Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
the Velvet revolution of 1989
On the afternoon of November 17, 1989, 30,000 students
gathered in Prague's New Town to commemorate the 50th
anniversary of the suppression of student protests by the
Nazis, which had led to the closing of Czech universities
through the end of World War II. The 1989 demonstration—
initially planned by the Communist Youth as a celebration of
the communist victory over fascism—spontaneously turned
into a protest
against
the communist regime. “You are just
like the Nazis!” shouted the students. The demonstration was
planned to end in the National Cemetery at Vyšehrad (the hill
just south of the New Town). But when the planned events
concluded in Vyšehrad, the students decided to march on
toward Wenceslas Square, making history.
As they worked their way north along the Vltava River
toward the New Town's main square, the students were care-
ful to keep their demonstration peaceful. Any hint of violence,
the demonstrators knew, would incite brutal police retaliation.
Instead, as the evening went on, the absence of police became
conspicuous. (In the 1980s, the police never missed a chance
to participate in any demonstration...preferably outnumbering
the demonstrators). At about 20:00, as the students marched
down this very stretch of street toward Wenceslas Square,
three rows of policemen suddenly blocked the demonstration
at the corner of Národní and Spálená streets. A few minutes
later, military vehicles with fences on their bumpers (having
crossed the bridge by the National Theatre) appeared behind
the marching students. This new set of cops compressed the
demonstrators into the stretch of Národní Třída between
Voršilská and Spálená. The end of Mikulandská street was also
blocked, and policemen were hiding inside every house entry.
The students were trapped.
At 21:30, the “Red Hats” (a special anti-riot commando
force known for its brutality) arrived. The Red Hats lined
up on both sides of this corridor. To get out, the trapped
students had to run through the passageway as they were
beaten from the left and right. Police trucks ferried captured
students around the corner to the police headquarters (on
Bartolomějská) for interrogation.
The next day, university students throughout Czecho-
slovakia decided to strike. Actors from theaters in Prague
and Bratislava joined the student protest. Two days later, the
students' parents—shocked by the attacks on their children—
marched into Wenceslas Square. Sparked by the events of
November 17, 1989, the wave of peaceful demonstrations
ended later that year on December 29, with the election of
Václav Havel as the president of a free Czechoslovakia.
