On January 24th, the day after visiting the US Embassy, our group toured around the Museum of Communism. Once we got there we were left to our own devices and walked around being our own tour guide this time. The museum was laid out in chronological order and explained the history of Prague before, during, and after the communist regime.
In 1918, Czechoslovakia became an independent state from the Austro-Hungarian Empire. However, in 1938, the Munich Agreement was established. Signing this meant that Germany—mainly Hitler—attained the borderland as well as the economic base of Czechoslovakia without a single fight. Then in 1946, the Communist party did everything in their power to make sure they won the Czech elections. The secured 38% of the votes, but not done without agitation and intimidation. This effectively made the Communist party the strongest party in the country. Following the elections, the Czech people were made poor after the Communist currency reform. Under this, cash lost 80% of its total value. To put it in perspective, imagine having $2190.44 in your account on the night of May 30, and waking up on May 31 to $43.81. That would elicit a state of panic, right? Well, that is what happened. A total of 130 protests broke out, but each one was quickly retaliated by brutal police defenses.
Speaking of police, the force was only made up with people who were politically-dedicated enough to harass people with no hesitation. They even harassed people for just having long hair.
Harassment was only one tactic to stay in control. Propaganda was everywhere. You could see it in television shows, while window shopping, in your daily newspaper, in your monthly magazine, and even in textbooks. Textbooks were how the Communist party trained young children to be part of the regime. History was distorted and edited to fit into the Communism ideals and make the party look better. Even the current world news was edited.
Literature and film were also jeopardized. This was done through imitation and fear as well as actors were hired and were told that if they refused the part, they would be prohibited from ever acting again.
This caused people to flee and look for a better life in another country. Many tried, but faced harsh consequences such as being captured and sent to prison, shot while running, or met with 3000-6000-volt electrical fences.
If you have been following this blog, then you may remember reading about the Velvet Revolution, which was when students organized protests against the Communism regime. The protests were filled with chants such as, “Put an end to Communist part monopoly!” and “We want free elections!” It was only when the general public joined that the party began to unravel. In fact, the party cleared up in 10 days. It was in the late days of December 1989 that the Communist party was officially no more. Vaclav Havel, the unofficial leader of the Civic Forum that worked to fight off communism, became President of the country.
PLU/PSY387 Transitions & Trauma 