Traditional Stalinist planned communities common in communist countries post-WWII.SOCIAL DRAMA CON’T: THE VELVET REVOLUTIONPrague spring, self-immolation, Czech hockey team beats Soviet team.Investigate and punish people who incite/instigated the police riot, free polit prisoners, justice.List of demands grows, very typical expressions/articulations of Czech thought. Have roots in avry long history in which this type of thinking is involved.1.Call for genuine democracyinformed by ethical pluralism. Central myth—we as Czechshave been a genuinely democratic people way back before anyone even knew ideas ofdemocracy, in 14thand 15thcenturies. Important aspect—not limited to the Gentry likethe Poles. Much broader notion for the Czechs. Build their national consciousness fromthe bottom, on a plebian base. Ethical pluralism: many theories abt what is right andwhat is wrong. Theories abt moral norms. May be incompatible w/ your own ideas ofwhat is right or wrong. Tolerance—other peoples’ views of right and wrong areacceptable.2.Want to be part ofcentral Europe. Soviet bloc was horrible mistake/deviation fromtrajectory of Czech history as it had been for hundreds of years before. Did not feel thatRussian hegemonic culture was in any way part of their culture. Was part of austro-hungarian empire before WWI. Completely foreign—E Europe is not where they belong.Czechs develop the idea of Pan-Slavism as a reaction to the perceived germanification of Slaviclands. As Pan-Slavs, they look towards the Russians as a possible bulwark—bigger, only Slavswith own state. ForCzech Pan-Slavists in 19thcentury, went hand in hand for some of them w/Russophilism (love of Russia).On balcony: Václav Havel and Alexander Dubček. “Socialism with a human face,” reformsocialism from the inside. Old figure of resistance and the new.Dec 10—communist govt realizes that everywhere else in E Europe, communism had collapsed.Also realize that they can’t deal with the protests. Govt attempts to come to terms with its owninevitable demise. All attempts to appease demonstrators fail. Govt resigns and installs a newcoalition government dominated by non-communist. At this point the first demand of the VelvetRevolution was met. That new gov’t elected Dubček as leader of the senate. Reintegration—29thDecemberelected a person to the presidency who had been hounded for over a decade,imprisoned, forced out of his reg job and into a brewery. The face of Czech resistance anddissidence. This is Václav Havel. The people who were down and out are now on top. Change,but also has continuity.