One of the best “proofs” of this conspiracy theory is that the students, participating in the demonstrations on November the 17th were led to the centre of Prague by an agent from the secret police, or StB (see: Lustration) who acted as a radical SSM agitator (the agent’s presence was later documented). At Národní Avenue, the same secret agent supposedly played the role of the student who was beaten to death by the police. The purpose? To publicly discredit the orthodox leadership of the Czechoslovak Communist Party and thus help the Party’s reform wing gain power.
In other words, Czech secret police staged the Velvet Revolution with political backing from Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachov and his reform-minded comrades in Czechoslovakia. Both the students and dissident movement (see: Charter 77) were exploited as unknowing instruments, but for some reason or other, the plot didn’t succeed.
An intense, but not particularly credible, spokesman for this theory is Miroslav Štěpán, Prague’s last Party boss (see: Communism). The much-hated Štěpán allegedly deposes witnesses who claim that Gorbachov’s private secretary Gennadij Gerasimov mentioned “the coming events in Czechoslovakia” one month in advance. The conspiracy theory is further based on the report that several KGB generals were supposed to have visited the Prague police’s operations centre on the 17th of November. Why would they, goes the argument, if the KGB and the Soviet reform communists didn’t orchestrate the demonstrations that went on in Prague’s streets?
No matter how intriguing these theories might sound, the evidence is next to nothing. True, KGB top brass did reportedly visit Prague in mid November, and, yes, the Czech secret police did infiltrate the student movement. But this, of course, doesn’t prove that the outbreak of the Velvet Revolution was directed from the Kremlin.
Another theory, which has spread to even more hospodas than the previous one, is that Václav Havel, during the negotiations that started a week after November the 17th, struck a secret deal with the communist leaders.
Exactly what this deal was supposed to contain often depends on the intoxication level of the person propounding the theory, but one allegation seems to enjoy particularly strong support: the Havel-led opposition promised the communist bigwigs immunity if they were nice guys and left power without making any trouble. And then there are a host of conspiracy theories that can’t be described as anything other than downright insane, such as the notion that the Velvet Revolution was orchestrated by Zionists and freemasons (see: Karel Gott).
It’s puzzling, but the most obvious interpretation of the Velvet Revolution’s origin is the one most seldom heard: that it wasn’t a revolution at all, at least not in the traditional sense of the word. It was, rather, the collapse of a rotten regime.
Just look at the background: the communist regime didn’t receive their final blow on the 17th of November. Earlier that autumn, Hungary started to dismantle the Iron Curtain along its borders with Austria, and Prague was flooded with refugees from Eastern Germany on their way to the West. The air was virtually heavy with the scent of freedom. And then, one week before November the 17th, the Berlin wall — the most tangible symbol of Europe’s division — fell, and Big Brother in Moscow didn’t lift a finger (see: Russians).
Photo © Jaroslav Fišer
Many bad and ugly things can rightfully be said about the Czechoslovak “normalizors”, but when it came to power politics, they were realistic. Even the moronic Party boss Milouš Jakeš understood that this time, no Soviet tanks would come and save them. They also knew they were too weak, morally corrupt and despised to stay in power on their own. If the student demonstration hadn’t triggered the communist collapse, it’s fairly safe to assume that some other event would have done the job.
Therefore, it might seem most appropriate to describe the Velvet Revolution as the climax of a long-lasting process that started with the uprising in Poland in the beginning of the 1980s, and then hit its stride when the new Soviet leadership abandoned the Brezhnev doctrine of propping up ideologically and economically bankrupt dictatorships in Central and Eastern Europe.
But, of course, this doesn’t change the fact that for millions of pestered Czechs, the Velvet Revolution represents one of the brightest moments of their lives.
World
After decades of isolation behind the Iron Curtain, it’s perhaps only natural that the common Czech perception of the world abroad is still influenced by certain outdated stereotypes. Africa is often referred to as “the black continent”, and television reporters don’t hesitate to speak about “typical Asian cruelty” or “Nordic emotional frigidity”.
What’s more interesting, though, is the way in which Czechs speak about their own country in relation to the rest of the world: while most other languages use the opposites at home — abroad, Czech use doma (at home) versus venku (outside).
One shouldn’t read too much into this peculiarity, but to some observers it substantiates the view that the Czechs historically have perceived their home country as something closed and insulating that protected them from all of the dangers threatening on the other side. Logically, everybody inside the shelter is one of us, while everybody outside is a potential intruder (see: Foreigners).
Appendix I. The Czech Republic in Figures
National day:
October 28th
Head of State:
President, elected by the Parliament for a period of five years
Government:
Parliamentary republic, Constitution adopted December 1992.
Legislature:
Parliament with two chambers — Chamber of Deputies (200 members) and Senate (81 members)
Population (2002):
10.28 million (81.2 percent Czechs, 13.2 Moravians, 3.1 Slovaks,
2.5 percent Roma/Poles/Germans/Hungarians)
Area:
78,864 square kilometres
Historical regions:
Bohemia 52,062 km2/6.27 million inhabitants
Moravia and Silesia 26,808 km2/4.07 million inhabitants
Administrative divisions:
13 regions plus Prague Capital Region, 76 districts, 6,196 municipalities
Density:
131 persons per km2, ca. 75 percent in urban areas
Biggest cities:
Prague (1.2 million), Brno (390,000), Ostrava (327,000), Plzeň (172,000)
Borders:
Germany (810 km), Poland (762 km),
Austria (466 km), Slovakia (252 km)
Highest mountain:
Sněžka 1,602 m
Lowest point:
The Elbe River at Hřensko (German border): 117 m above sea level
Longest river:
Vltava (Moldau) 433.2 km
Biggest lake:
Černé jezero: 18.4 ha
Hottest mineral spring:
Karlovy Vary (Carlsbad) 72 °C
Average temperature (Prague):