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Oct 11, 2024 · Velvet Revolution, nationwide protest movement in Czechoslovakia in November–December 1989 that ended more than 40 years of communist rule in the country and that saw one of its key figures, Vaclav Havel, became president. Learn more about the Velvet Revolution.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
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.
Mar 2, 2021 · On November 17, 1989, nine days after the fall of the Berlin Wall roughly 200 miles to the north, students gather en masse in Prague, Czechoslovakia to protest the communist regime.
- The Failed “Prague Spring”
- Jan Palach
- The Velvet Revolution
- After The Revolution
In January of 1968, the USSR gave the leadership of Czechoslovakia to someone new: Alexander Dubček. Dubček had fought against German forces during WWII, joining the communist party in his country after the end of the war. He rose through the ranks, serving in the parliament and general assembly as part of a new generation of Slovak communists. Com...
The following January, Jan Palach, a Charles University student in Prague, entered a suicide pact with several fellow students. They were determined to protest the Soviet invasion and combat growing despondency among citizens after the takeover. On Jan. 16, 1969, Palach climbed the steps of the National Museum near the bustling train station on the...
In the decades that followed, Communist rule in Czechoslovakia continued, and the resistance, although forced underground, continued to grow too. By 1989, intermittent uprisings throughout Warsaw Pact countries, the increasing militarism of Soviet governments across the region and slowing economic growth within the Eastern Bloc set the stage for re...
While return to totalitarian rule in Eastern Europe may seem impossible, extremism persists. At this year’s commemoration of the fall of the Berlin Wall, German Chancellor Angela Merkle cautioned against complacency. “The values on which Europe is founded — freedom, democracy, equality, rule of law, human rights — they are anything but self-evident...
- Andy Kopsa
The protests began with the peaceful 17 November student march that was brutally suppressed by riot police; subsequent mass protests on Wenceslas Square addressed by dissident playwright...
Dec 14, 2017 · The Velvet Revolution commenced on November 17, 1989, when students marched to mark the 50th anniversary of Jan Opletal, a protester who died during demonstrations against the Nazi occupation.
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By 29 December 1989, the so-called Velvet Revolution, led by the nonviolent coalition Civic Forum, transformed Václav Havel from a dissident playwright into the President of a democratic Czechoslovakia.
