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The Velvet Revolution was a non-violent overthrow of the communist government in Czechoslovakia in 1989, sparked by the suppression of a peaceful student demonstration. It led to democratic elections and the peaceful division of the country into Slovakia and the Czech Republic.
The Velvet Revolution was a non-violent revolution in Czechoslovakia that led to the overthrow of the communist government that had ruled that nation for over 40 years. It is often commemorated alongside other protests, rallies and marches held in former Soviet nations in the late 1980s. The history of this revolution is actually controversial, as historically it was presented as a series of spontaneous national protests, but may have been supported or at least permitted by the communist government.
The spark that ignited the Velvet Revolution came on November 17, 1989, when riot police blocked a peaceful student demonstration in Prague. The suppression of the demonstration led to a blossoming of similar demonstrations across the country. At the same time, other Eastern Bloc countries were beginning to experience political instability, as these nations’ Communist governments began to fall apart one by one. The dismantling of the Berlin Wall in Germany on November 9, 1989 is a particularly iconic example of the changing political mood in Eastern Europe during this period.
The demonstrations of the Velvet Revolution seemed to take the government by surprise. Students and other workers went on strike across Czechoslovakia and began meeting with members of the government in an effort to reach an agreement that satisfied all parties. On November 24, 1989, the government experienced a shock when the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia was replaced, but this was not enough to prop up the failing government.
On November 29, Parliament began to dismantle the political framework which had propped up the Communist Party as the leading political power in Czechoslovakia. By 10 December, the president had resigned after appointing a new government, paving the way for democratic elections in January 1990. On 29 December, it quickly became apparent that the Velvet Revolution had succeeded in effecting a bloodless change of government in Czechoslovakia , and the population put an end to strikes and demonstrations. Three years later, the country was peacefully divided into two nations, Slovakia and the Czech Republic.
Some historians call the Velvet Revolution the Gentle Revolution, especially in Slovakia. The revolution demonstrated that it was indeed possible to change a government without violence. The social upheaval caused by the strikes and demonstrations of the Velvet Revolution led the government to recognize the need for change, especially when viewed in the context of the collapse of communism throughout the Eastern Bloc.
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