slav90 10:21 notes - Traditional Stalinist planned...

Traditional Stalinist planned communities common in communist countries post-WWII.
SOCIAL DRAMA CON’T: THE VELVET REVOLUTION
Prague 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 a
vry long history in which this type of thinking is involved.
1. Call for genuine democracy informed by ethical pluralism. Central myth—we as Czechs
have been a genuinely democratic people way back before anyone even knew ideas of
democracy, in 14 th and 15 th centuries. Important aspect—not limited to the Gentry like
the Poles. Much broader notion for the Czechs. Build their national consciousness from
the bottom, on a plebian base. Ethical pluralism: many theories abt what is right and
what is wrong. Theories abt moral norms. May be incompatible w/ your own ideas of
what is right or wrong. Tolerance—other peoples’ views of right and wrong are
acceptable.
2. Want to be part of central Europe . Soviet bloc was horrible mistake/deviation from
trajectory of Czech history as it had been for hundreds of years before. Did not feel that
Russian 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 Slavic
lands. As Pan-Slavs, they look towards the Russians as a possible bulwark—bigger, only Slavs
with own state. For Czech Pan-Slavists in 19 th century , 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,” reform
socialism 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 own
inevitable demise. All attempts to appease demonstrators fail. Govt resigns and installs a new
coalition government dominated by non-communist. At this point the first demand of the Velvet
Revolution was met. That new gov’t elected Dubček as leader of the senate. Reintegration— 29 th
December elected 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 and
dissidence. This is Václav Havel. The people who were down and out are now on top. Change,
but also has continuity.