SLAVC 90 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Public Against Violence, Wenceslas Square, Velvet Revolution
Document Summary
Lecture 8: power of the powerless and the habsburg legacy. German rule, national anthem); theater one of few free spaces. Havel began public career in czechoslovakia as playwright; most prominent dissident, philosopher, became de-facto leader of velvet revolution (along with other actors) formation of czech civic forum-- small group of almost exclusively intellectuals with wide variety of views. Wanted change in political regime, not economic disruption. Czechoslovakia and east germany most economically successful in. Czechoslovakia generally conservative, with neo-stalinist tendencies, never reformed fully until 1968, so change in czechoslovakia came later than it did in other countries in soviet. Bloc after wwii, some support for ussr in poland because they saw it as way to guarantee. 1948 coup-- stalin"s communist party took over homegrown communists elected after. Wwii conservative neo-stalinist communist party in czechoslovakia from post wwii to velvet. Revolution to guarantee compliance with normalization, used informants, police harassment, mass firings, loyalty oaths, etc.