The Velvet Revolution: Czechoslovakia, 1988-1991 PDF
Preview The Velvet Revolution: Czechoslovakia, 1988-1991
The Velvet Revolution The Velvet Revolution Czechoslovakia, 1988-1991 Bernard Wheaton and Zdenek Kavan ~~ ~~o~!~:~i~G~oup New York London First published 1992 by Westview Press Published 2018 by Routledge 7111hirdAvenue, New York, NY 10017, USA 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN Routledge is an imprint oft he Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business Copyright© 1992 Taylor & Francis All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Wheaton, Bernard. The velvet revolution : Czechoslovakia, 1988-1991 I Bernard Wheaton and Zden~k Kavan. p. em. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-8133-1203·5.-ISBN 0-8133-1204-3 (pbk.) 1. Czechoslovakia-Politics and government-1968-1989. 2. Czechoslovakia-Politics and government-1989- I. Kavan, Zden~k. II. Title. DB2228.7.W47 1992 943.704'3-dc20 92-8442 CIP ISBN 13: 978-0-8133-1204-0 (pbk) Contents List of Illustrations ix Acknowledgments xi A Rough Guide to the Pronunciation of Czech and Slovak xiii List ofA cronyms XV PART ONE THE LONG DECAY OF THE COMMUNIST SYSTEM IN CZECHOSLOVAKIA 1 Normalization and Soviet Foreign Policy: Brezhnev to Gorbachev 3 The Features of Normalization, 6 Public Compliance, 9 Organized Dissent: The Emergence of Charter 77, 11 Brezhnev and Beyond, 14 2 The Czechoslovak Regime in Crisis: August 1988 to October 1989 23 Growth of Public Criticism, 24 Economic Difficulties, 30 Changes in Eastern Europe, 30 PART TWO THE NOVEMBER REVOLUTION 3 Black Friday 39 The March Begins, 41 Empty Hands-and Violence, 44 The Staging of the Attack, 47 v vi Contents 4 The Toppling of the Stalinists 49 The Growing Cast, 52 The Role of the SUY, 58 The Party and the People Respond, 61 5 The Collapse of the Old Regime 83 The Letna Demonstration, 88 Stepan's Removal, 92 Winning the Public Over, 94 The Presidential Election, 108 6 Reflections on the Revolution 113 The Possibility of Conspiracy, 113 Historical Precedents, 115 PART THREE THE FOUNDATIONS OF THE POST-COMMUNIST STATE 7 The Establishment of Democratic Structures: januaryrojune1990 127 The Political Sphere, 130 The Economic Sphere, 139 The Social Sphere, 143 Europe and the International Sphere, 147 The Elections, 149 8 The Process of Transition: june 1990 to March 1991 153 The Economy: Monetarism Versus Keynesianism, 154 CF: The Shift to the Right, 164 Federalism Versus Separatism, 168 The Status of Women and the List of Rights, 172 Czechoslovakia and the World, 173 9 Postscript: March 1991 to january 1992 175 The Ongoing Crisis of Nationalism, 177 Contents vii Making a Clean Break: Purges, 179 Unsettled Economy, Uncertain Future, 182 Appendix A: The Voice of the Street- Slogans of the Revolution 187 AppendixB: Documents of the Revolution 195 Appendix C: Public Opinion During the Revolution 219 Appendix D: Vaclav Ravel-A Biographical Cameo 223 Notes 225 Selected Bibliography 235 About the Book and Authors 239 Index 241 Illustrations Photographs Flower-power and armed force: Members of the Socialist Union of Youth confront each other on National Avenue 44 The National Theater in the service of the revolution 53 Vaclav Havel 57 The flowering of slogans on the statue of St. Wenceslas in Prague 63 The sounds of liberty in the streets of Prague 66 A civic sense reborn, Prague 72 Vaclav Havel and Alexander Dubcek on Wenceslas Square 73 The general secretary of the CPC, Milos Jakes, on the evening of his resignation 81 Milos Jakes listens to criticism in Parliament 86 Three-quarters of a million people gather to demonstrate on Letna in Prague 89 The dismantling of an agitprop slogan that reads "Glory to Communism" at the Kolben-Danek works 96 The new general secretary of the party, Karel Urbanek 101 The economist Valtr Komarek, who was shortly to become deputy prime minister 103 Parliamentary delegates slumber through a nightmare 105 A message from the citizens of Olomouc: "Fly away to warmer climes" 107 Cartoon section begins on page 119 ix
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