Velvet Revolution

Velvet Revolution
Part of the Revolutions of 1989
Demonstration of 25 November 1989 in Prague.
Date	17 November – 29 December 1989 Main 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 Start of Hyphen War which eventually led to Velvet Divorce (breakup of Czechoslovakia) 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 Vasiľ Biľak Gustáv Husák Moderates: Alexander Dubček Karel Urbánek Ladislav Adamec Lubomír Štrougal Marián Čalfa Milan Čič Dissident leaders: Václav Havel Václav Benda Ján Budaj Ján Čarnogurský Jiří Dienstbier Luboš Dobrovský Václav Klaus Milan Kňažko Valtr Komárek Rita Klímová Petr Pithart Petr Uhl Jan Urban Michael Žantovský
Casualties and losses
568 injured[2]

Part of a series on the
History of Czechoslovakia
Origins of Czechoslovakia 1918 Washington Declaration 1918 First Czechoslovak Republic 1918–1938 Munich Agreement 1938 Second Czechoslovak Republic 1938–1939 German occupation 1938–1945      Bohemia and Moravia 1939–1945      Slovak Republic 1939–1945 Czechoslovak government-in-exile 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 Federative Republic 1990–1992 Dissolution of Czechoslovakia 1992
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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).