BRATISLAVA, Slovakia—Thousands of people in both the Czech Republic and Slovakia went to the streets in recent days to commemorate the so-called “Velvet Revolution”: the non-violent movement that 20 years ago caused the fall of the communist regime in then Czechoslovakia.
The revolution was labeled as “velvet” by a Czech journalist and the term quickly spread in foreign media. It was called as such due to its non-violent nature, since no one was killed during the overthrow of the communist rule.
In Prague, tens of thousands gathered on Nov. 17 to commemorate the Velvet Revolution. A concert called “20 Years Without Curtain” launched the career of former dissident and the first post-communist President Vaclav Havel.
Concerts, rallies, and re-enactments of the communist state were organized to recall the events in 1989, when student demonstrations in Prague, suppressed by the riot police, sparked other mass protests on the streets, ultimately leading to the collapse of the Communist Party’s power.
