Communism & Velvet Revolution, 3 hrs

The Velvet Revolution was a non-violent revolution in Czechoslovakia that overthrew the totalitarian communist government. To many people it sounds like a fairytale with a good ending: On November 17, 1989, a Friday, the riot police suppressed a peaceful student demonstration in Prague. That event sparked a series of demonstrations. By November 20, the number of peaceful protesters assembled in Prague had swollen from 200,000 the previous day to an estimated half-million. A two-hour general strike, involving all citizens of Czechoslovakia, was held on November 27. Before the end of the year, Václav Havel, a long time persecuted leader of the opposition, became president. And in 1990, Czechoslovakia held its first free elections since 1946. For many of us it was quite moving reality! Let us share our experience and emotions with you.

The establishment of Czechoslovakia in 1918, the anti-Nazi up rise in 1945, the Communist coup in 1948, the Prague spring of 1968 and the Velvet revolution in 1989.