9. Suppressing Revolutions
Powers often intervene to suppress revolutions that threaten regional status quos. Following the Napoleonic Wars, the Concert of Europe aimed to maintain stability by intervening in uprisings. Similarly, the Soviet Union intervened in Hungary in 1956 and Czechoslovakia in 1968 to quash reform movements that challenged Soviet dominance. In Hungary, Soviet forces crushed the revolution, leading to thousands of deaths and the flight of many citizens. In Czechoslovakia, the Prague Spring reforms were halted by a Warsaw Pact invasion, resulting in widespread protests and a period of political repression.
