In 1989 changes were occurring throughout Central Europe. The Communist Regimes were falling apart at the seams.

Communism had held its Iron Curtain up by sheer force of will alone for some time and it had finally come toppling down around their collective ears. Even the Berlin Wall had begun to be dismantled.

But in the peaceful country of Czechoslovakia Communism still held sway and the people still lived in fear.
Until Thursday November 16th.
This night would be special and would spell the beginning of the end of Communist rule in the country. For that night Slovak high school and university students held a peaceful demonstration in Bratislava, now the capital city of the country. While the military forces were on alert things went peacefully and a delegation of students was sent to the Ministry of Education to state their demands.

The following day Friday November 17th would have far different and far-reaching results. A mass demonstration had been organized to commemorate International Students day and by 4pm there were more than 15,000 people involved. After the official end of the demonstration the protesters walked to downtown Prague where they were met something most unexpected. On Narodni Trida (National Street) around half past seven the protesters were met by a fully entrenched and prepared riot police cordon. Their escape was blocked and the situation turned dire. The police brutally beat the students into submission and did not stop until every one of them were dispersed.

This prompted students and theater actors to agree to a strike.

The students of Prague, led by students of the Academy of Performing Arts, organized a strike on Saturday November 18th. Again the theater actors supported the strike and instead of performing read a proclamation that had been drafted by the students and the actors. As all forms of mass-media were controlled by the Communist Regime they had little choice but to turn to posting handmade signs and posters to spread the word.

When the sun rose on Sunday November 19th the strike had grown out of Prague to include Brno and Ostrava, the second and third largest cities in the current Czech Republic, as well as Bratislava and other towns. This spreading of the spark to a flame harkened back to the days of religious reform and the likes of Mr. Jan Hus and Martin Luther. Meetings began to be held in order to determine the changes that needed to be made. Scientists, artists and dissidents alike made their presence felt as they called for the removal of the Communist government.

Part of what prompted that spark to spread into wildfire were the incorrect reports of a student having been killed during the first night of protests. It was later found to be untrue and the student was indeed alive, but by that time the Revolution would not be contained and the Czech and Slovak peoples were prepared to take back what was theirs. They were prepared to regain their honor and their home and again govern themselves as free people, something that had not been a reality since the mid-1940s.

Monday showed itself and the Communist Party refused to make any concessions to the students or the dissidents. This resulted in the first mass demonstration in Prague with the protesters numbering 100,000. A similar protest began in Bratislava that same day and students and theaters began a permanent strike.

The continued addition of voices spread the fire even further and on Tuesday November 21st mass demonstrations took place in all major cities in the country. In response the Communist leaders hardened their resolve and called up 4,000 members of the People's Militia in order to send them to Prague to 'crush the protests,' but something stayed their hand and the militia never materialized in Prague.

On Wednesday November 22 the Civic Forum, a collection of artists, scientists and dissidents established to remove all totalitarian rule from the country, called for a general strike that was to take place for two hours on Monday November 27th. A strike of television workers is threatened in the Slovak section of the Federal Television service and in response true and uncensored information about the protests is broadcast live.