The Velvet Revolution of the Czechs and the Slovaks
25 February 1949 – The dictatorship of the communist party in Czechoslovakia begins.
1968 – Prague “spring”, an attempt to establish “socialism with a human face”, which is crushed by Moscow.
17 November 1989 – The militia uses force to disperse a peaceful demonstration of students, triggering a wave of protests and work stoppages.
28 November 1989 – The communist party gives up power.
Some scholars have said that the revolution of 1989 was the first revolution in history led by intellectuals. A good example for the leading role of intellectuals is Czechoslovakia, where Václav Havel, a playwright, emerged as the uncrowned king of the opposition, the symbol of the Velvet Revolution.
The situation in Czechoslovakia, after the bloody repression of the Prague rising in 1968, was similar to the state affairs in the GDR. The dictatorship of the communist party was severe. During the time of “normalisation”, the rulers did not even bother to pretend that they had any support among the people. Any signs of protest were crushed with a heavy hand and dissidents imprisoned.
An encouragement for dissidents was the Helsinki Accords of 1975, in which Moscow had pledged to observe human rights in the USSR. Of course, the Kremlin had no intention to do so, but the signature on an international legal document gave the dissidents and the West leverage and a means to criticise the communists. In Prague, “Charter 77”, a loosely organised group led by Havel, cropped up. Their main objective was to defeat the cynical apathy of people towards politics. But the dictatorship was so effective that the few opposition members were more famous abroad than in their own country. Havel's “Charter 77” could collect only a few thousand signatures among the population of 15 million.
The situation changed quickly in 1989. The Czech and Slovak communists applauded Gorbachev's perestroika, but did nothing. Speaking about the Prague Spring was a taboo. The first anti-government protests took place in 1988 and 1989, but the militia dispersed them. It was significant, though, that now the people had the courage to show their discontent. When Havel was imprisoned again in January 1989, the protests spread wide and the government responded by setting him free already in May.
The collapse of the regime came suddenly. On 17 November, students got permission for a peaceful demonstration (to commemorate a Nazi victim). When the youngsters began to shout anti-communist slogans, the militia attacked and beat up a few protesters. After this the militia for some reason spread the rumours that one of the students had been killed. In the next 24 hours tens of thousands of students occupied the streets. Now, the militia did nothing.
On 19 November 1989, Václav Havel returned to Prague and set up his headquarters in a Prague theatre. With his colleagues he established Civic Forum, which became a shadow government. The party leaders stepped down on 24 November. The next day half a million people gathered in the Letná Park, in order to express their support for Havel. On 28 December, the parliament, still communist, elected Havel the President. The Velvet Revolution had come off quickly and peacefully.