The course of events in November ’89 was prepared in cooperation with the Nation’s Memory Institute.

Already on the eve of the Prague demonstration, a peaceful student protest took place in Bratislava, unauthorized by the regime. The students gathered at Mierové Square (now Hodžovo Square) and continued with a march through the city, with more people joining them along the way.

The participants held hands and chanted: “We want freedom! We want democracy! We want school reform!” At Comenius University, they laid flowers at the site where, during the 1968 invasion, Soviet soldiers shot Danka Košanová. In this way, they linked their demands with a remembrance of the victims of the occupation and the regime’s persecuted opponents at that time (the Bratislava Five). The students ended their protest in front of the Ministry of Education building on Dobrovičova Street.

On this day, an officially authorized student event was held at Albertov in Prague to mark the 50th anniversary of the death of Jan Opletal, a victim of the Nazi regime. Many students from Slovakia attended as well. A. Dubček was also present at Albertov, but the State Security (ŠtB) detained him.

After the official program ended, the crowd moved towards the center of Prague, chanting slogans for freedom and democracy. The atmosphere was peaceful, but security forces surrounded the crowd and brutally beat them on Národní třída. The violent crackdown resulted in around 600 injured, 7 of them seriously.

That night, foreign media spread the news that a student, Martin Šmíd, had died as a result of the brutal police intervention. The report was later proven untrue, but the violence on Národní třída sparked an enormous wave of anger and solidarity within society toward the students.

In response to the crackdown on Národní třída, students at Prague universities decided to go on strike. By the afternoon, actors from Prague theaters had joined them. News of the violence and the strikes spread throughout the country by telephone and via broadcasts from foreign radio stations. Many citizens realized on this day just how far the regime was willing to go out of its fear of freedom.

Opponents and critics of the regime met on Saturday, November 18, 1989, at various locations in Prague and in Slovakia:

– Students from the November 16 march mobilized more classmates in the dormitories in Bratislava.

– In Bratislava and Pukanec, dissidents and critical intellectuals gathered, several of whom would go on to become founders of the civic initiative against the regime, Public Against Violence (VPN).

– In Šaľa, about 120 representatives of the Hungarian minority met and established the Hungarian Independent Initiative (MNI).

– In Prague, students called for a general strike to be held on November 27, 1989.

In Šaľa, approximately 120 Hungarian minority activists also gathered at Károly Tóth’s home. The result was the founding of the first civic initiative of the Velvet Revolution—the Hungarian Independent Initiative.

In the morning, Slovak artists gathered at the apartment of artist Miroslav Cipár and drafted a protest against the intervention in Prague. The signatories included artists Rudolf Sikora, Miroslav Cipár and Vilma Cipárová, Vladimír Kompánek, Jozef Jankovič, Ľubomír Longauer, Juraj Čarný, Daniel Fischer, Peter Horváth, Karol Lacko, director Martin Holý, and writer Ľubomír Feldek.

Rudolf Sikora suggested and immediately initiated a telephone “relay” to spread the word so people would gather that evening at 5:00 p.m. at Umelecká beseda (the Artists’ Club).

At actor Martin Huba’s home, Milan Kňažko, Marián Labuda, Milan Lasica and Július Satinský, Magda Vašáryová, dramaturg Martin Porubjak, and director Ivan Strnisko met. Together they adopted a statement condemning the brutality on Národní třída.

At 5:00 p.m., around 400–450 citizens gathered at Umelecká beseda. They discussed and signed both declarations. This marked the beginning of petition actions that continued in the following days.

However, among the participants at Umelecká beseda were also those who did not want the gathering to end as merely a petition. They called for the creation of more lasting structures of civic resistance against the regime. Thus, the community at Umelecká beseda entered a qualitatively new phase: the formation of the Public Against Violence (VPN) movement began.

At the close of the first meeting at Umelecká beseda, four individuals were proposed and approved by those present to oversee the next steps in forming the movement: Ján Budaj, Vladimír Kompánek, Vladimír Maňák, and Rudolf Sikora^[1]. This marked the creation of the first leadership structure of the Slovak democratic movement. The group immediately convened (in the corner of the exhibition hall) and drew others into the process. They agreed to hold a working session at noon on Monday.

Later that evening, actors at Malá scéna announced their theater strike. On Hviezdoslav Square, several active participants of the Umelecká beseda gathering spoke from the base of the statue of P. O. Hviezdoslav. This was the first of the community’s public protests.

On the same day, at 10:00 p.m., the Civic Forum (OF) movement was established in the Činoherní klub (Drama Club) in Prague. There were 18 founding members in total, including V. Havel among them.

The VPN and OF movements arose independently, yet they were united by a common goal—to oppose the totalitarian regime and the rule of the Communists.

_{1 ŽÁČEK, Pavel. STB na Slovensku za „normalizace“, Situačná správa ŠtB z Umeleckej besedy}

Source: Peter Šesták

Students from the November 16 march met to plan sit-in strikes at their faculties. On Monday, they occupied the auditoriums at the Faculty of Science and then the Faculty of Arts at Comenius University and declared a strike. The first Slovak student strike committees were formed, with the Faculty of Arts committee receiving support from their lecturer, Valér Mikula. Similarly, students at the Academy of Performing Arts (VŠMU) organized with the help of Juraj Alner.

According to the agreement made on November 19, representatives selected from the Umelecká beseda community gathered at noon. For practical reasons, they moved their meeting to the Malá scéna theatre, where, at the suggestion of Eugen Gindl, Ján Budaj took the lead. There, they adopted the name “Public Against Violence” (VPN) for the movement, and Ján Budaj was tasked with coordinating further activities. The movement’s first headquarters, for two days, was in the offices of an environmental organization on Markušova Street No. 2 (now Mariánska Street). VPN then accepted an invitation from VŠMU students, who had launched a sit-in strike at their school.

At the Malá scéna meeting, the emerging VPN movement also agreed on the name for its governing body: the Coordinating Committee (KV VPN).

After the meeting at Malá scéna, some members of the KV VPN went to the auditorium at Comenius University to meet with the striking students. Another group drafted VPN’s first political statement. The drafting involved Martin Bútora, Ján Budaj, Peter Zajac, Valér Mikula, Fedor Gál, Peter Tatár, and Alfréd Zimmermann.

At 5:00 p.m., the statement was read and approved by the assembly at Umelecká beseda. The main demands of VPN’s first programmatic document were the establishment of democracy, accountability for repression, and the initiation of public dialogue about the nature of the regime. The declaration ended with an appeal that defined the ideological concept of the democratic movement: “Let us, as citizens, take our affairs into our own hands!” There were so many attendees that most had to remain outside the building. Several speakers (for example, the artist Peter Horváth) relayed information from inside.

In the evening, speeches continued at a gathering of hundreds of citizens at the statue on Hviezdoslav Square, where several VPN founders spoke.

At VŠMU, students collected signatures in support of a general strike. Actors from Trnava, Martin, and Zvolen joined them.

In Žilina, about 300 students gathered in front of the dormitories. They discussed the events in Prague and the school administration invited them to negotiations.

In response to the mass protests, the Presidium of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia decided to deploy the People’s Militias (ĽM). Their units were armed with live ammunition and military equipment in the barracks. The Ministry of the Interior likewise placed its security forces in a state of “emergency situation.” The Czechoslovak People’s Army was put on combat alert.

The students continued their sit-in strike, speaking in front of the Comenius University building as well as at other sites in the city center. They refused to be intimidated by the regime’s official representatives and established cooperation with VPN. They were also very active in creating and distributing various leaflets, petitions, and posters.

Representatives of the Communist Party (KSČ) likewise tried to intimidate the actors of the Slovak National Theatre, but the actors rejected this and remained in solidarity with the students and VPN.

At 5:00 p.m., VPN’s founders met again at Umelecká beseda and adopted new political positions in response to the resistance of federal and national governments to the demands of students and the public. The gathering at Umelecká beseda approved an 11-member VPN Coordinating Committee composed of: Rudolf Sikora, Vladimír Kompánek, Miroslav Cipár, Milan Kňažko, Ján Budaj, Ladislav Snopko, Ľubomír Feldek, Fedor Gál, Eugen Gindl, Peter Zajac, and Martin Bútora.

Alongside the KV VPN, a group of so-called “agents” of the movement was created, whose mission was mainly to spread calls and petitions in their professional circles as well as in regions and towns outside Bratislava. Its members were: Valér Mikula, Mária Filková, Miroslav Kusý, Martin M. Šimečka, Miloš Žiak, Peter Tatár, Jozef Kučerák, Martin Porubjak, Bohuslav Kraus, Juraj Záriš, Jozef Jankovič, and Alfréd Zimmermann (12 people).

That same evening, around 15,000 people gathered at Gottwald Square (today’s Námestie slobody). This was the first mass demonstration in Slovakia. People ignored the bans and stepped out of the concrete corridors onto the elevated, muddy lawns of otherwise inaccessible “kochlíks.” Ján Budaj addressed the gathered crowd, climbing with a megaphone onto the roof of the kiosks at the lower part of the square. He introduced the VPN movement to those present and then called on them to march together through the city to Hviezdoslav Square. Along the way, the number of demonstrators grew even larger. The demonstration then continued with speeches by VPN protagonists from the base of the statue of P. O. Hviezdoslav.

On this day, anti-regime demonstrations also began in Košice, Banská Bystrica, Martin, and Žilina. Slovak university students issued a joint statement. They demanded free elections, pluralism, free media, and an investigation of the events of November 17.

Actors from the Hungarian Regional Theatre in Komárno also joined the protests, announcing that they would not perform any shows until November 27.

That evening, in a speech broadcast on federal Czechoslovak Television, the General Secretary of the KSČ Central Committee, Miloš Jakeš, rejected the demands of protesting citizens and defended the communist regime.

In Prague on this day, a spontaneous demonstration took place on Wenceslas Square. The movement OF used the opportunity, with its representatives for the first time appearing on the balcony of the Melantrich publishing house. Václav Havel introduced the movement, followed by speeches from Cardinal Tomášek and a performance by Marta Kubišová. OF attempted to establish contact with representatives of the regime, but without concrete results.

That evening, federal and republic interior ministers broadcast political statements on television, describing the protests as “anti-socialist efforts supported from abroad.” These media appearances aimed to intimidate the public. The communist regime signaled that it was prepared to defend its hegemony even by using the state’s armed units and the armed corps of the KSČ, the People’s Militias. The political crisis was deepening.

In the late morning, about 5,000 people gathered in front of the Justice Palace in Bratislava. They demanded the immediate release of Ján Čarnogurský, the last imprisoned member of the so-called Bratislava Five.

On this day, Ján Budaj, along with a VPN delegation, visited the Archdiocesan Office in Trnava and called on the highest representatives of the Roman Catholic Church to support the movement for freedom and democracy. The Archbishop of Trnava, Ján Sokol, published an open letter titled “To People of Good Will in Slovakia!” in which he demanded that state offices be held by people freely and democratically elected.

VPN organized its fourth demonstration, this time at SNP Square. On this day, the square was not yet filled, but the megaphone was already not enough for its large area. Sound for the event was provided by the rock band Tublatanka, with the help of L. Snopko. Imperfect sound technology created a characteristic echo, with which speakers on the stage had to contend (see the attached record from the November protests). The demonstration was opened by Ján Budaj and Milan Kňažko. Ján Budaj read an appeal to the Prime Minister, calling for the immediate resignation of those politicians responsible for repression and the overall decline of society, for the release of all political prisoners, and for the rehabilitation of the politically persecuted. He demanded opposition access to television and the media, legalization of the right to assemble and to form political parties, a new election law, and more.

At this demonstration, a greeting from the Civic Forum to Public Against Violence was also read, brought to Bratislava by Peter Zajac. In it, Václav Havel affirmed his commitment to transform “federalized totalitarianism” into a “democratic federation.” Through messages from various personalities and groups, VPN carried out its primary goal—to unite previously isolated groups of regime critics.

On this day, students in Košice organized a march through the city and lit candles at Liberation Square. Similar demonstrations took place in Trnava, where actors joined the students.

In Banská Bystrica, about 1,000 people gathered on Tuesday; in Zvolen, roughly 2,000. Protests were spreading across Slovakia.

The leadership of the Communist Party (KSČ), which commanded the party’s armed forces, the People’s Militias, issued an order on this day instructing the previously mobilized and armed People’s Militia units not to intervene. The main reason was the large number of protesters. Considerations about the use of other armed units, however, continued. The regime’s security forces—in other words, units of the National Security Corps (ZNB), State Security (ŠtB), and the Czechoslovak People’s Army—remained on alert. The People’s Militias also retained their weapons and live ammunition^[1].

_{1 In November 1989, the People’s Militias had about 84,000 members. The majority were from working-class occupations, and all were members of the Communist Party. Each member of the People’s Militia had access to a firearm. The weapons were stored in regional and local depots. They possessed 20,067 pistols, 71,054 submachine guns, 6,890 machine guns, 130 anti-aircraft machine guns, 358 mortars, 149 recoilless guns, 2,177 trucks and motorcycles, and 2,031 grenades.}

Thousands of people gathered in front of the Justice Palace in Bratislava to support Ján Čarnogurský. The court acquitted him—thus ending his imprisonment as the last remaining member of the Bratislava Five.

A second large rally was held at SNP Square, with a demand for opposition access to television. Alexander Dubček spoke and declared his support for the VPN movement by signing on.

Also taking the stage were Ján Čarnogurský’s lawyer, Tibor Böhm, the dissident Jiří Dienstbier, and a student from the Faculty of Theology. Martin Bútora spoke about the end of fear, while Miro Žbirka reminded listeners of Gorbachev’s role in societal change.

In the evening, demonstrations were also held in Banská Bystrica, Žilina, and Martin. These protests were organized by local students and drew hundreds of participants.

The Hungarian Independent Initiative voiced its support for the upcoming general strike, thereby joining OF and VPN.

In Prague, Václav Havel spoke at a mass demonstration, declaring that there could be no return to totalitarianism and that Czechoslovakia was choosing the path of freedom and democracy.

In the morning, representatives of VPN (with the delegation led by E. Gindl) met with the director of Czechoslovak Television in the Slovak Socialist Republic. In the afternoon, the sixth VPN demonstration took place at SNP Square. Among the speakers were poet Ján Štrasser, environmentalist Mikuláš Huba, and representatives of the workers. The main topic of the day was the call for a general strike. In his address, Ján Budaj described the ongoing events as a revolution—a “revolution of understanding and trust.”

Under the pressure of the demonstrations and the television strike committee, the television management decided to invite representatives of VPN to appear on the main evening broadcast. They were to be confronted by regime representatives, specifically leaders of the largest state enterprises. The intent of the television management and the Communist Party of Slovakia was to frighten the public away from participating in the general strike. Instead, the opposite effect was achieved. Thanks to the live broadcast, this moment can be considered the end of one of the main pillars of totalitarian power in Czechoslovakia—censorship.

Kňažko used the opportunity of the live broadcast to articulate VPN’s demand for the abolition of the Communist Party’s leading role. Ján Budaj defined the political aim of the movement as “democracy without adjectives”^[1]. By voicing these demands, several provisions of the dreaded Chapter I of the Penal Code (so-called crimes against the republic) were fulfilled. The public was shocked, as such political appeals had never been aired in the media of the occupied Czechoslovak Socialist Republic before.

The VPN representatives succeeded in mobilizing the public to participate in the general strike. Thus, a new tool of the Velvet Revolution was born—Studio Dialogue.

On this day, Košice witnessed a large demonstration in support of the general strike. In Prešov, students marched through the city. In Dunajská Streda, the Hungarian Independent Initiative made public its goals: parliamentary democracy, civil liberties, and equality for minorities.

The army and security forces held talks about the situation in the country^[2]. The Communist Party ordered the State Security (StB) to uncover the structures of the strikers and to use its power to intimidate and prevent the general strike.

During the night, Miloš Jakeš and the Presidium of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia in Prague collectively resigned. Karel Urbánek became the new General Secretary of the Party. Alexander Dubček declared that breaking with the policy of “normalization” was unconditional.

_{1 During the period of totalitarianism, the regime referred to itself as “socialist democracy.” Many, during the era of perestroika, expected a return to the program of “socialism with a human face,” that is, the program of the January Plenum of the Communist Party in 1968. The use of the term “democracy without adjectives” meant rejecting any continuation of reforms to the communist regime and envisaged a state in which democracy would not be tied to any political, religious, or racial ideology.}

_{2 The army and security forces continued to discuss the violent suppression of the protests on multiple occasions, most recently in Bratislava shortly before Christmas 1989.}

At SNP Square in Bratislava, approximately 100,000 people gathered for the seventh VPN protest. VPN demanded the establishment of press freedom and called on editorial teams to elect their own editors-in-chief without the dictates of the Communist Party.

On this day, the VPN movement published its twelve-point political program. It called for the creation of representative democracy and the rectification of the distorted federation, the earliest possible free elections, impartiality of the courts and prosecution, separation of church and state, and the establishment of the right to association, assembly, and free movement. It also called for the de-ideologization of education and culture, and to “genuinely guarantee the right to a healthy environment.”

During the demonstration, the VPN movement called on the citizens present to jointly change the text of the Slovak national anthem. Instead of the opportunistic verse “let us stop, brothers, for they will disappear,” the crowd at SNP Square agreed to change the paradigm of the anthem. Thus, from November 25, 1989, we began to sing the anthem with the lyrics: “let us stop them, brothers,…”^[1]. This moment marked a constitutional turning point in the revolutionary change of 1989. The civic identity of people who until then had been subordinated and intimidated began to transform.

A major success was that from this day forward, television broadcast the VPN demonstrations from SNP Square live^[2].

Large demonstrations also took place on this day in other Slovak cities—Košice, Banská Bystrica, Žilina, Martin, Trnava, Nitra, and Zvolen. Hundreds of thousands of people openly and publicly joined the anti-regime revolution of the VPN movement.

The Presidium of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Slovakia discussed maintaining control over the media ahead of the general strike. In Prague, the army command offered the Presidium of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia a military intervention, which had been prepared for such a situation under the codename “WAVE.”^[3] However, the communist leadership did not dare to intervene and began to lose its footing.

President Gustáv Husák, under pressure from the demands of VPN and the Civic Forum, declared an amnesty for political prisoners.

_{1 The text of the anthem was officially changed by a law of the Slovak National Council on 1 March 1990}

_{2 Czechoslovak Television broadcast only short live segments from the protests on Wenceslas Square. Later, only edited highlights of the demonstrations were shown. The full course of OF demonstrations at Wenceslas Square or at Letná was not broadcast on television.}

_{3 An operation to defend the monopoly on KSČ power. It was prepared and repeatedly drilled in case of a political or security crisis. The army and ZNB (ŠtB) units were to intervene against undesirable elements and take over Czechoslovak television and radio broadcasts as well as the publishing and printing of newspapers.}

The eighth VPN protest was held at SNP Square in Bratislava. Ján Čarnogurský, who had just been released from prison by amnesty, also spoke at the event. He publicly thanked VPN for their support. Vladimír Kompánek called for the removal of the barbed wire along the Iron Curtain toward Hainburg (VPN fulfilled this proposal with the “Hello, Europe!” march on December 10). Lajos Grendel read a statement of support from the Hungarian Independent Initiative, among others.

The demonstration on November 26 was characterized by calls for the upcoming general strike and demands for the immediate abolition of the Communist Party’s leading role.

In response to this pressure from VPN, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Slovakia (KSS) the very next day—on November 27, 1989—acknowledged the legitimacy of VPN’s demand to abolish the “leading role of the Communist Party” in the Constitution of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic. After this capitulation was made public, the Prague leadership of the Communist Party was left in a hopeless position. The Communist Party relinquished its “leading role” the following day, and two days later, on November 29, 1989, the Federal Assembly of Czechoslovakia amended the constitution.

For the first time at SNP Square, the song “Sľúbili sme si lásku” (“We Promised Each Other Love”), performed by Ivan Hoffman, was heard. It became a symbol of civic solidarity in 1989.

At an extraordinary session of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Slovakia on this day, most leading politicians from the normalization era resigned, including SNR chairman Viliam Šalgovič, chairwoman of the Socialist Women’s Union Elena Litvajová, and ideologist Gejza Šlapka.

Meanwhile in Prague, negotiations continued between the Civic Forum and the communist prime minister Ladislav Adamec. At Letná, Civic Forum held its sixth public assembly, giving Prime Minister Adamec the opportunity to speak. However, the crowd booed him off stage.

From the same tribune, Alexander Dubček addressed the crowd—a return to politics that citizens greeted with enthusiasm. That evening, Václav Havel, the Civic Forum representative, addressed the nation on television for the first time.

At 12:00 p.m., the two-hour general strike began. Citizens across the entire country took part. It was the largest show of solidarity with the students, the Civic Forum, and VPN, and at the same time a clear demonstration of their legitimacy and political strength. Participation in the strike in both republics of the federation was around 75%. This was a major success for the efforts of the VPN movement, Slovak actors, and the student body.

In Bratislava, the ninth VPN protest took place in the evening.

On this day, the Presidium of the Central Committee of the KSS adopted a proposal for action measures aimed at keeping power in the hands of the Communists. They intended to bring back former Communist Party officials who had been expelled after 1970 and place young cadres at the head of the KSS.

The Ministry of Culture of the Slovak Socialist Republic announced the release of previously banned films and books.

Source: https://www.17november1989.sk/

In Prague, representatives of the Civic Forum held talks with Prime Minister Ladislav Adamec. Václav Havel expressed his confidence in him^[1]. L. Adamec was given a mandate to form a new government by December 3.

A closed meeting of the Communist Party was held at the Palace of Culture in Prague, where the communists resolved to defend Article 4 of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic’s constitution, which guaranteed their monopoly on power. They also decided to continue relying on the People’s Militias as the armed wing of the party.

The Federal Assembly established the “November 17 Commission” to investigate the events on Národní třída.

The Soviet Union declared that the 1968 invasion had been a violation of international law.

In Bratislava, representatives of the Revolutionary Trade Union Movement (ROH) met and issued an Appeal to All Workers: “Socialist trade unions belong to the people.”

The Presidium of the Slovak National Council also convened regarding the situation. It took a stand in defense of the socialist system.

_{1 What happened without VPN’s knowledge}

The first official meeting between representatives of the VPN movement and the OF movement took place in Prague. VPN rejected OF’s proposal to dissolve its own name and integrate into OF. Subsequently, they issued a joint declaration stating that OF and VPN would respect each other as partner movements.

Later that same day, VPN hosted a delegation from OF (V. Havel, P. Oslzlý, M. Kubišová, and others) at the Slovak National Theatre. This event was the site of a nationwide assembly of VPN activists and strike committees.

It was during this meeting that news arrived from the Federal Assembly in Prague announcing the abolition of Article 4, which secured the leading role of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia and the doctrine of Marxism-Leninism as the state ideology.

At the end of the event, broadcast by Czechoslovak Television, Ján Budaj announced VPN’s call to dismantle the Iron Curtain through a mass march of citizens to Hainburg, Austria. The action was scheduled for International Human Rights Day—December 10, 1989. Ultimately, it became the largest event of the Velvet Revolution, turning the border into a free thoroughfare. (On that day, President G. Husák, famous for his saying “there will be no border promenades here,” resigned.)

VPN issued methodological guidelines for forming the movement’s structures: “Proposal for the Work of VPN Action Groups.” This marked a step toward stabilizing the movement as a nationwide political force, which soon afterward announced its participation in future free elections (VPN statement, December 2, 1989).

November 29 can be considered the day when the constitutional dominance of the communists was abolished—and thus the end of the first phase of the democratic revolution^[1].

_{1 Research into further developments, particularly regarding the evolution of the VPN movement, is not yet complete. The VPN archives remained unprocessed and inaccessible to historical research until 2019.}

In the months and years that followed, many new and fundamental challenges opened before the liberated citizenry: How to replace the communist nomenklatura? How to achieve social and economic transformation? How to establish representative democracy and a pluralistic political scene? How to stabilize the rule of law? How to resolve the constitutional and legal relations between the two nations that formed the federation? How to integrate into the advanced countries of Europe, where the process of peaceful integration was already underway?

Many of these challenges we managed to overcome successfully, although not without political and social costs borne by the citizenry. Yet there are also challenges whose fulfillment, unfortunately, we still struggle with to this day.

The creation of a new political nation, whose beginnings lay in the mass demonstrations of November 1989, will continue even after 2025, the year in which their memorial was unveiled.