The Velvet Revolution

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The Velvet Revolution

The Velvet Revolution is not about delicious red velvet cake but instead sweet freedom of a new government. Even better than a new government it was short and sweet as well. The Velvet Revolution took place in Czechoslovakia from November 17,1989 and ended December 29, 1989. Czechoslovakia was located in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west, Austria to the south, Slovakia to the east, and Poland to the north.When I choose this revolution I was intrigued by the name of it. Also, I wanted a non-violent revolution and that’s exactly what I found.

Before the outbreak of World War I, Slovakia was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and declared its independence in October 1918, joining the Czech provinces of Bohemia, Moravia, and Silesia to form the Republic of Czechoslovakia. Czechoslovakia in the interwar period was the only functioning parliamentary democracy in eastern Europe. Even though it was the only functioning parliamentary democracy, the Czechs and Slovaks had issues that divided them from one another. In the Czech lands, they were more populated and industrialized than Slovakia’s. The Slovak population was also poorer, less educated, and extremely Catholic. The Prague government (Prague is the capital of Czechoslovakia; and why the government is called the Prague government) “attempted to address these economic inequalities by industrializing Slovakia in the 1920s but these efforts were cut short by the Great Depression (Merriman, Winter 2358). The result from the attempted fixes was the Slovaks grew resentful in the 1930s and a separatist movement began, which was led by Father Andrej Hlinka and Jozef Tiso.

In September of 1938, Czechoslovakia was dismembered due to the Munich agreement...

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Ed. John Merriman and Jay Winter. "Velvet Revolution." Europe Since 1914: Encyclopedia of the Age of War and Reconstruction. Vol. 5. Detroit: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2006. 2623-2626. World History in Context. Web. 28 Feb. 2014.

Ed. John Merriman and Jay Winter. "Slovakia." Europe Since 1914: Encyclopedia of the Age of War and Reconstruction. Vol. 4. Detroit: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2006. 2358-2359. World History in Context. Web. 11 Mar. 2014.

Ed. John Merriman and Jay Winter. "1989." Europe Since 1914: Encyclopedia of the Age of War and Reconstruction. Vol. 4. Detroit: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2006. 1874-1880. World History in Context. Web. 11 Mar. 2014.

"The Velvet Revolution: A Peaceful End to Communism in Czechoslovakia." Tavaana. E-Collaborative for Civic Education, n.d. Web. 28 Feb. 2014.

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