36 years of Velvet Revolution in czechoslovakia
INTERNATIONAL – EUROPE
18 NOVEMBER 2025
- The Velvet Revolution refers to the non-violent, peaceful transition from communist rule to democracy in Czechoslovakia in 1989.
- Peaceful, non-violent revolution → hence “Velvet”
- Since 1948, Czechoslovakia was under a Soviet-backed communist government.
- Economic stagnation, political repression, and the effects of Gorbachev’s reforms (glasnost, perestroika) created pressure for change.
- It ended 41 years of communist rule.
- Move to democratic elections (first free elections in 1990).
- Set the stage for the peaceful split of Czechoslovakia into the Czech Republic and Slovakia in 1993 (known as the Velvet Divorce).
