Velvet Revolution

The "Velvet Revolution" (Czech: sametová revoluce, Slovak: ne?ná revolúcia) (November 16 - December 29 1989) refers to a bloodless revolution in Czechoslovakia that saw the overthrow of the communist government there.

Chronology of the first week

• Thursday November 16, 1989 ? On the eve of the International Students Day (the 50th anniversary of death of Jan Opletal, a Czech student murdered by the Nazi occupiers during World War II), Slovak high school and university students staged a peaceful demonstration in the center of Bratislava. Since the Communist Party of Slovakia had expected troubles and since the fact alone that there was a demonstration was a problem in Communist countries, armed forces were at alert since before the demonstration. In the end, however, the students peacefully moved through the city and finally sent a delegation to the Slovak Ministry of Education to discuss their demands.
• Friday November 17, 1989 ? The Socialist Union of Youth (SSM/SZM, proxy of Communist Party of Czechoslovakia) organizes a mass demonstration to commemorate the International Students Day. Most members of SSM are privately in opposition against the Communist leadership, but afraid of speaking up for fear of persecution. This demonstration gives an average student an opportunity to join others and express his opinions without fear. By 16:00, about 15 thousand people join the demonstration. They walk to Opletal's grave and - after the official end - continue to downtown Prague (map), carrying anti-Communist slogans. At about 19:30, the head of the demonstration is stopped by a cordon of riot police at Národní Street. They block all escape routes and brutally beat the students. Once all are dispersed, one of the participants - secret police agent Ludvík Zif?ák - keeps lying on the street, posing as dead, and is later taken away. It is not clear why he did it, but the rumor of "dead student" was perhaps critical for the shape of further events. Still in the evening, students and theater actors agree on going on a strike.
• Saturday November 18 :
• Two students visit Prime Minister Ladislav Adamec in his private house and describe to him what (really) happened at Národní Street.
• At the initiative of students from the Prague Academy of Dramatic Arts, the students in Prague begin a strike. Gradually, this strike is joined by university students throughout Czechoslovakia.
• The students are supported by theaters in Prague, which are also on strike now. Instead of playing, actors read a proclamation of students and artists to the audience. Home-made posters and proclamations are hanged on public places. As all media (radio, TV, newspapers) are strictly controlled by the Communist Party (see Mass media in Communist Czechoslovakia), this is the only way to spread the message. In the evening, Radio Free Europe informs that a student (named as Martin ?míd) was killed by the police during yesterday's demonstration. This persuades some hesitating citizens to disregard fear and join the protests.
• Sunday November 19:
• Theaters in Bratislava, Brno, Ostrava and other towns are also on strike and follow the example of their colleagues from Prague. Members of artistic and literary associations as well as organizations and institutions in some other areas of the society join the strikes.
• Members of a civic initiative meet the Prime Minister who says to them that he was prohibited to resign to his post two times and that if they want to achieve changes there have to be mass demonstrations like in Eastern Germany (some 250 000 students). He also asks them to reduce the number of "casualties" during the expected changes to a minimum.
• About 500 Slovak artists , scientists and other persons meet at the Art Forum (Umelecká beseda) in Bratislava at 17:00, denounce the attack upon the students in Prague on November 17 and formed the Public Against Violence, which will become the leading force behind the opposition movement on the territory of Slovakia. Its founding members included Milan K?a?ko, Ján Budaj and others.
• Actors and audience in a Prague theater, together with Václav Havel and other prominent members of Charter 77 and other dissident organizations, establish the Civic Forum (the equivalent of the Public Against Violence for the territory of Czechia) as a mass popular movement for reforms at 22:00. They call for dismissal of top officials responsible for the violence, independent investigation of the incident and release of all political prisoners. College students announce a strike. On TV, government officials call for peace and want to restore business as usual. TV shows an interview with Martin ?míd to persuade the public that no one was killed; the quality of the recording is however low and rumor stays. It will take several more days to confirm that no one was killed - and by then, the revolution will have already gained momentum.
• Monday November 20 -
• Students and theaters are on permanent strike.
• Civic Forum representatives negotiate with Prime Minister Ladislav Adamec without Václav Havel and more or less unofficially. Adamec is sympathetic to the students' demands. However, he is outvoted in a special cabinet meeting the same day and the government, in an official statements, refuses any concessions. Civic Forum adds another demand - abolition of the ruling position of Communist Party from the Constitution.
• Non-Communist newspapers start publishing information, which contradicts the Communist interpretation.
• First mass demonstration in Prague (100 000 persons), first demonstrations in Bratislava
• Tuesday November 21 -
• First official meeting of the Civic Forum with the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister says that he personally guarantees that no violence will be used against the people.
• First organized mass demonstration takes place on Wenceslas Square in downtown Prague (it will repeat daily for the following days). Actors and students travel to enterprises in Prague and generally outside Prague to gain support of their colleagues in other cities.
• First mass demonstration takes places on Hviezdoslav Square in downtown Bratislava (it will repeat daily for the following days on the SNP Square). The students present various demands and ask people to participate in the planned general strike for Monday November 27. A separate demonstration demanding the release of the political prisoner Ján ?arnogurský (the later Prime Minister of Slovakia) takes place in front of the Palace of Justice. Alexander Dub?ek holds an address at this demonstration ? his first appearance during the Velvet Revolution. As a result, ?arnogurský will be released on November 23.
• Demonstrations in all major towns of Czechoslovakia
• Cardinal Franti?ek Tomá?ek , the Catholic primas of Czechia, declares support for the students and issues a declaration in which he criticizes the situation in all social spheres of Czechoslovakia
• For the first time during the Velvet Revolution, the "radical" demand to abolish the article of the Constitution establishing the leading role of the Communist Party is expressed by ?ubomír Feldek at a meeting of the Public Against Violence. It will be spontaneously supported by the popular demonstration on November 25 and finally accepted by the Communist Party of Slovakia on November 26.
• In the evening, Milo? Jake?, the chairman of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, holds a special TV address on federal TV. He says that order must be preserved, that socialism is the only alternative for Czechoslovakia and criticizes "groups" that stand behind the current development in Czechoslovakia.
• Governmental officials, especially Communist party boss Milo? Jake?, keep their hard-line position and seem increasingly out of touch. In the night, they call 4000 members of the "People's Militia" (Lidové milice, paramilitary organization subordinated directly to the Communist party) to Prague to crush the protests, but they are called off in the last moment.
• Wednesday November 22 ?
• Civic Forum announced a two-hour general strike for Monday November 27.
• First live reports from the demonstration on Wenceslas Square appear on federal TV (quickly cut off once one of the participants denounces present government in favor of Alexander Dub?ek).
• Striking students force the representatives of Slovak government and of the Communist Party of Slovakia to participate in a dialogue, in which the official representatives are immediately put on the defensive.
• Employees of the Slovak section of Czechoslovak TV Bratislava require the leaders of Czechoslovak TV to provide true information on the events in the country, otherwise they would initiate a strike of TV employees. Uncensored live reports from demonstrations in Bratislava follow.
• Thursday November 23 -
• TV shows in evening news, how factory workers booed Miroslav ?t?pánn, Prague Communist Secretary and the most loathed politician. Army informs the Communist leadership of its readiness (luckily, it was never used against demonstrators).
• Czechoslovak Army and the Ministry of Defense are preparing for actions against the opposition. Immediately after the meeting, however, the Minister of Defense holds a TV address, in which he says that the army would never undertake interventions against the Czechoslovak people and calls to stop the demonstrations.
• Friday November 24 -
• Milo? Jake? is replaced by puppet politician Karel Urbánek as the General Secretary of Communist Party.
• Federal TV shows pictures from November 17 for the fist time and the first TV address of Václav Havel, dealing mostly with the planned general strike. Czechoslovak TV and Radio announce that they will join the general strike.
• A discussion with representatives of the opposition is broadcast on the Slovak section of Czechoslovak TV. It is the first free discussion on Czechoslovak TV since its foundation. As a result, the editorial staffs of Slovak newspapers start to join the opposition.
• Saturday November 25 -
• New Communist leadership holds a press conference. They immediately lost credibility as they kept Miroslav ?t?pán, left out Ladislav Adamec and did not address any of the demands. Later that day, ?t?pán resigned from his position of Prague Communist Secretary.
• The number of participants in the regular anti-governmental demonstration in Prague reached 800 000 people. Demonstrations in Bratislava had a maximum number of participants around 100 000.
• Sunday November 26 -
• Prime Minister Ladislav Adamec meets Václav Havel for the first time.
• The editorial staff of Slovakia's Pravda, the central newspaper of the Communist Party of Slovakia, joins the opposition.
• Monday November 27 - Two-hour general strike takes place throughout the country between 12:00 and 14:00, supported by 75 % of population. Ministry of Culture released anti-Communist literature for public borrowing in libraries, which effectively ended censorship. This concludes the "popular" phase of the revolution, with many public demonstrations. The following victories, though supported by students' and actors' strike until December 29, will be achieved mainly through negotiations between the governments, the Civic Forum and Public Against Violence.