The Velvet Revolution was a non-violent uprising in Czechoslovakia that saw the overthrow of the Communist government. On November 17, 1989, police suppressed a peaceful student demonstration in Prague. Among the protesters were many young employees of Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences. Based on the November events, civil forums were created at worksplaces. In consequences of the political evolvement, some of the compromised directors from institutes left their positions and during the following six months all directors had to be evaluated. Scientific committies began to form. On November 6, 1989, the entire presidium of ČSAV resigned and December 12, the Chamber of elected representatives of ČSAV was established. This organ became a carrier of fundamental changes, for example the first Czech science foundation was set up and proposals for evaluation of the institutes formed. The new organization structures of Academy were created. and Antonín Kostlán.
Autor provádí shrnující komparaci disentu v Československu a Německé demokratické republice v sedmdesátých a osmdesátých letech minulého století, poukazuje na jeho afinity a odlišnosti v obou zemích a nabízí jejich zdůvodnění. Upozorňuje na asymetrie srovnávaných případů, které se týkají rozsahu a povahy pramenného materiálu, stavu a dosažených výsledků historického bádání a užívané terminologie, a upřesňuje pojem disentu, s nímž pracuje. Konstatuje, že disent v českých zemích, zrozený z porážky pražského jara 1968, se diferencoval do reformněkomunistického, křesťanského, liberálního, kulturního a sublkulturního proudu, přičemž tato pluralita byla propojena a zastřešena založením Charty 77 a posléze se rozvíjela i do dalších občanských iniciativ. Na Slovensku, kde Charta 77 nezakotvila, se disent profiloval nábožensky, národně a od poloviny osmdesátých let ekologicky. V NDR zaznívaly v sedmdesátých letech ojedinělé hlasy marxistického disentu a socialistická orientace byla vlastní i nezávislým občanským iniciativám vzniklým v osmdesátých letech, které se vyvíjely v podobě mírového hnutí na půdě evangelické církve. Východoněmecký disent se narozdíl od českého a slovenského vyznačoval relativní generační a ideovou homogenitou, nedisponoval mezinárodně uznávanými intelektuálními autoritami symbolizujícími občanský protest, byl jen slabě programově zakotven a svou legitimizaci neodvozoval z diskurzu lidských práv, ale rétoriky antimilitarismu. Pro odlišnou povahu disentu v NDR byly klíčovými faktory paralelní existence Spolkové republiky a z toho plynoucí masový rozsah emigrace, rozdílné postavení církví a vztah k národní tradici zatížený nacistickým dědictvím, jenž neumožnil názorovou konfrontaci o dějinách, jako tomu bylo v Československu., b1_In this article the author has undertaken a summarizing comparison of dissidents and dissent in Czechoslovakia and East Germany in the 1970s and 1980s, pointing out their similarities and differences, which he endeavours to explain. He points out the asymmetry of the cases he compares, which stems from the nature and scope of the source material, the current state of historical research, and the results that have been achieved, as well as the terminology used. He also offers a more precise definition of dissent and dissidents, which he then employs. He also reminds his reader how dissent and dissidents in the Bohemian Lands, which arose after the defeat of the 1968 Prague Spring reform movement, separated into Reform- -Communist, Christian, liberal, cultural, and sub-culture branches. This pluralism was linked together by the establishment of an umbrella organization, Charter 77, eventually also developing into other groups (občanské iniciativy) of Czechoslovak citizens seeking to act independently of Party and State control. In Slovakia, where Charter 77 never really took root, dissent was expressed in religious, national, and, from the mid-1980s, environmentalist terms. In East Germany in the 1970s, voices of Marxist dissent were sporadically heard and the socialist orientation was also particular to the independent alternative movements (Bürgerinitiative) that emerged in the 1980s and developed as a peace movement in the Protestant Church. East German dissent and dissidents, unlike Czech and Slovak, were characterized by some generational and ideological homogeneity. They did not have at their disposal internationally recognized intellectual authorities who would symbolize civil protest. And they lacked a programme that would help them to put down roots. They derived their legitimacy from the rhetoric of antimilitarism rather than from human-rights discourse., b2_ Of key importance to the different nature of the dissident movement in East Germany were the existence of another German state next door and, related to that, the massive defection to West Germany, the different status of the churches, and the attitude towards a national tradition burdened with the legacy of Nazism, which, unlike in Czechoslovakia, severely hampered the expression of different points of view about the past., and Jan Pauer.