10 Years After The Reovlution :: essays research papers

The so-called "Velvet revolution " ended the communist control of Czechoslovakia in late 1989. On November 17 the formal government allowed a demonstration, where people commemorated the 50th anniversary of a cruel suppression of a student demonstration in German-occupied Prague. However, history repeated itself and the students were brutally beaten by police. As a result a large protest movement developed. Demonstrations and strikes occurred across the whole country under the leadership of Obcanske forum, which was leaded by Vaclav Havel, a dissident playwright and Charter 77 signer. Following the political turmoil he became the new president of Czechoslovakia. Ten years after the Velvet Revolution many political and social changes have occurred within the former Czechoslovakia. The first major change was the peaceful split of the country to form two separate states, the Czech Republic and Slovakia as we know it today. Following this split much of the former communist infrastructure was disbanded including many state run industries in an attempt to make them more efficient and encourage investment. Former communist legislation preventing the freedom of speech was also passed out of law allowing people to express their political views and criticize government policies. For many people these changes introduced a great improvement in their standard of living. A wide variety of goods soon appeared in privately run shops which previously had only been available in western shops. People were also allowed to travel freely, which had been banned under the communists to prevent the breeding of discontent when people saw what was available in other countries. The country also prospered following increase foreign investment as western companies keen to exploit new markets entered the country for example the takeover of Skoda by the German run Volkswagen. However, the Velvet revolution did have some negative effects. The rationalization of state run companies meant that many people were put out of work