"was the demonstrators' way of telling the Communists, ""Goodbye, it's time to go home."" A commemorative 2 Euro coin was issued by Slovakia on 17 November 2009, to mark the twentieth anniversary. The coin depicts a bell with a key adjoining the clapper. Ursula K. Le Guin wrote a short story, ""Unlocking the Air"", in which the jingling of keys played a central role in the liberation of a fictional country called Orsinia. Velvet Revolution The Velvet Revolution () or Gentle Revolution () was a non-violent transition of power in what was then Czechoslovakia, occurring from 17 November to 29"
"On 20 December, Adamec became general secretary of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. However, he was not the de facto leader of the country; the party had given up its monopoly of power on 29 November. In March 1990, Adamec became the chairman of the Communist Party. The post was created with his appointment. The Velvet Revolution lasted from 17 November to 29 December 1989. During the Velvet Revolution student protesters took to the streets of Prague in what became an overthrow of the government. Large demonstrations that occurred on 25 and 26 November, and a public strike on 27"
"of a student protest in Prague, increasing protests swelled to an estimated half-million Czechs and Slovaks demanding freedoms. A two-hour general strike, involving all citizens of Czechoslovakia, was held on November 27, 1989. Barbed wire and other obstructions were removed from the border with West Germany and Austria in early December. The next day, the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia announced that it would relinquish power and dismantle the one-party state. On December 10, President Gustáv Husák appointed the first largely non-Communist government in Czechoslovakia since 1948, and resigned, in what was called the Velvet Revolution. In the People's Republic of"
"bureau in Moscow. RFE/RL also played a significant role in the 1989 Velvet Revolution, which brought an end to the communist regime in Czechoslovakia. Following the November 17 demonstrations and brutal crackdown by Czechoslovak riot police, RFE/RL's Czechoslovak service reported that a student, Martin Šmíd, had been killed during the clashes. Although the report later turned out to be false – Šmid was alive and well – the story is credited by many sources with inspiring Czechoslovak citizens to join the subsequent (larger) demonstrations which eventually brought down the communist government. Upon hearing about the story, RFE/RL did not run"
"Revolutions of 1989 The Revolutions of 1989 formed part of a revolutionary wave in the late 1980s and early 1990s that resulted in the end of communist rule in Central and Eastern Europe and beyond. The period is sometimes called the Fall of Nations or the Autumn of Nations, a play on the term Spring of Nations that is sometimes used to describe the Revolutions of 1848. The events of the full-blown revolution first began in Poland in 1989 and continued in Hungary, East Germany, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia and Romania. One feature common to most of these developments was the extensive"
"Romanian Revolution The Romanian Revolution () was a period of violent civil unrest in the Socialist Republic of Romania in December 1989 and part of the Revolutions of 1989 that occurred in several countries. The Romanian Revolution started in the city of Timișoara and soon spread throughout the country, ultimately culminating in the show trial and execution of longtime Communist Party General Secretary Nicolae Ceaușescu and his wife Elena, and the end of 42 years of Communist rule in Romania. It was also the last removal of a Marxist-Leninist government in a Warsaw Pact country during the events of 1989,"
"Martin Šmíd Martin Šmíd was a fictitious Czechoslovak university student, who was supposedly killed in the police attack on the November 17, 1989 student demonstration in Prague that launched Czechoslovakia's Velvet Revolution. The rumour of Šmíd's death was spread by Drahomíra Dražská, a porter at a student dormitory in the city's Troja district. The dissident Charter 77 activist Petr Uhl believed her story and passed it along to Radio Free Europe, the BBC and Voice of America, who broadcast it. The news of a student's death shocked many, and the rumour is thought to have contributed to the fall of"
"alias"". Among those to testify against him was Stella Rimington, using the alias ""Miss J"". The jury returned a guilty verdict after just 45 minutes deliberation, and on 3 March 1989 he was sentenced to ten years imprisonment. He was subsequently held at HM Prison Parkhurst. While he was in Parkhurst, the 1989 Velvet Revolution saw the overthrow of communism in Czechoslovakia. On 1 January 1993, Czechoslovakia peacefully dissolved, with its constituent states becoming the independent states of the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Following an unsuccessful escape attempt and a period on hunger strike, as well as lobbying on his"
"activities, which went as far as a ban on professional employment, the refusal of higher education for the dissidents' children, police harassment and prison. In 1989, the Velvet Revolution restored democracy. This occurred at around the same time as the fall of communism in Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary and Poland. Within three years communist rule was extirpated from Europe. The word ""socialist"" was removed from the country's full name on 29 March 1990 and replaced by ""federal"". In 1992, because of growing nationalist tensions in the government, Czechoslovakia was peacefully dissolved by parliament. On 1 January 1993 it formally separated into"
"ministries, such as Education, were formally transferred to the two republics. However, the centralised political control by the Communist Party severely limited the effects of federalisation. The 1970s saw the rise of the dissident movement in Czechoslovakia, represented (among others) by Václav Havel. The movement sought greater political participation and expression in the face of official disapproval, making itself felt by limits on work activities (up to a ban on any professional employment and refusal of higher education to the dissident's children), police harassment and even prison time. In late-1989, the country became a democratic country again through the Velvet"
"principles and that the Warsaw Pact had ""no relevance to real life."" Revolutions of 1989 The Revolutions of 1989 formed part of a revolutionary wave in the late 1980s and early 1990s that resulted in the end of communist rule in Central and Eastern Europe and beyond. The period is sometimes called the Fall of Nations or the Autumn of Nations, a play on the term Spring of Nations that is sometimes used to describe the Revolutions of 1848. The events of the full-blown revolution first began in Poland in 1989 and continued in Hungary, East Germany, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia and"
"student leaders, including František Skorkovský. Over 1,200 Czech students were interned in the Sachsenhausen concentration camp. Opletal's remains were transferred to his native village of Náklo in the Olomouc Region. The murder of Jan Opletal and the subsequent closure of the Prague University led to solidarity demonstrations at the University of Belgrade on 18 November 1939. On the 50th anniversary of the Sonderaktion Prag, 16 and 17 November 1989, demonstrations were held in Bratislava and Prague. The uprising finally led to the Velvet Revolution and the election of Václav Havel as President on 29 December 1989. The Prague demonstrators chose"
"the events of November 17, Zifčák continued his undercover work, casting doubts on his role as Martin Šmíd since the operation would be compromised had he been recognized. Martin Šmíd Martin Šmíd was a fictitious Czechoslovak university student, who was supposedly killed in the police attack on the November 17, 1989 student demonstration in Prague that launched Czechoslovakia's Velvet Revolution. The rumour of Šmíd's death was spread by Drahomíra Dražská, a porter at a student dormitory in the city's Troja district. The dissident Charter 77 activist Petr Uhl believed her story and passed it along to Radio Free Europe, the"
"the limitations of the communist era, the Czech Republic has become socially relatively liberal since the Velvet Revolution in 1989 and is one of the most gay-friendly countries in the European Union. This increasing tolerance is probably helped by the low levels of religious belief in the country, particularly when compared to its neighbours Poland, Austria and Slovakia. There is a comparatively large gay community in Prague, much less so in the rest of the country, with the capital acting as a magnet for the country’s gay youth. The city has a large and well-developed gay nightlife scene, particularly centred"
"that the Velvet Revolution is a legitimate revolution because it is a ""revolutionary situation"" of contested sovereignty that lead to a transfer of power (""revolutionary outcome""). In the months leading up to and during the revolution, citizens dispersed ideas using flyers distributed en masse. Hundreds of discrete flyers with varying messages were printed, but most shared the same ideals. In the summer of 1989, one of the most widely circulated documents was ""The Eight Rules of Dialogue,"" which advocated for truth, understanding and empathy, informed and respectful discussion, abstaining from ad hominem attacks, and an open mind. Other documents focused"
"less on communication techniques and more on ideals. Democracy, freedom, nonviolence, fairness, and humanness were prevalent themes, as well as self-organisation, political representation, and improved working conditions. Conspiracy theorists tried to portray the revolution as a plot by the StB, KGB, reformists among party members or Mikhail Gorbachev. According to these theories, the Communist Party only transformed its power into other, less visible forms and still controls society. Belief in such theories has decreased, but well-known individuals such as KGB defector Anatoliy Golitsyn and Czech dissident (and former friend of Havel) Petr Cibulka still contend that the 1989 Velvet Revolution"
"and German. In the enthusiastic November days of 1989, during the Velvet Revolution, Kryl returned to Czechoslovakia to attend his mother’s funeral. At first he was thrilled, but he later reportedly became disappointed with the transformation of society. He continued to write protest songs criticising politicians and others responsible for the failure of the country’s transition to an authentic democracy, especially those who left the Communist party in or after 1989. Kryl attacked those who sought to manipulate the Czech and Slovak citizens by nationalist catchphrases and lies about economic transformation. Due to the conditions in the country that he"
"for the enactment of a single 'three-in-one' constitution, serving the federation and both republics. Through the consent of both national councils, both republics waived their entitlement to their own constitutions. But very soon, the events of the Velvet Revolution in 1989 changed everything. As early as the plenary session of the Slovak National Council on 30 November 1989, deputy Majer asked whether it would be necessary to re-enact the provision on the way of enactment together with the new constitution, or whether the resolution of the Slovak National Council from the end of October would stay intact. In its next"
"Public Against Violence Public Against Violence (, VPN) was a political movement established in Bratislava, Slovakia in November 1989. It was the Slovak counterpart of the Czech Civic Forum. Public Against Violence (VPN) was founded during the Velvet Revolution, which overthrew the Communist Party rule in Czechoslovakia. After riot police cracked down on a student demonstration in Prague on the 17 November 1989 a growing series of demonstrations were held in Czechoslovakia. On the 19 November Civic Forum was founded in Prague as a coalition of opposition groups demanding the removal of the Communist leadership. The same evening a meeting"
"that curious or careless West German strollers overlooked border markers and mistakenly entered Czechoslovak territory, which could lead to their arrest. Czechoslovakia witnessed the drama at the West German embassy in Prague, where thousands of East Germans were hiding. This wore down the patience of the Czechoslovak authorities, who eventually gave in, letting all East Germans travel directly to West Germany from 3 November 1989, thus breaking the Iron Curtain. On 17 November 1989, the Velvet Revolution succeeded. The barbed wire on the borders with East Germany and Austria was removed from 5 December onwards, and from 11 December the"
"14-15 thousand of people in attendance. On September 16, 1989, the band had a big concert at the amphitheatre of Bratislava, that was recorded by professional film crew. In November 1989, when the Velvet Revolution broke out and the first demonstrations against the Communist Party for democracy began to appear, Ďurinda provided his guitar equipment and he installed a sound system in Hviezdoslavovo Square in Bratislava by four reproboxes and two amplifiers during the first three days of revolution. The song ""Pravda víťazí"" (The Truth Wins) became an unwritten anthem of Velvet Revolution. Repeatedly was this song was in first"
"for liberalization of communism in Czechoslovakia culminated in the Prague Spring, which was crushed by the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia in August 1968. In 1989, the Velvet Revolution ended the Communist rule in Czechoslovakia peacefully. Slovakia became an independent state on 1 January 1993 after the peaceful dissolution of Czechoslovakia, sometimes known as the Velvet Divorce. Slovakia is a high-income advanced economy with a very high Human Development Index, a very high standard of living and performs favourably in measurements of civil liberties, press freedom, internet freedom, democratic governance and peacefulness. The country maintains a combination of market economy"
"namely the Slovak national council and the board of commissioners. With the Velvet Revolution of 1989 and the end of the Soviet Union, the historic differences between the Czechs and the Slovaks came back. Those were mainly expressed through different political and economic viewpoints. While Slovaks were more attached and committed to state welfare and ownership, Czechs were wishing for a quick change to the western model of capitalism. Moreover, there were intense debates on renaming the country, with various hyphened versions of Czechoslovakia (this conflict was called the Hyphen War). In addition, the system of checks and balances set"
"streets to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution, where there were also demonstrations against the Czech President Zeman. In Greece, 20,000 took to the street to commemorate the anniversary of the Athens Polytechnic uprising. In the weekend leading up to 17 November 100,000 students mobilised across Italy against Matteo Renzi's Buona Scuola reforms and the Jobs Act, demanding instead a free education that guaranteed student rights; whilst on the 17 November itself, thousands of students joined occupations and symbolic actions at universities and schools across the country. In Macedonia, thousands mobilised against changes to student evaluation and in"
"towns and cities in Slovakia as well as 17 other cities around the world. In Bratislava alone, about 60,000 people held a protest march, the biggest turnout of any demonstration since the Velvet Revolution in 1989. The protests were endorsed by several universities in Slovakia and the Czech Republic, teachers, school associations, artists and non-governmental organisations. 21 universities cancelled afternoon lectures to allow students and employees to attend the protests. Two days after Prime Minister Fico's resignation, an even larger demonstration was held in Bratislava with over 65,000 people participating under slogans such as ""Enough of Smer"" and ""Early elections""."
"1986 Yellow Revolution in the Philippines where demonstrators offered peace flowers to military personnel manning armoured tanks. The first of these was Otpor! (""Resistance!"") in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, which was founded at Belgrade University in October 1998 and began protesting against Miloševic' during the Kosovo War. Most of them were already veterans of anti-Milošević demonstrations such as the 1996-97 protests and the 9 March 1991 protest. Many of its members were arrested or beaten by the police. Despite this, during the presidential campaign in September 2000, Otpor launched its ""Gotov je"" (He's finished) campaign that galvanised Serbian discontent"
"Civic Forum The Civic Forum (Czech: ""Občanské fórum"", OF) was a political movement in the Czech part of Czechoslovakia, established during the Velvet Revolution in 1989. The corresponding movement in Slovakia was called Public Against Violence (Slovak: ""Verejnosť proti násiliu"" - VPN). The Civic Forum's purpose was to unify the dissident forces in Czechoslovakia and to overthrow the Communist regime. In this, they succeeded when the Communists gave up power in November 1989 after only 10 days of protests. Playwright Václav Havel, its leader and founder, was elected president on December 29, 1989. Although the Forum did not have a"
"the Velvet Revolution in 1989 the band has again been called ""Brutus"" and has performed every Friday and Sunday of the year all around the Czech Republic. They played with British UK Subs, TV Smith, Suzi Quatro, Dr. Feelgood or Slovak Zóna A, or No Name. They also cooperate with The Vibrators. The group appeared in the movie ""Indian Summer"" (1995) by Saša Gedeon. There have been 45 members in the history of the band. The founders of the band in 1966/7 were Vlastimil Beneš, Libor Laun, Michal Pleska, Miloslav Černý, Zdeněk Havelka, Vladimír Lankaš, Václav Matějka, Ivan Mikšovic, Jindřich"
"1989 because of unauthorised leaving of the Republic. After the fall of the Iron Curtain and end of communism in Czechoslovakia, people were allowed once again to travel freely in Europe and Rigo continued with his crimes abroad. On December 9, 1989, the same day he was released from prison, and a mere three weeks after the start of the Velvet Revolution, he traveled to Vienna without any valid passport. There, he acquired a fake Yugoslavian passport in the name of ""Nedo Ikic"". Later, he traveled to West Germany to meet his brother. In Bavaria he asked for asylum using"
"Communism (and the co-organizer, with Jana Hybášková, of its preceding conference) and the Declaration on Crimes of Communism. He was also one of the politicians proposing the creation of the Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes. In 2007, he proposed a ban on ""communist and all totalitarian propaganda and symbols"". Martin Mejstřík Martin Mejstřík (born 30 May 1962 in Kolín) is a Czech politician and human rights activist. He is notable for his role as a student leader during the Velvet Revolution that led to the ousting of the Communist regime in Czechoslovakia in November 1989. He served as"
"in 1994. Public Against Violence has been seen to have failed due to an inability to establish a popular constituency; instead concentrating on government and parliamentary activities. More nationalist politicians were able to exploit this and played on public distrust of a Public Against Violence, that was perceived to be composed of the elite. Public Against Violence Public Against Violence (, VPN) was a political movement established in Bratislava, Slovakia in November 1989. It was the Slovak counterpart of the Czech Civic Forum. Public Against Violence (VPN) was founded during the Velvet Revolution, which overthrew the Communist Party rule in"
"stages he changed countries several times and he speaks 10 languages fluently. The ""Velvet Revolution"" (the bloodless revolution that broke out in Czechoslovakia on 17 November-29 December 1989. As a result, the Communist government was dismissed) and returns to Prague. In 1990, he returned to Czechoslovak, where he founded 17 commercial companies. Since 1994, he began to have serious problems with the ""Czech deep state"". In the Czech Republic in 1994, the Turkish nationals carrying a false identity were attacked by armed men. They are arrested by the collaborators of illegal persons in the Czech Police Service. Uzunoglu was imprisoned"
"Angels"", was in preparation with the state-owned printer and had already received 120,000 advance orders when it was banned. Hanzelka and Zikmund shared the fate of other Czechoslovak dissidents in the post-Prague Spring era, living meagerly for 21 years in menial jobs until the Velvet Revolution in 1989. Hanzelka was one of the dissident speakers at Wenceslas Square when the revolution began on 19 November. With the fall of the Communist government, Hanzelka and Zikmund were again acclaimed as heroes, with extensive interviews and rebroadcasts of their films. ""Life of Dreams and Reality"", a new book about their travel experiences,"