6. Social and political background of the Czech society – “velvet revolution” and “velvet
divorce”



   Lecturer: Pavel Pšeja


Objective:  to explain trends leading towards the change of the regime and consequent dissolution
of Czechoslovakia.



Lecture: Analysis of reasons leading to the so-called “velvet revolution” will be presented in the
first part of the lecture. Attention will be paid not only to internal influences but also to the
quality of the international environment as a background to the change of the regime in
Czechoslovakia. In the second part, differences between the Czech and Slovak parts of the state
will be discussed with a special emphasis on the role of the economy and nationalism in the process
of the gradual break-up of Czechoslovakia.



Assigned reading:

·        Kraus, Michael, Stanger, Allison (eds.) Irreconcilable Differences? Explaining
Czechoslovakia’s Dissolution. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2000, pp. 7-25.



·        Additional reading:

·        Večerník, Jiří; Matějů, Petr, (eds.) Ten Years of Rebuilding Capitalism: Czech Society
after 1989.  Praha: Academia, 1999.

·        Olson, David M. “Democratization and Political Participation: The Experience of the Czech
Republic”. In Dawisha, K., Parrott, B., The Consolidation of Democracy in East-Central Europe.
Cambridge: CUP, 1997, pp. 150-196.



Issues for discussion:

The role played by the Czech and Slovak political parties in the “velvet divorce”.

The role played by the Czech and Slovak mass media at the “velvet divorce”.