The Czechoslovak Hockey Riots were a short lived series of protests, mildly violent on occasion (several people were injured), that took place in response to the

1969 World Ice Hockey Championships The 1969 Ice Hockey World Championships was the 36th edition of the Ice Hockey World Championships, which also doubled as the 47th European ice hockey championships. For the first time the Pool A, B and C tournaments were hosted by different natio ...

. After the Soviet invasion into Czechoslovakia the political ideals of the

Prague Spring The Prague Spring ( cs, Pražské jaro, sk, Pražská jar) was a period of political liberalization and mass protest in the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic. It began on 5 January 1968, when reformist Alexander Dubček was elected First Sec ...

were slowly but steadily replaced by politics of accommodation to the demands of the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

. People in Czechoslovakia, unable to find other ways to express their opinion, reacted with few very visible but ultimately ineffective manifestations of disagreement. On March 21 and 28, 1969, the Czechoslovakia national ice hockey team beat the Soviet team in the

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

. Throughout

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

, possibly 500,000 fans crowded the streets of their cities to celebrate the wins. In some places, particularly

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

, the celebrations turned to protests against the Soviet military who continued to occupy the country after the

Warsaw Pact The Warsaw Pact (WP) or Treaty of Warsaw, formally the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance, was a collective defense treaty signed in Warsaw, Poland, between the Soviet Union and seven other Eastern Bloc socialist republic ...

invasion the previous August. The first night the celebrating fans vocally started showing their displeasure with the military oversight cheering and chanting "No tanks were there so they lost!". The next night many of the protesters had brought signs they created showing the score of the second game (4-3), and chants stating "Czechoslovakia 4 – Occupation forces 3!". While the majority of these demonstrations were peaceful, some turned violent as protesters attacked Soviet military units. In Prague, protesters ransacked the Soviet

Aeroflot PJSC AeroflotRussian Airlines (russian: ПАО "Аэрофло́т — Росси́йские авиали́нии", ), commonly known as Aeroflot ( or ; russian: Аэрофлот, , ), is the flag carrier and the largest airline of Russia. The ...

office on the Wenceslas Square, though some have suggested they were encouraged by State Security agents. The protests were suppressed by the Czechoslovak military and police, now under full control of the hardliners from the Communist Party. The events were used as a pretext to oust the remaining leaders of the Prague Spring. Among them, Alexander Dubček was forced to resign as First Secretary of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, to be replaced by Gustáv Husák who started the politics of " normalisation". During the years of normalization, citizens of Czechoslovakia saw hockey games against Soviet Union as a quiet, symbolic way to protest. Police forces were regularly set on alert but never used.

Notes

{{reflist Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia Sports riots Riots and civil disorder in Czechoslovakia 1969 riots Hockey Riots Czechoslovakia–Soviet Union relations Ice hockey in Czechoslovakia History of ice hockey 1969–70 in Soviet ice hockey 1969–70 in European ice hockey Politics and sports