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isfaction, compiling a staggering 500,000 signatures calling for greater freedom of worship.
But the twenty-first anniversary of the Soviet invasion produced a demonstration of only
10,000, which was swiftly and violently dispersed by the regime.
During the summer, however, more serious cracks began to appear in Czechoslovakia's
staunchhardlineally,theGDR.Thetrickleof
EastGermansfleeingtotheWest
turnedinto
amassexodus,withthousandsbesiegingtheWestGermanembassyinPrague.Honecker,the
East German leader, was forced to resign and by the end of October nightly mass demon-
strations were taking place on the streets of Leipzig and other German cities. The
fall of the
BerlinWall
on November 9 left Czechoslovakia, Romania and Albania alone on the Eastern
European stage still clinging to the old truths.
All eyes were now turned upon Czechoslovakia. Reformists within the KSČ began plotting
an internal coup to overthrow Jakeš, in anticipation of a Soviet denunciation of the 1968 in-
vasion. In the end, events overtook whatever plans they may have had. On Friday,
Novem-
ber 17
, a 50,000-strong peaceful demonstration organized by the official Communist youth
organization was viciously attacked by the riot police. More than one hundred arrests, five
hundredinjuriesandonedeathwerereported(thefatalitywaslaterretracted)inwhatbecame
popularly known as the
masakr
(massacre). Prague's students immediately began an occupa-
tion strike, joined soon after by the city's actors, who together called for an end to the Com-
munist Party's “leading role” and a general strike to be held for two hours on November 27.
Civic Forum and the VPN
On Sunday, November 19, on Václav Havel's initiative, the established opposition groups,
including Charter 77, met and agreed to form Občanské fórum, or
Civic Forum
. Their de-
mands were simple: the resignation of the present hardline leadership, including Husák and
Jakeš; an enquiry into the police actions of November 17; an amnesty for all political prison-
ers; and support for the general strike. In Bratislava, a parallel organization, Veřejnosť proti
nasiliu, or
People Against Violence
(VPN), was set up to coordinate protest in Slovakia.
On the Monday evening, the first of the really big
nationwide demonstrations
took place
- the biggest since the 1968 invasion - with more than 200,000 people pouring into Prague's
Wenceslas Square. This time the police held back and rumours of troop deployments proved
false. Every night for a week people poured into the main squares in towns and cities across
the country, repeating the calls for democracy, freedom and an end to the Party's monopoly
of power. As the week dragged on, the Communist media tentatively began to report events,
and the KSČ leadership started to splinter under the strain, with the prime minister,
Ladislav
Adamec
, alone in sticking his neck out and holding talks with the opposition.
The end of one-party rule
On Friday evening, Dubček, the ousted 1968 leader, appeared alongside Havel, before a
crowd of 300,000 in Wenceslas Square, and in a matter of hours the entire Jakeš leadership
