The so-called

"Velvet revolution " ended the communist control of

Czechoslovakia in late 1989. On November 17 the formal

government allowed a demonstration, where people

commemorated the 50th anniversary of a cruel suppression

of a student demonstration in German-occupied Prague.

However, history repeated itself and the students were

brutally beaten by police. As a result a large protest

movement developed. Demonstrations and strikes

occurred across the whole country under the leadership of

Obcanske forum, which was leaded by Vaclav Havel, a

dissident playwright and Charter 77 signer. Following the

political turmoil he became the new president of

Czechoslovakia. Ten years after the Velvet Revolution

many political and social changes have occurred within the

former Czechoslovakia. The first major change was the

peaceful split of the country to form two separate states,

the Czech Republic and Slovakia as we know it today.

Following this split much of the former communist

infrastructure was disbanded including many state run

industries in an attempt to make them more efficient and

encourage investment. Former communist legislation

preventing the freedom of speech was also passed out of

law allowing people to express their political views and

criticize government policies. For many people these

changes introduced a great improvement in their standard

of living. A wide variety of goods soon appeared in

privately run shops which previously had only been

available in western shops. People were also allowed to

travel freely, which had been banned under the communists

to prevent the breeding of discontent when people saw

what was available in other countries. The country also

prospered following increase foreign investment as western

companies keen to exploit new markets entered the

country for example the takeover of Skoda by the German

run Volkswagen. However, the Velvet revolution did have

some negative effects. The rationalization of state run

companies meant that many people were put out of work

as many companies closed down and others laid off people

in an attempt to become more efficient. The people also

experienced inflation in the price of goods and although

they could see a greater variety of products available in the

shops they could not actually afford to buy them. These

factors led to discontent among many people and a feeling

that things had been better under the communists.