'AUGUST 1968' appears at the top of the coin field.

The obverse side of the coin depicts barbed wire barriers with the numeral '68' in the background, symbolising the period of normalisation following the invasion of Czechoslovakia by Warsaw Pact troops in August 1968. The national emblem of the Slovak Republic is at the top of the coin field, the name of the state 'SLOVAKIA' and the year '2018' are at the bottom of the coin field. Below them is a horizontal line and the denomination of the coin '10 EURO'. The Kremnica Mint mark is to the left of the national emblem of the Slovak Republic and to the right of it are the stylised initials of the author of the coin's design, prof. Mgr. Art. Patrik Kovačovský "PK".

The coin is supplied in a limited edition of only 6,650 pieces for the whole world!

In the late 1960s, a society-wide movement for the democratization of the communist regime developed in Czechoslovakia, which was watched with concern by the Soviet leadership. In early August 1968, at a meeting of the leaders of the communist countries in Bratislava, a declaration was adopted that "the protection and consolidation of socialist achievements are a common international duty of all socialist countries". At the same time, the so-called invitation letter was handed over to the leadership of the CPSU, which was supposed to give a semblance of legitimacy to the forthcoming military intervention. The invasion by the troops of several Warsaw Pact states took place from 20 to 21 August 1968. Three hundred thousand foreign soldiers and more than six thousand tanks and combat vehicles invaded the territory of the state. The intervention halted the reform process and a period known as normalization began. The occupation of the Czechoslovakia resonated throughout the world and the spontaneous resistance of the population was captured by the domestic and international media.