Nonviolent transition from communist rule in Czechoslovakia in November and December 1989, beginning with a police crackdown on a student demonstration in Prague on 17 November and escalating into nationwide strikes and mass protests coordinated by the Civic Forum opposition movement. The Communist Party leadership resigned within weeks, and playwright and dissident Vaclav Havel was elected president by the federal assembly on 29 December 1989. The name distinguished its bloodless character from the region's other 1989 revolutions.
Facts
Event DateProcess ran 17-28 November 1989 per the cited source; date given is the opening day, the Prague student demonstration and police crackdown. LocationCzechoslovakia, with mass demonstrations centered in Prague's Wenceslas Square. 1 Connections
Critiqued Here
Communism, Ideologies The Velvet Revolution was the mass, nonviolent rejection of four decades of Communist Party rule in Czechoslovakia, ending one-party Communist governance in the country.
Led By
Havel was the leading dissident figure and principal spokesman of Civic Forum during the 1989 revolution, elected President of Czechoslovakia at its close.
Source Vaclav Havel (Wikipedia)
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Sources
1. Velvet Revolution (Britannica)
Encyclopaedia BritannicaLead paragraphQuote, Lead paragraph
Velvet Revolution, nationwide protest movement in Czechoslovakia in November-December 1989 that ended more than 40 years of communist rule in the country.
2. Velvet Revolution (Wikipedia)
Wikipedia contributors, Wikimedia FoundationLead section, opening paragraphQuote, Lead section, opening paragraph
The Velvet Revolution was a non-violent transition of power in what was then Czechoslovakia, occurring from 17 November to 28 November 1989.
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