17 November
A gathering to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the student struggle for freedom during the Nazi occupation, organized by Prague college students and permitted by the Czechoslovak authorities, transforms itself into an anti-regime demonstration attended by tens of thousands of people. Interior Ministry police units harshly suppress the demonstration.
18 November
Prague college students and theatrical performers start a week-long strike occupying the universities and call on all citizens and organizations to participate in a general strike on 27 November from 12:00 – 14:00. Over the course of the next few days, schools and theaters outside of Prague join the call, while actors and students travel out to the regions to report on the reasons for the strike and its aims.
The foreign media report that Martin Šmíd, a student at the Faculty of Mathematics-Physics, had been murdered during the Friday demonstration. It takes the media of the Czechoslovak regime 24 hours to prove that the report – which in the interim has significantly accelerated the strike movement – is not true.
19 November
Civic Forum (Občanské fórum - OF), is created at the Činoherní klub in Prague, unifying independent initiatives, church representatives, artists’ unions and other citizens who seek peaceful regime change through negotiations with the state powers. The informal head of the movement, respected by all, is Czechoslovakia’s most famous dissident, Václav Havel.
At the Umělecká beseda in Bratislava, the Public against Violence (Verejnosť proti násiliu -VPN) movement is established during a public gathering that evening of representatives of artists’ unions, cultural institutions and universities. Like Civic Forum, VPN condemns the intervention against the student demonstration and joins the strike.
20 November
The federal government and the governments of each republic call on the actors and students to immediately return to their work and studies. One day later, Czechoslovak Communist Party Secretary-General Miloš Jakeš makes a similar appeal on national television.
More than 100 000 citizens spontaneously demonstrate their resistance to the communist regime on Wenceslas Square in Prague. During its meeting that evening, the Civic Forum committee votes to lead the mass meetings and calls on Czechoslovak Prime Minister Ladislav Adamec to initiate political talks between the state powers and Civic Forum.
21 November
PM Adamec meets for the first time with representatives of the protesters, including Civic Forum. He promises force will not be used against the demonstrations and emphasizes that the societal changes underway do not exceed the framework of the socialist order.
21 – 27 November
Peaceful demonstrations against the regime take place every afternoon in Bratislava, Prague and other cities nationwide, attended by hundreds of thousands of people, In Bohemia and Moravia Civic Forum organizes the meetings, while VPN organizes them in Slovakia. The meetings contribute to the rapid fall of the “old regime” to a decisive extent.
22 November
In the evening hours, the Czechoslovak Communist Party leadership calls off armed units of the People’s Militia which have traveled from the regions to Prague on the order of the Secretary-General of the Central Committee.
23 November
Preparations at the General Staff of the Czechoslovak People’s Army for a military intervention against the centers of opposition and the demonstrators are completed. However, the Communist Party leadership decides the next day not to use force and to resolve the situation through “political means”.
24 November
At an extraordinary session of the Central Committee, Secretary-General Miloš Jakeš and the entire presidium resign. Unknown apparatchik Karel Urbánek (head of the Committee for Party Work in the Czech Socialist Republic) is elected to replace him. The new presidium, comprised for the most part of compromised, disliked politicians, is not acceptable to the public. The party falls into even greater confusion with respect to its personnel and concepts and loses touch with the rapid development of events.
In a televised debate that evening, leading VPN activists score a clear victory over representatives of the Slovak Communist Party. .
25 November
At the request of Civic Forum and VPN, Czechoslovak President Gustáv Husák releases the country’s most famous political prisoners. Other prisoners of conscience are released during the following days and weeks.
Civic Forum leader Václav Havel makes a television appearance that evening which is later evaluated in Civic Forum as having been too constrained and not very successful.
26 November
Political talks begin between the Civic Forum delegation led by Václav Havel and Prime Minister Ladislav Adamec, brokered by the “Most” (“Bridge”) initiative, established in the summer of 1989 by the musician Michael Kocáb and the journalist Michal Horáček. PM Adamec appears at the demonstration in Prague on Letenská Plain that afternoon as a guest of Civic Forum, but the assembled citizens do not accept his speech and respond by whistling and chanting “Resign!”
27 November
The general strike takes place from 12:00 – 14:00 and is joined by the vast majority of Czech and Slovak institutions, enterprises, organizations and citizens. Civic Forum and VPN brand it “an informal referendum on the leading role of the Communist Party in society”. The slogans “End one-party rule” and “Free elections” dominate the strike.
28 November
During the second round of talks with PM Ladislav Adamec, the Civic Forum and VPN delegation, led by Václav Havel, step up their demands. They want the federal government to resign; a transitional government of experts to be created; the removal of three articles from the Constitution (on the leading role of the Communist Party in society, its role in the political system of the National Front, and on Marxism-Leninism as the state ideology); the abdication of President Gustáv Husák by 10 December; the release of all political prisoners; the legalization of Civic Forum and the assignment to it of buildings and media space for its purposes; and reconstruction of the legislature through the affiliation of new representatives. PM Adamec refuses to permit the government to resign and promises it will be fundamentally restructured by Sunday, 3 December 1989. Civic Forum and VPN announce (and repeat several times over the next few days) that they will not be taking part in the creation of the new government.
29 November
The Federal Assembly of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic approves changes to the Constitution which remove the articles on the leading role of the Communist Party in society and in the National Front, as well as the article on Marxism-Leninism as the state ideology. It establishes a parliamentary commission to oversee investigations into the events of 17 November 1989 on which striking students also sit. Federal Assembly president Alois Indra – a leading representative of those who crushed the “Prague Spring” – resigns.
Civic Forum starts regular daily broadcasts from the Hvězda radio station.
In Prague, delegations of the Civic Forum Coordination Center and the VPN Coordination Center meet. They agree to work together closely: “Civic Forum and VPN understand one another to be the sovereign representatives of the Czech and Slovak civic movements”, whose “shared aim is the transformation of Czechoslovakia into a democratic federation”.
30 November
The Slovak National Council (Slovenská národní rada - SNR) accepts the resignation of its president, Viliam Šalgovič (Communist Party) and in a secret ballot elects Rudolf Schuster (Communist Party) to the post.
1 December
A Civic Forum delegation led by Václav Havel meets in Prague with the Prime Minister of the Czech government, František Pitra, to discuss reconstructing the government of the Czech Socialist Republic. Civic Forum demands the resignation of five ministers, proposing only Milan Lukeš (Communist Party) as Culture Minister; it agrees that the current PM might lead a reconstructed government..
3 December
The reconstructed federal government is presented to the public, and its composition – 15 Communists, one Socialist, one People’s Party member, and three unaffiliated members – prompts a wave of resistance throughout society; the public begins to organize protest petitions and meetings. Under pressure from below, Civic Forum also rejects the government and calls on PM Adamec to reconstruct it more thoroughly by 10 December.
5 December
The presidium of the Czech National Council appoints a Czech government comprised of eight Communists, two Socialists, two People’s Party members, and five unaffiliated members. Civic Forum accepts PM Pitra’s challenge, proposing several unaffiliated people for the government, expressing support for eight of its ministers and declaring the government to be a step forward, even though its composition does not completely correspond to the new political situation.
Civic Forum proposes five candidates to the federal government. The ministers would take over responsibility from Civic Forum and VPN for economic reform, legislation, the instruments of state power, state finances, foreign policy, labor and social affairs, and national minorities. However, Prime Minister Adamec rejects the proposals and announces he will resign. He then asks Civic Forum and VPN to support his candidacy for the Office of the President.
6 December
Representatives of the “expanded crisis staff of the Civic Forum Coordinating Committee” agree on Václav Havel’s candidacy for the Office of the Presidency. A delegation of the VPN Coordinating Committee travels to Prague during the night of 5 December and the early morning hours of 6 December to support his nomination as well.
A joint delegation of Civic Forum and VPN submit their concept for the composition of the government to PM Adamec, proposing six ministers. The delegation also announces that neither Civic Forum nor VPN support Adamec’s candidacy for the Office of the President.
7 December
PM Adamec resigns. Civic Forum and VPN accept his proposal that Vice-PM Marian Čalfa (a Slovak Communist Party member) become Prime Minister of the federal government on the condition that he accept their proposal for the composition of the government and that the president of the republic will be a citizen of Czech nationality who is unaffiliated with any party.
8 December
The first round of talks on the federal government begins in Prague among the “decision-making political forces”. Representatives of Civic Forum (OF), VPN, the Czechoslovak Communist Party (KSČ), the Socialist Youth Union (Socialistický svaz mládeže - SSM), the Czechoslovak Socialist Party (Československá strana socialistická - ČSS), the Czechoslovak People’s Party (Československá strana lidová - ČSL), the Democratic Party (Demokratická strana - DS) and the Freedom Party (Strana sloboda - SSL) agree on the composition of the federal government. The Civic Forum and VPN delegation, led by Václav Havel, achieves its demands without any problems whatsoever.
The presidium of the Slovak National Council accepts the resignation of the Prime Minister of the Slovak government, Pavol Hrivnák, and its eight ministers. With the agreement of VPN, responsibility for putting together a new government is entrusted to the Justice Minister of the Slovak Socialist Republic, Milan Čič.
9 December
Premier-designate Čalfa gradually holds negotiations with representatives of the KSČ, ČSS, ČSL, the ‘Renewal’ Club for Socialist Reconstruction (Klub za socialistickou přestavbu Obroda), Civic Forum and VPN. They agree to the composition of a federal “government of national understanding”. Of a total of 21 cabinet posts, 10 are held by Communists, two by People’s Party members, two by Socialists and seven by unaffiliated members. Civic Forum and VPN receive six ministerial seats (three Vice-PMs, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of Finance, and Minister of Labor and Social Affairs).
10 December
Czechoslovak President Gustáv Husák appoints the federal government at Prague Castle and resigns. At a demonstration on Wenceslas Square, Civic Forum and VPN announce the candidacy of Václav Havel for the Office of the President. VPN supports his candidacy on the condition that Havel will stay in office only until free elections are held in June; it was forced to do so by the mass support for Alexandr Dubček in Slovakia and a campaign to elect him president initiated by Slovak political parties and state institutions.
11 December
Other presidential candidates are announced – Alexander Dubček (the Slovak candidate), Ladislav Adamec (Czechoslovak Communist Party) and Čestmír Císař (Central Committee of the Socialist Youth Union)
During the second round of negotiations by the “decision-making political forces”, the Communist Party (supported by the Socialist Youth Union) proposes direct presidential elections with multiple candidates. The Civic Forum delegation led by Petr Pithart (and supported by the Czechoslovak People’s Party and the Czechoslovak Socialist Party) reject this proposal and favor the president being elected by the Federal Assembly in accordance with the Constitution then in effect.
12 December
The Slovak National Council presidium appoints the government of the Slovak Socialist Republic on the basis of a proposal submitted by PM-designate Milan Čič (KSČ). The government is comprised of nine unaffiliated members and six Communists. VPN delegates Vice-PM Vladimír Ondruš to the government as an “observer who will directly communicate information” to VPN about the goings-on in the cabinet.
13 December
The dispute over how to elect a president continues in the Federal Assembly. Communist MPs hold an absolute majority in the parliament; they submit a bill for a referendum on the issue which includes direct elections.
The “decision-making political forces” (Civic Forum, VPN, KSČ, ČSL, ČSS and SSM) do not succeed in agreeing on how the president should be elected even during a third round of “round table” negotiations. Communists and unionists insist on direct elections, while Civic Forum, ČSL and ČSS advocate election by the Federal Assembly.
15 December
Czechoslovak PM Marian Čalfa (KSČ) initiates a secret meeting with Václav Havel, which takes place at the Office of the Government in a room that is bugged. Čalfa offers Havel cooperation in pushing through his presidential candidacy. He promises to make sure the election will take place in the Federal Assembly such that Havel will be accepted as the sole presidential candidate and Alexandr Dubček will be elected Prime Minister (also at the end of 1989), with a view to Slovak public opinion.
18 December
The Czech National Council elects Jaroslav Šafařík (ČSS) as its Prime Minister. In the reconstructed presidium the Communists lose their majority.
19 December
Prime Minister Čalfa presents the federal government’s program declaration to the Federal Assembly and proposes Václav Havel as the sole candidate for the Office of the President. Parliament unanimously adopts the program declaration and Havel’s candidacy.
20 December
A two-day extraordinary congress of the Communist Party begins in Prague, which elects Ladislav Adamec chair and Vasil Mohorita secretary of the party. The congress distances itself from the leadership of the Communist Party heretofore and its policies, expels several compromised politicians from the party, and apologizes to “the citizens, who have been afflicted with unjustified repression.”
22 December
During the fourth “round table” meeting, the political parties and movements reach agreement on who will occupy the Office of the President of the Republic and become the Prime Minister of the Federal Assembly – the sole candidates for these offices become Václav Havel and Alexander Dubček. The key to filling the unoccupied seats in the Federal Assembly and the principles of the further reconstruction of the legislative assemblies are also agreed.
23 December
The first Civic Forum congress takes place in Prague and is attended by representatives of the regional Civic Fora. The congress covers questions of internal structure and the program focus of the movement. The Civic Forum congress meets again 14 days later.
The Foreign Affairs Ministers of Czechoslovakia and the Federal Republic of Germany, Jiří Dienstbier and Hans-Dietrich Genscher, symbolically cut through the barbed wire on the Czechoslovak-German border, initiating work to remove the border blockades.
28 December
At a meeting of the Federal Assembly, the first wave of affiliation of representatives to seats left vacant by the most compromised parliamentarians of the old regime is realized. Among the 23 affiliates is Alexander Dubček, subsequently elected Prime Minister of the Federal Assembly in plenary session. The presidium of the Federal Assembly is also restructured so the Communists no longer have a majority and so that Czechs, Slovaks, all of the National Front political parties, Civic Forum and VPN are equally represented.
29 December
At a ceremonial session of the Federal Assembly at Prague Castle, Václav Havel is unanimously elected President of Czechoslovakia. The students end their strike.