A very interesting exchange between the Czechoslovaks and the Soviets in 1965, which shows how Moscow's allies were able to manipulate the Soviets. 1965 was a disastrous year for Czechoslovak agriculture, which Novotny and co (not unexpectedly) blamed on bad weather.
As a result, Czechoslovakia literally ran out of bread. In Sept. 1965 Novotny turned to the Soviet comrades to supply grain but was told that because of bad weather (what else) in the USSR, the Soviet Union was also running short, and had to buy grain in the West.
As a result, the Soviets were able to provide just 400K tons (in place of the promised 800K). After Novotny returned to Prague, he continued to pressure Brezhnev to deliver more grain, hinting that failure to do so might lead to "political concessions" to the United States.
Here's this exchange. Brezhnev says: "This is not an option. One must not make such concessions to the Americans." Surprise, surprise: the result of this drama was the Soviets coughing up the missing grain from their (generally empty) stores. 
The morale of the story is that imperial dreams have real costs. What good did it do to the Soviet Union to "possess" Czechoslovakia? No good at all. It had to be fed (at a price to your own population). It had to be coaxed. And still it rebelled. And then it had to be invaded.🤦♂️
The more you read about the Soviet Union and its so called socialist camp, the more you realise what a monstrous system it really was. Monstrous, ugly, costly and inefficient. Good riddance if there ever was one.
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