The Soviet Union and China begin hostilities lasting several weeks on the border river, the Ussuri. The conflict with China motivates the Soviet Union to bring peace to its front against Western Europe. On 17 March, the Warsaw Pact states propose a European security conference to the West.
RIAS telephone report on the armed border conflict between China and the Soviet Union on the Ussuri River, 7 March 1969 (in German) (Quelle: Archiv Deutschlandradio, Sendung: Rundschau am Abend, Moderator/Reporter: Walter Gerhard, Peter Hoffer)
5 March
1969
In West Berlin, the West German Federal Assembly elects the Social Democrat and previous Federal Minister of Justice Gustav Heinemann as federal president.
