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The Czech Republic Postcommunist States and Nations Books in the series Belarus: A denationalized nation David R.Marples Armenia: At the crossroads Joseph R.Masih and Robert O.Krikorian Poland: The conquest of history George Sanford Kyrgyzstan: Central Asia’s island of democracy? John Anderson Ukraine: Movement without change, change without movement Marta Dyczok The Czech Republic: A nation of velvet Rick Fawn Uzbekistan: Transition to authoritarianism on the silk road Neil J.Melvin Romania: The unfinished revolution Steven D.Roper This book is part of a series. The publisher will accept continuation orders which may be cancelled at any time and which provide for automatic billing and shipping of each title in the series upon publication. Please write for details. The Czech Republic A NATION OF VELVET Rick Fawn harwood academic publishers Australia • Canada • France • Germany • India • Japan Luxembourg • Malaysia • The Netherlands • Russia Singapore • Switzerland This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2005. “To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.” Copyright © 2000 OPA (Overseas Publishers Association) N.V. Published by license under the Harwood Academic Publishers imprint, part of The Gordon and Breach Publishing Group. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Printed in Singapore. Amsteldijk 166 1st Floor 1079 LH Amsterdam The Netherlands British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN 0-203-64354-2 Master e-book ISBN ISBN 0-203-66980-0 (Adobe eReader Format) ISBN 90-5823-043-0 (hardcover) TABLE OF CONTENTS Chronology vi Preface xii Glossary of Abbreviations xiv Map of the Czech Republic xvi 1 The Legacies of History: From the Foundation to the 1 Velvet Revolution and the Velvet Divorce 2 Framing Velvet: The Institutional Arena and Rules of the 39 Game in Czech Politics 3 Patchwork Velvet: The Burst Bubble of the Czech 83 Economic Transformation 4 Exporting Velvet: The Czech Republic’s Foreign Policy 131 5 A Nation of Velvet? Towards a New Czech National 159 Identity Bibliography 167 Index 170 CHRONOLOGY 1918 28 October ‘Bloodless revolution’ when the Czechoslovak Committee announced the separation from Austria- Hungary of the Czech and Slovak lands. 11 November Proclamation of the Republic of Czechoslovakia. 1935 Treaties of Mutual Assistance signed separately with France and the Soviet Union; Beneš succeeded Masaryk as President. 1938 September Munich Agreement; Sudetenland given to Germany. 1939 March Bohemia and Moravia annexed to Germany; independent Slovakia proclaimed. 1944 August Slovak national uprising. 1945 5 April Košice Programme set postwar agenda. 29 June Carpathia transferred to USSR. 1946 16 May Communists won 38 percent in free election. 1948 25 February Communists in power and date after which seizures of property were restituted in post-communist Czechoslovakia. 9 May New constitution proclaimed Czechoslovakia a ‘people’s democracy’. 1949–1952 vii Intensified political persecution, including ‘show trials’ of leading communists such as Slánský. 1953 March Gottwald’s death follows Stalin’s; Novotný became KSČ leader; Zápotocký President. 1968 5 January Reformist Communists in power, led by Dubček. April Action Programme launched; called for revisions to socialism in practice. August Warsaw Pact intervention. 1969 1 January Czechoslovakia became federal political system when the only Prague Spring reform to be retained was implemented. 16 January Philosophy student Jan Palach immolated himself to protest end of Prague Spring. 17 April Dubček formally removed as KSČ leader; replaced by Husák. 1977 1 January Charter 77 signed by Czechoslovak dissidents such as Havel; several arrested as they attempted to post the document to government officials. 1987 April Gorbachev visited Prague. December Husák succeeded by Jakeš as KSČ leader. 1988 21 August Unsanctioned protests marked 20th anniversary of Warsaw Pact intervention. 1989 January Unsanctioned commemoration of death of Jan Palach broken up by police; many arrested, including Havel who was again sentenced to prison. 17 November Officially sanctioned student march attacked by police; injuries and rumours of a student death brought people out in support; peaceful protests of hundreds of thousands follow; umbrella opposition groups Civic Forum and Public Against Violence formed. viii 21 November PM Ladislav Adamec opened nominal talks with opposition. 27 November Two-hour orderly general strike involving millions. 29 November Federal Assembly annulled KSČ’s monopoly of power. 3 December Adamec’s proposal of communist-dominated coalition government rejected. 10 December Coalition government formed; 13 of 21 posts held by non-communists, although new Prime Minister Marian Čalfa was still KSČ member, he left the party in January. 28 December Dubček elected speaker of Federal Assembly. 29 December Havel elected President by Federal Assembly. 1990 19 April Czechoslovakia officially renamed the Czech and Slovak Federative Republic. 8–9 June First fully free elections after communism; Civic Forum and Public Against Violence won majority and created broad coalition government of all major parties, except Communist. 5 July Havel re-elected President by the new parliament. September Parliament’s ‘November 17 Commission’ established to investigate the Velvet Revolution and connections of MPs to the previous regime; start of the ‘lustration’ process. 22 September Czechoslovakia admitted to IMF. December Power-sharing agreement between federal government and republics passed by federal parliament. December Central Bank devalued Czechoslovak crown, made it internally convertible. 1991 1 January Price liberalization; trade with former socialist countries to be conducted hereafter in hard currency. February Civic Forum split into Klaus’s centre-right Civic Democratic Party and Dienstbier’s centre-left Civic Movement. March Pro-independence demonstrations in Slovakia; Havel attacked by protestors in Bratislava; Mečiar made new ix faction within Public Against Violence called Public Against Violence-for a Democratic Slovakia. May Movement for a Democratic Slovakia (HZDS) registered as new political party; a founding Congress was then held in June. 13 June Large-scale privatization begun. 21 June Last Soviet soldier left Czechoslovakia, ahead of the agreed end of June deadline. 1 July Warsaw Pact formally disbanded itself at a meeting in Prague. 1992 12 February ‘Milovy Agreement’ for common state. May First wave of coupon privatization begun. June Elections resulted in continued coalition of ODS, KDU-ČSL and ODA. June Čalfa’s federal government resigned; interim government established under Jan Stráský. 3 July Havel did not secure re-election as President; further attempts failed. 20 July Havel resigned as President. 23 July Klaus and Mečiar concluded agreement for separation of state, including a requirement of 60 percent majority vote in each republic’s parliament. 13 November Law on the separation of the Federation passed; included provisions for the division of federal property between the two constituent republics. 16 December Czech Constitution adopted. 19 December Czech National Council rejected filling new Czech Senate with sitting Czech members of the Federal Parliament; Senate to be empty until January 1997. 20 December The Czech Republic entered Central European Free Trade Area with Poland, Hungary and Slovakia. 1993 1 January Czech Republic officially in existence. 26 January Havel elected President of the Czech Republic; sworn in a week later. 8 February Czech Crown introduced.

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