This article is about the event in Czechoslovakia. For other uses, see Velvet Revolution (disambiguation).
Velvet Revolution
Part of the Revolutions of 1989
Demonstration of 25 November 1989 in Prague.
Date
17 November – 29 December 1989Main phase: 17 – 28 November 1989
Location
Czechoslovakia
Caused by
Political repression
Totalitarianism
Economic stagnation
Other anti-Marxist-Leninist revolutions of 1989
Martin Šmíd death hoax
Goals
Resignation of the Communist government
Democracy and free elections
Civil rights
Economic reform
Methods
Civil disobedience
Civil resistance
Demonstrations
Strike actions
Resulted in
Collapse of the communist regime in Czechoslovakia
Resignation of the Politburo of the Communist Party (24 November 1989)
Dissident leader Václav Havel becomes the President of Czechoslovakia (29 December 1989)
Restoration of parliamentary democracy with free elections in June 1990
Breakup of Czechoslovakia (1993)
Dismantling of the command economy and privatization of state-owned industry
Parties
Government
Communist Party
StB
People's Militia
SNB
VB
Opposition
Civic Forum
Public Against Violence
Charter 77
Stuha
Government defectors
Other dissidents
Supported by: United States
Embassy of the United States, Prague[1]
Lead figures
Hardliners:
Miloš Jakeš
Milán Václavík
Jan Fojtík [cs]
Miroslav Štěpán
Alois Indra [cs]
Vasiľ Biľak
Gustáv Husák
Moderates:
Karel Urbánek
Ladislav Adamec
Lubomír Štrougal
Marián Čalfa
Milan Čič
Dissident leaders:
Václav Havel
Alexander Dubček
Václav Benda
Ján Budaj
Ján Čarnogurský
Jiří Dienstbier
Luboš Dobrovský
Václav Klaus
Milan Kňažko
Valtr Komárek
Rita Klímová
Petr Pithart
Petr Uhl
Jan Urban [cs]
Michael Žantovský
Casualties and losses
568 injured[2]
Part of a series on the
History of Czechoslovakia
Origins of Czechoslovakia
1918
First Czechoslovak Republic
1918–1938
Munich Agreement
1938
Second Czechoslovak Republic
1938–1939
German occupation
1939–1945
Bohemia and Moravia
1939–1945
Slovak Republic
1939–1945
Third Czechoslovak Republic
1945–1948
Coup d'état
1948
Czechoslovak Socialist Republic
1948–1989
Prague Spring/Invasion
1968
Velvet Revolution
1989
Post-revolution
1989–1992
Dissolution of Czechoslovakia
1993
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The Velvet Revolution (Czech: Sametová revoluce) or Gentle Revolution (Slovak: Nežná revolúcia) was a non-violent transition of power in what was then Czechoslovakia, occurring from 17 November to 28 November 1989. Popular demonstrations against the one-party government of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia included students and older dissidents. The result was the end of 41 years of one-party rule in Czechoslovakia, and the subsequent dismantling of the command economy and conversion to a parliamentary republic.[3]
On 17 November 1989 (International Students' Day), riot police suppressed a student demonstration in Prague.[4] The event marked the 50th anniversary of a violently suppressed demonstration against the Nazi storming of Prague University in 1939 where 1,200 students were arrested and 9 killed (see Origin of International Students' Day). The 1989 event sparked a series of demonstrations from 17 November to late December and turned into an anti-communist demonstration. On 20 November, the number of protesters assembled in Prague grew from 200,000 the previous day to an estimated 500,000. The entire top leadership of the Communist Party, including General Secretary Miloš Jakeš, resigned on 24 November. On 27 November, a two-hour general strike involving all citizens of Czechoslovakia was held.
In response to the collapse of other Warsaw Pact governments and the increasing street protests, the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia announced on 28 November that it would relinquish power and end the one-party state. Two days later, the federal parliament formally deleted the sections of the Constitution giving the Communist Party a monopoly of power. Barbed wire and other obstructions were removed from the border with West Germany and Austria in early December. On 10 December, President Gustáv Husák appointed the first largely non-communist government in Czechoslovakia since 1948, and resigned. Alexander Dubček was elected speaker of the federal parliament on 28 December and Václav Havel the President of Czechoslovakia on 29 December 1989.
In June 1990, Czechoslovakia held its first democratic elections[5] since 1946. On 31 December 1992, Czechoslovakia peacefully split into two countries, the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic.
The dissolution of Czechoslovakia occurred mainly due to national governance issues between the Slovaks and Czechs (the two major ethnicities comprising the former Czechoslovakia).
^"How the US embassy in Prague aided Czechoslovakia's Velvet Revolution". brookings.edu. 24 April 2020. Retrieved 18 November 2022.
^Bellum, Post (25 November 2019). "Živé vzpomínky na revoluci: Pendrekem přes obličej, u černobílého monitoru VB". Deník.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 10 July 2023.
^"RP's History Online – Velvet Revolution". Archiv.radio.cz. Archived from the original on 17 July 2011. Retrieved 19 January 2013.
^"Velvet Revolution in Prague Czechoslovakia". Prague-life.com. Archived from the original on 26 November 2013. Retrieved 24 November 2013.
^Stolarik, M. Mark (2017). The Czech and Slovak Republics: Twenty Years of Independence, 1993–2013. Central European University Press. ISBN 978-9633861530.
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