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Velvet revolution, Czechoslavakia PDF print email
Written by Jelena   
Wednesday, 18 March 2009 15:25
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Czech: sametová revoluce, Slovak: nežná revolúcia) (November 16 – December 29, 1989) refers to a non-violent revolution in Czechoslovakia that saw the overthrow of the Communist government.[1] It is seen as one of the most important of the Revolutions of 1989.

On November 17, 1989 (Friday), riot police suppressed a peaceful student demonstration in Prague. That event sparked a series of popular demonstrations from November 19 to late December. By November 20 the number of peaceful protesters assembled in Prague had swelled from 200,000 the previous day to an estimated half-million. A two-hour general strike, involving all citizens of Czechoslovakia, was held on November 27.

With the collapse of other Communist governments, and increasing street protests, the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia announced on November 28 that it would relinquish power and dismantle the single-party state. Barbed wire and other obstructions were removed from the border with West Germany and Austria in early December. On December 10, 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 December 28 and Václav Havel the President of Czechoslovakia on December 29, 1989.

In June 1990 Czechoslovakia held its first democratic elections since 1946.

 

Tags: Year: 1989 Location: Europe Category: Protest and Persuassion Category: NonCooperation Category: NonViolent Intervention Protest and Persuassion: Public Speeches Protest and Persuassion: Letters of opposition or support Protest and Persuassion: Declarations by organizations and institutions Protest and Persuassion: Signed public statements Protest and Persuassion: Declarations of indictment and intention Protest and Persuassion: Group or mass petitions Protest and Persuassion: Slogans, caricatures, and symbols Protest and Persuassion: Banners, posters, displayed communications Protest and Persuassion: Leaflets, pamphlets, and books Protest and Persuassion: Newspapers and journals Protest and Persuassion: Records, radio, and television Protest and Persuassion: Group lobbying Protest and Persuassion: Picketing Protest and Persuassion: Displays of flags and symbolic colors Protest and Persuassion: Wearing of symbols Protest and Persuassion: Prayer and worship Protest and Persuassion: Displays of portraits Protest and Persuassion: Paint as protest Protest and Persuassion: New signs and names Protest and Persuassion: Symbolic sounds Protest and Persuassion: Symbolic reclamations Protest and Persuassion: Rude gestures Protest and Persuassion: Haunting Officials Protest and Persuassion: Taunting officials Protest and Persuassion: Fraternization Protest and Persuassion: Vigils Protest and Persuassion: Performances of plays and music Protest and Persuassion: Singing Protest and Persuassion: Marches Protest and Persuassion: Parades Protest and Persuassion: Motorcades Protest and Persuassion: Homage at burial places Protest and Persuassion: Assemblies of protest or support Protest and Persuassion: Protest meetings Protest and Persuassion: Camouflaged meetings of protest Protest and Persuassion: Teach-ins Protest and Persuassion: Walk-outs Protest and Persuassion: Silence Methods of NonCooperation: Social boycott Methods of NonCooperation: Selective social boycott Methods of NonCooperation: Suspension of social and sports activities Methods of NonCooperation: Boycott of social affairs Methods of NonCooperation: Student strike Methods of NonCooperation: Social disobedience Methods of NonCooperation: Withdrawal from social institutions Methods of NonCooperation: Traders' boycott Methods of NonCooperation: Refusal to let or sell property Methods of NonCooperation: Lockout Methods of NonCooperation: Refusal of industrial assistance Methods of NonCooperation: Merchants' Methods of NonCooperation: Protest strike Methods of NonCooperation: Quickie walkout (lightning strike) Methods of NonCooperation: Peasant strike Methods of NonCooperation: Farm Workers' strike Methods of NonCooperation: Craft strike Methods of NonCooperation: Professional strike Methods of NonCooperation: Establishment strike Methods of NonCooperation: Industry strike Methods of NonCooperation: Sympathetic strike Methods of NonCooperation: Detailed strike Methods of NonCooperation: Bumper strike Methods of NonCooperation: Slowdown strike Methods of NonCooperation: Working-to-rule strike Methods of NonCooperation: Reporting Methods of NonCooperation: Strike by resignation Methods of NonCooperation: Limited strike Methods of NonCooperation: Selective strike Methods of NonCooperation: Generalized strike Methods of NonCooperation: General strike Methods of NonCooperation: Withholding or withdrawal of allegiance Methods of NonCooperation: Refusal of public support Methods of NonCooperation: Literature and speeches advocating resistance Methods of NonCooperation: Boycott of legislative bodies Methods of NonCooperation: Boycott of elections Methods of NonCooperation: Boycott of government employment and positions Methods of NonCooperation: Boycott of gov. depts., agencies, and other bodies Methods of NonCooperation: Withdrawal from government educational institutions Methods of NonCooperation: Boycott of government-supported organizations Methods of NonCooperation: Refusal to accept appointed officials Methods of NonCooperation: Refusal to dissolve existing institutions Methods of NonCooperation: Reluctant and slow compliance Methods of NonCooperation: Nonobedience in absence of direct supervision Methods of NonCooperation: Popular nonobedience Methods of NonCooperation: Disguised disobedience Methods of NonCooperation: Refusal of an assemblage or meeting to disperse Methods of NonCooperation: Stalling and obstruction Methods of NonCooperation: General administrative noncooperation Methods of NonCooperation: Quasi-legal evasions and delays Methods of NonCooperation: Noncooperation by constituent governmental units NonViolent Intervention: Nonviolent harassment NonViolent Intervention: Sit-in NonViolent Intervention: Stand-in NonViolent Intervention: Nonviolent raids NonViolent Intervention: Nonviolent air raids NonViolent Intervention: Nonviolent invasion NonViolent Intervention: Nonviolent interjection NonViolent Intervention: Nonviolent obstruction NonViolent Intervention: Nonviolent occupation NonViolent Intervention: Establishing new social patterns NonViolent Intervention: Alternative social institutions NonViolent Intervention: Alternative communication system NonViolent Intervention: Defiance of blockades NonViolent Intervention: Seeking imprisonment NonViolent Intervention: Civil disobedience of "neutral" laws
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Last Updated on Wednesday, 18 March 2009 15:26
 
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