The Velvet Revolution 20 Years Later

Vaclav Havel (center), the dissident playwright, who led the revolution before becoming president, addresses the crowd of demonstrators celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Universal Declarations of Human Rights back in December 1988 in Prague
LUBOMIR KOTEK-JOEL ROBINE /AFP / Getty Images

Pre-President
Vaclav Havel (center), the dissident playwright, who led the revolution before becoming president, addresses a crowd of demonstrators celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Universal Declarations of Human Rights in Prague, December 1988. By Nov. 29, 1989, after weeks of protests, the Communists dissolved their single-party state; by the end of that year, Havel was elected the first president of the then Czechoslovakia.

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