History of Czechoslovakia (1989–1992)

The last period in Czechoslovak history began with the Velvet Revolution from 17 to 28 November 1989 that overthrew the communist government, and ended with the dissolution of Czechoslovakia on 1 January 1993.

Velvet Revolution

Background

Although in March 1987 Gustáv Husák nominally committed Czechoslovakia to follow the program of perestroika, he nevertheless cautioned the party in October 1987 not to "hasten solutions too quickly" so as to "minimize the risks that could occur." (1 December 1987)

On 17 December 1987 Husák resigned as head of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSC). He retained, however, his post of president of Czechoslovakia and his full membership on the Presidium of the KSC. Husák's resignation was caused by failing health and by the increasing ambitions of the party members Miloš Jakeš, Ladislav Adamec, and Vasil Biľak which had been apparent since the spring of 1987. Miloš Jakeš, who replaced Husák as first secretary of the KSC, was sixty-five years of age at the time of his assumption of the most powerful post in the country. Other than the age difference and the fact that Jakeš was a Czech whereas Husák is a Slovak, there was little to distinguish the new leader from his predecessor. In his first pronouncements as the head of the KSC, Jakes assured the KSC's Central Committee that he would continue the cautious and moderate path of reform set forth by Husák. He called for a large-scale introduction of new technology as the means to "fundamentally increase the efficiency of the Czechoslovak economy."; However, he also warned that there would be no "retreat from the fundamental principles of socialism," adding that the party had learned well the "lesson from 1968-69 and know[s] where such a retreat leads." At the same time, Jakeš acknowledged Soviet pressure for reform by pledging to pursue economic restructuring, stating that "just as Soviet Communists, we too must observe the principle that more democracy means more socialism."

The Czechoslovak version of perestroika, which had slowly taken shape during the last months of Husák's rule under the guidance of the reformist and pro-Mikhail Gorbachev Czechoslovak Premier Lubomír Štrougal, called for a modest decentralization of state economic administration but postponed any concrete action until the end of the decade. The slow pace of the Czechoslovak reform movement was an irritant to the Soviet leadership. Economically, however, it was surely partly because on the one hand there were no serious economic problems at the standard-of-living level in Czechoslovakia as opposed to e.g. Poland, the Soviet Union and Hungary, and on the other hand the catastrophic initial effects of the reforms in the Soviet Union and Hungary could already be seen in the late 1980s.