On Nov. 17, 1989, students gathered in Prague to protest against the communist regime. The non-violent protest, known as the Velvet Revolution, eventually led to the fall of Czechoslovakia''s one-party government. This year marks the 33rd year since the protest. FTV reporter Stephany Yang spoke to a protester of the Velvet Revolution for an inside look at this pivotal moment.

This is Richard, a protester of the 1989 Velvet Revolution. He takes us down memory lane, showing us the exact spot where the protest took place 33 years ago.

Richard
Velvet Revolution protester
We were stopped here by the police, just over there at that crossroad. We were stopped as students by the police. For a couple of hours, we were just blocked. Some of the students tried to escape using the side roads. Some of the students escaped by ringing the bells to the buildings because they were afraid.

Richard was only 19 years old and a freshman in college. He recalls the fear that he felt.

Richard
Velvet Revolution protester
As I remember, after about two hours, the police received the order to dismiss the protest by the force with the shields, long wide rods, and helmets, they started to beat the front of the students. Some of them were injured, about tens up to 100 were made captive and imprisoned for a while.

The Velvet Revolution began on Nov. 17, 1989. Ten days after the demonstration, anti-communist activists led a two-hour general strike. By Nov. 20, 1989, a half million Czechs and Slovaks had gathered on Prague’s streets, and they took over Wenceslas Square. By the end of the year, activists had forced out the communist regime and launched a democratic regime in Czechoslovakia. Vaclav Havel became the last president of Czechoslovakia and the first president of the Czech Republic.

Richard
Velvet Revolution protester
The protest started in fact a little bit prior to this when the anniversary of the Soviet invasion of our country started of August 1988. Then another anniversary in January 1989, the anniversary of the death of the two students who burned themselves in a protest of that Soviet invasion. Then, people were so upset that any other anniversary was followed by the protest dismissed by the force by the police. Let''s say, as I translate from Czech: this was something like the last drop of the liquid to spread over the country. The people were so upset everywhere so they started to protest.

Richard says that for the Czech Republic, democracy was hard-fought. On the street where the protest took place, there’s a plaque that consists of nine bronze hands showing a "V" for victory, and the date “17.11.1989.” This plaque honors the protest that led to the fall of Czechoslovakia''s communist government 33 years ago.

Stephany Yang
FTV reporter
This is Stephany Yang and Huang Yu-chun, reporting in the Czech Republic.

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