Velvet Revolution Research Articles

A WELL-KNOWN RESEARCHER OF THE HISTORY OF CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE. For the 70th Anniversary of the Czech Historian Professor Jan Rychlík

The purpose of the article is to highlight the contribution of the Czech historian and ethnologist Professor Jan Rychlík to the study of the history of Central and Eastern Europe. The research methodology was aimed at the analysis of the scientist's main publications on the history of the countries of Central and Eastern Europe. The applied research principles of historicism, scientific objectivity and systematicity contributed to highlighting the main aspects of J. Rychlík's diverse scientific work. The authors of the article note that for J. Rychlík history became one of the priority objects of scientific study after the Velvet revolution of 1989, when, under the conditions of democratization, historians of Czechoslovakia gained freedom of scientific creativity. Among the relevant research topics was the issue of relations between Czechs and Slovaks in 1918-1992. The scholar thoroughly researched their individual stages and, in particular, the period of the first Czechoslovak Republic 1918-1938 - one of the few democratic states of Central and Eastern Europe at that time. J. Rychlík deeply analyzed and assessed the trends of socio-political, economic, and cultural development of various regions of the First Republic, the peculiarities of interethnic relations, its international position, noted the positive role of this state in the history of the Czechs, Slovaks and Ruthenians-Ukrainians of Transcarpathia. Summarizing Czech-Slovak relations in general for the years 1918-1992, J. Rychlík considered one of the main reasons for the termination of the Czechoslovak state at the end of 1992 to be the failure to create a political Czechoslovak nation. The field of scientific interests of J. Rychlík also includes the national histories of the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, which resulted in the publication of a number of monographs on the past of the states of the region: Bulgaria (2000), Macedonia (2003), Croatia (2007), Slovenia (2011), the Czech Republic (2013), Ukraine (2015, 2022), Slovakia (2023), where the researcher was a co-author. In the conclusions of the article, the authors stated that J. Rychlík is one of the leading contemporary Czech researchers of the history of Central and Eastern European countries. The contribution of J. Rychlík to the study of the history of Czech-Slovak relations from 1918 to 1992 is especially significant. Jan Rychlík's extensive work on the history of the Czech and Slovak state is an important basis for further study of the past of the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic in different periods.

Diskuse kolem knihy Francoise Mayer "Češi a jejich komunismus"

This discussion contribution focuses on three questions inspired by Francoise Mayer´s book. Was the Velvet Revolution really a revolution (and hence: is the Czech exception in Central Europe really an exception?); what can the sociologist do when the historians have not yet done their job?; and can one forget genuine reality, i.e. socio-economic history? The contribution aimed to stress that despite the considerable quality and usefulness of Mayer´s book, any kind of sociology of post-communist society will remain inadequate unless backed by sufficient research in the field of the social history of communist and specifically here the relationship of Czech society to communism. One secondary and negative effect of the lack of such studies is the tendency for current debate (fascinating but rather irrelevant and generally very provincial) on Czech collective memory of the period of communism to concentrate on the question of Czech character or on the question of the "mission" of the Czech historian. But arguably the historian is more useful when actually doing research than when endlessly reflecting on his own character.

Deconstructing the Politics of Linguistic Mutation in Tom Stoppard’s Dogg’s Hamlet, Cahoot’s Macbeth

Tom Stoppard’s theatrical works, Dogg’s Hamlet, Cahoot’s Macbeth, serve as a significant exemplification of linguistic and political power dynamics. These plays represent a transformative shift that depicts the workings of hegemony in Czechoslovakia during the Cold War era. Stoppard, a Czechoslovakian native, crafted these satirical works in response to the brutal persecution of critical intellectuals and censorship of their dissident works. The plays voice the intellectual restlessness of the time, resisting the status quo, and illustrating the tensions that led to the 1989 Velvet Revolution. Stoppard’s innovative linguistic experimentation transforms Shakespeare’s plays, Hamlet and Macbeth, into an entirely novel linguistic system, named “Doggspeak,” which derives inspiration from Ludwig Wittgenstein’s Philosophical Investigations. This new linguistic transformation acts as a catalyst for social and political change, resisting surveillance and censorship of free speech. Stoppard’s plays, therefore, use language to alter power relations, creating space for political defiance. This paper delves into two key questions: How does Stoppard modify language in the dramatic setting, and how does this linguistic transformation shift power relations within the plays? By creating a new linguistic system, Stoppard outmanoeuvres oppressors and wittingly turns language into an instrument for political rebellion. He stages a truncated, mutant version of Shakespeare’s plays where they are banned, giving voice to the intellectual restlessness of Czechoslovakia in the 1970s. Stoppard’s plays posit that language is not merely a tool for communication, but also a vehicle for social and political transformation. Through linguistic mutation, Stoppard subverts the existing power structures and challenges the hegemony of the oppressors. This essay argues that Stoppard’s plays showcase the crucial significance of language in the struggle for political and social change, emphasizing the crucial role that language plays in shaping our perceptions and understanding of the world.

Cooking Pilaf with Words: Intersubjectivity and Feminism in the Armenian Transnation

ABSTRACT Using original oral history research conducted in 2019, this study documents the voices, values, and priorities of feminists in the contemporary Republic of Armenia, revealing how interviewees came to feminist consciousness and how they conceptualized feminism. Interviewees articulated which feminist issues they believed to be most pressing in Armenia, including domestic violence, LGBTQIA rights, sexual education, militarism, and misogyny and homophobia in the society and the church. They expressed hopes and concerns regarding the sequelae of the “Velvet Revolution” of 2018. Interviews were conducted with twenty Armenian women diverse in age and occupation, all of whom self-identified as feminists or were deeply involved in feminist activism. These interviews subvert nationalist claims that feminism is intrinsically Western and antithetical to Armenian tradition, providing instead an alternative narrative of Armenian feminism as emerging syncretically from indigenous cultural elements and Western feminism. I theorize intersubjectivity between researcher and interviewee when both are members of a transnation—a nation consisting of those living in the nation-state and those living in permanent diaspora—arguing that there is a web of interconnectedness between researcher and interviewees that complicates the usual insider/outsider oral history relationship. The interview encounter shapes the feminism of both researcher and interviewee.

Торгово-экономические отношения между Арменией и Россией в постсоветский период

The article examines the problems and prospects of post-Soviet integration on the example of trade and economic relations between Armenia and Russia. The reasons for Armenia’s accession to the EAEU and at the same time the signing of the Comprehensive and Expanded Partnership Agreement with the EU, which is considered a simplified version of the Association Agreement are analyzed. The author studies new vectors of development of the Republic of Armenia after the change of political leadership as a result of the “velvet revolution” of 2018 as a manifestation of greater pragmatism in integration cooperation with the EAEU countries and protection of national interests in the conduct of a multi-vector policy.

Revolution, Covid-19, and War in Armenia: Impacts on Various Forms of Trust

Abstract This paper explores how interpersonal and institutional trust in Armenia was impacted by three dramatic events in its recent history: the popular uprising of 2018 (also known as the Velvet Revolution), the pandemic, and the war. We use World Value Survey, Caucasus Barometer, and other available surveys to demonstrate the relative stability of interpersonal trust, contrasted with swings in institutional trust. We also show an initial “rally around the flag” effect during the early period of the pandemic, followed by disillusionment. Overall, gains in trust due to the Velvet Revolution outweigh the losses in trust due to Covid-19 and war.

Armenian Media System Overview According to the Hallin and Mancini Model

An overview of the Armenian media system is presented from the perspective of media professionals. Interference with the media system by the political system is analysed and the health of the Armenian media system is explored in the context of its transition from a Soviet republic towards a liberal model. The international situation contextualises analysis (resurgence of Russia–West enmity and globalisation) as does Armenia’s troubled relationship with its neighbours: with Turkey due to the 1915 genocide and with Azerbaijan because of the dispute over Nagorno-Karabakh. Relevant domestic affairs, such as the successful citizens’ mobilisation and the 2018 Velvet Revolution are also considered. The methodology used is based on in-depth interviews carried out in Yerevan (09/23) with 13 key informants; their answers are explored with content analysis using Hallin and Mancini’s dimensions. The study will serve to discuss how the media are used as tools of power and how the media system reproduces the political system (polarisation and individual ownership). We find that media is owned and/or controlled by political parties, and that the government controls public media but also part of the private sector through broadcasting licences and economic pressure. News media are not self-sustainable, thus, media economic dependence compromises its editorial independence, and very few media are independent. There is plurality, but highly polarised; there is no systematic censorship, but defamation fines reinforce journalists’ self-censorship; internet freedom is high but generates misinformation. Even so, there is professionalism, therefore there may yet be hope for the media if peace and the economy stabilise.

The Velvet Revolution's Best Supporting Actors: Shirley Temple Black and U.S. Embassy Prague, 19891

Abstract This article discusses the contours of U.S. diplomacy in Czechoslovakia before and during the Velvet Revolution of 1989, showing how the U.S. embassy in Prague, in collaboration with the U.S. National Security Council (NSC) and State Department, crafted U.S. policy. Drawing on recently available primary materials (including declassified U.S. telegrams, Czechoslovak archival documents, unpublished memoirs, and original interviews), this article highlights the role of the U.S. embassy during the period from August to November 1989, including how key officials, above all Ambassador Shirley Temple Black, analyzed political developments, assisted Czechoslovak dissidents, and pursued extensive engagement with the Communist government. The article provides the first scholarly, granular account of U.S. diplomacy in Czechoslovakia during the November 1989 upheavals and contributes to the historiography on U.S. foreign policy and the end of the Cold War.

The Evolution of Cinemas in Prague from the Second Half of the Twentieth Century: A Contemporary Perspective

The article approaches the situation of Prague cinemas in the second half of the 20th century from the end of the Second World War to the Velvet Revolution within the socio-historical background from the point of view of an architect and a cinephile. The entire text is arranged chronologically in four paragraphs reflecting the contemporary political and social situation. It approximates the post-war period full of ideological ideals, when the construction of a dense network of cinemas became a key element of national renewal, not only in large cities but also in the regions. The following decade brought a paradigmatic shift, when local single-screen cinemas gave way to large cultural houses with multifunctional use (film, theatre, gallery, restaurant, sports facilities, etc.). It deals with the socially relaxed sixties, reflecting the synergy of various artistic disciplines, thanks to which Czechoslovakia presented to the world new artistic disciplines based precisely on film projection – “polyekran” (polyscreen) and “laterna magika” (a combination of projection and performance with live actors). The imaginary culmination of the new wave period was the opening of the luxury cinema 64 U Hradeb, which is given more attention in the text below. Furthermore, the text outlines the situation of cinemas in large Prague housing estates and deals with Czech brutalism in the context of foreign architecture and with the only brutalist cinema still operating today – the Dlabačov cinema. The final part of this article gives a brief overview of the total number of cinemas established in this period in the territory of Prague and a comparison with other European metropolises with a similar socio-cultural background. The research has the ambition to understand and approach how to integrate valuable cinema buildings on the territory of Prague into the daily life of contemporary Prague residents through the investigation of the cinema phenomenon, and the development of cinematography and cinema architecture as such, from its inception to the present day. The general logical processing methods are historical and socio-cultural analysis, architectural and urban research including architectural drawings, photographic documentation and a study of the urban development of the appearance of individual cinemas, comparison and deduction.

Petros Tepoyan's views on Armenian national liberation about the struggle

The unprecedentedly politicized life of the Republic of Armenia received a new impetus after the Velvet Revolution. A large number of organizations announced themselves that directed and restrained unrest in society. Traditional parties with a unique political trajectory in Armenian life have also become more active. From the point of view of understanding today's processes and not repeating the mistakes of the past, it is more than important and relevant to highlight the successes they have achieved and the mistakes they have made. The Armenian intellectual from the diaspora P. Tepoyan addressed these issues and expressed quite realistic assessments. He noted that the Armenians, being more developed than the peoples living on the territory of the Ottoman Empire, experienced an awakening in the second half of the 19th century, which became a prerequisite for the Armenian national liberation struggle. However, the economic and political interests of extremely unequal forces led to defeat as a result of the battle. After this, Armenian political leaders always connected the issue of resolving the “Armenian question” with the politics that is possible for our people. At the same time, the authors of the Hunchakian party program, called upon to lead the liberation struggle, being almost unfamiliar with the harsh conditions that developed in the Ottoman Empire, chose the wrong strategy and tactics. Their struggle was of a romantic nature and in many cases not united, with the result that the expected result was realized.

Diminishing Justice and Third-Party Intervention: Explaining Russia’s Impartial Stance During the 2020 Karabakh War

ABSTRACT This article examines Russia’s impartiality during the second Karabakh war between Azerbaijan and Armenia in 2020, despite its close military-strategic alliance with the latter. Russia’s behavior represents a twofold deviation: a weakening of its security commitments to Armenia, and a more balanced policy in a frozen conflict in the post-Soviet space. Four factors are examined that could account for explaining this puzzle, namely increasing bandwagoning of Azerbaijan with Russia, rising opportunity costs of intervention due to Turkey’s support to Azerbaijan, Russia’s potential discontent with Armenia after the 2018 Velvet Revolution, and the role of a justice motive in Russian policy toward the conflict.

Trust and corruption in the Czech Republic: evidence from a new generation of managers

ABSTRACT Transition in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) since 1989 has received much attention from various academic disciplines. However, the relationship between trust and corruption in the CEE context remains largely unaddressed. Therefore, we explore trust and corruption in the context of the Czech Republic via interviews with a group of new generation managers, who gained their business experience after the 1989 Velvet Revolution. We inquire about the nature of trust and corruption, and their relationship, in contemporary Czech society and business. The analysis highlights that the previously theorised dynamics between trust and corruption, often attributed to the low levels of social capital, may in fact be symptomatic of deeper issues. We find suspicion, pessimism, cynicism, and apathy, stemming from the country’s history, as the cause. However, hope is provided by the prospect of generational change and exposure to more transparent agents and environments in both societal and business terms.

“Side by Side with Fighting Nations”: Making the New Culture of Pro-African Solidarity in the Campaigns of the Czechoslovak Committee for Solidarity with African and Asian Peoples

AbstractThe article analyses the solidarity campaigns organized by the Czechoslovak Committee for Solidarity with African and Asian Peoples between the 1960s and 1980s. It situates the Czechoslovak solidarity towards African countries in the wider framework of the solidarity politics of the Eastern bloc and points out differences as well as similarities. Although the Czechoslovak Solidarity Committee was one of the first such committees to be founded in Eastern Europe, in the 1960s its official as well as public commitment to internationalist principles was modest compared with those of solidarity movements elsewhere in the bloc. However, the solidarity campaigns with African liberation movements intensified in the early 1970s. The campaigns in this period were marked by strong national symbolism, which drew on historical parallels between the African and Czechoslovak struggles for independence. The everyday internationalism in this case filled the public space with images of shared suffering, inferiority, and occupation, through which Czechoslovak citizens made sense of their historical role in the world. The article argues that this “nationalization” of official solidarity campaigns helped to embed the victimization narratives that survived the Velvet Revolution and that, in the 1990s, became a basis for new Czech and Slovak political identification.

70th Anniversary of Folia Biologica.

Folia Biologica celebrates 70 years of continuous publication of research papers. The first volume was published in Prague in 1954 on behalf of the Institute of Molecular Genetics of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences (since 1990 the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic) under the subtitle "International edition of the journal Czechoslovakian Biology". Born in the dark days of the Cold War, Folia Biologica provided a thin but important link between the politically controlled science behind the Iron Curtain in the former Czechoslovakia and that of the free Western world. Initially, the journal focused on research papers in the fields of experimental medicine, immunology, virology, and experimental zoology. Since 1961 (Volume 7), Folia Biologica has been indexed in the Web of Science database. The first issue of Volume 7 was introduced by a review article by Peter Brian Medawar (1915-1987), winner of the 1960 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine "for the discovery of acquired immunological tolerance", which is reprinted in this anniversary issue [1].In the late 1960s, during the political relaxation that culminated in the Prague Spring, cooperation with free Western science intensified and enabled a lively scientific dialogue between Czechoslovak and foreign biological scientists, namely immunologists, molecular biologists, and virologists, as illustrated by a series of original research articles from Folia Biologica by Georg Davis Snell (1903-1996) and Jean Dausset (1916-2009), who were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine in 1980 "for their discoveries concerning genetically determined structures on the cell surface that regulate immunological reactions", which led to the discovery of the major histocompatibility system (MHC) [2-7]. Another powerful example is an article in Folia Biologica by François Jacob (1920-2013), who was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1965 for discoveries that helped elucidate the transcriptional control of enzyme levels [8].Despite the years of political repression during the "normalization" period following the invasion of the Warsaw Pact troops into Czechoslovakia in 1968, the scientists and editors of Folia Biologica from the Academy of Sciences were able to maintain vibrant contacts with the world's leading scientists. In 1981, the journal changed its subtitle to "Journal of Cellular and Molecular Biology". In 1983, Folia Biologica published the article by Renato Dulbecco (1914-2012), who was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1975 for "discoveries concerning the interaction between tumor viruses and the genetic material of the cell"[9].With further orientation towards human molecular medicine, the journal entered the era after the Velvet Revolution in 1989, which represented the desired end of political control over national science. The interest of Czechoslovak and Czech scientists in publishing in Folia Biologica began to decline at the end of the 1990s, when they had at their disposal the full range of scientific journals from all over the world. Since volume 63 (January 2006), Folia Biologica has been published by the First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, Prague, in a fully open access model.With the new decade that begins with this issue, the journal has undergone a series of improvements, including the strengthening of the editorial board, the assignment of a DOI (Digital Object Identifier) number to each article, the improvement of the cover layout and graphics, the innovation of the website, and a more precise definition of the journal's aim. Folia Biologica now publishes articles describing original research aimed at elucidating a wide range of issues in biomedicine, especially in oncology and human molecular genetics. In addition, the journal focuses on the cellular and molecular mechanisms of disease and provides studies on all organisms, cells and tissues that serve as biological and disease models, as well as clinical and translational research studies. Further improvements towards sustainable and rapid publication will be accomplished by introducing an online-only publication model planned for 2025.To celebrate the 70th anniversary of Folia Biologica, we begin the anniversary volume with the reprint of Sir Peter Brian Medawar's review. To commemorate the continuing history of the journal, and to thank our predecessors and contributors, we present the title pages, table of contents, and editorial boards of Folia Biologica by decade, illustrating the changes in research focus, human knowledge, and the evolution of the journal.We would like to thank all authors, reviewers, editorial board members, editors and managing editors involved in the journal production in the past decades, namely Ivan Málek, Milan Hašek, Alena Langerová, Josef Říman, Jan Bubeník, Jan Svoboda, Emanual Nečas, Karel Smetana Jr. and Zdeněk Kostrouch, for their commitment and dedication to Folia Biologica.We wish our journal many more decades of scientifically interesting articles, publishing open-minded science by excellent authors for the pleasure of satisfied readers!

The Key Trends in Changes to Primary Education in the Czech Republic after the 1989 Velvet Revolution

The Key Trends in Changes to Primary Education in the Czech Republic after the 1989 Velvet Revolution

Consequences of the Changes in Czechoslovakia in November 1989 for the Teaching of Social Sciences at Military Universities Using the Example of the Military University of the Ground Forces in Vyškov

The article deals with the consequences of changes in society and the army after the “Velvet Revolution” in 1989 for teaching social sciences at military schools. The changes are illustrated by the example of the Military University of the Ground Forces in Vyškov, which trained most of the officers for the ground troops. The first part of the article shows the use of social science teaching at military schools to ideologically indoctrinate students in favour of the ruling Communist Party of Czechoslovakia before November 1989. The next part of the article deals with the reflection of changes in society and in the army after the abolition of the article on the leading role of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia in the Constitution in the system of teaching social sciences, in their content and scope. The content of the article also shows individual milestones in the process of changes in the teaching of social sciences on the way from their use for communist indoctrination to the formation of democratic army officers.

The Role of the Minsk Group in the Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict: Current Crisis and the Importance of Preserving the Existing Mediation Format

OSCE Minsk Group has been the main mediating body to deal with the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict since 1992. For around 30 years the three Co-Chairs of the Minsk Group- Russia, USA and France, have been productively cooperating on the matter. Minsk Group was believed to be an exclusive forum where the Western and Russian conflicting interests did not hinder the Minsk Group’s mission to provide ways to solve the conflict. However, since the February 2022 Russian-Ukrainian war the cooperation between these countries within the Minsk Group has been largely paralyzed. Unfortunately, this coincided with the aftermath of Nagorno-Karabakh 44-day war in 2020, constant border skirmishes and Azerbaijani aggression and invasion into sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia. The more internal struggles the Minsk Group experiences, the more regional security suffers. Different actors come up with individual efforts trying to establish themselves as the main mediators between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Under such circumstances there are no balancing mechanisms to restrain the mediating sides from advancing mutually contradicting initiatives which stem from their interests. Hence, this article advocates the importance of the role of the Minsk Group as a body uniting the main mediating actors at the same time being the only body that has the mandate to mediate on issues relating to Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The article analyzes all the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict resolution plans proposed by the Minsk Group Co-Chairs, the Minsk Group activities during the 2016 and 2020 wars, the stalemate in the negotiations after the 2018 “Velvet revolution” in Armenia as well as the current crisis within the Minsk Group and the importance of preserving the Minsk Group as the main mediating body in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Three Philosophical Pillars of the 2022 Armenian Constitutional Revision: Empowerment of Public Discourse, Theory of Justice, and Environmental Ethics

The first chapter of this article presents the consequences of the 2015 constitutional change and the specifics of their implementation before and after the 2018 Velvet Revolution. The second chapter makes substantive considerations on the constitutional reforms launched in 2022 through the prism of the rule of law and the improvement of public discourse. It addresses the procedural democracy developed by modern political philosophy and focuses on legal mechanisms in an attempt to improve the political discourse promoted by Jurgen Habermas. It also discusses the theory of Justice developed by John Rawls and provides reflections on Environmental Ethics stemming from the philosophy of responsibility of Hans Jonas.

Norms of the Council of Europe in the Postsoviet Space: National Minorities in the Republic of Armenia and the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities

The present paper includes activities of Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities (FCNM), which is Europe’s most comprehensive treaty protecting the rights of persons belonging to national minorities in the territory of South Caucasus focusing on The Republic of Armenia. The paper the instruments and mechanisms of protection of national minorities in therepublic. It aims to analyze FCNM monitoring cycles, focusing on recommendations by Council of Europe and Reports by the government of the Republic of Armenia as well as Opinions by Advisory Committee of FCNM, considering the influence of Constitutional amendments of 2015 and the “Velvet Revolution” of 2018 in the Republic of Armenia if they are. The paper helps to understand the causes of problems in fulfillment of obligations undertook by the Republic of Armenia in the sphere of national minority protection.

Transition and Transformation of the Slovak Society and Slovak Identity

The aim of this paper is to disseminate partial results of the Europe for Citizens / Share EU – Shaping of the European citizenship in the post-totalitarian societies: Reflections after 15 years of European Union enlargement project. The project focuses on linking the educational process, historical memory, and social change 15 years after EU enlargement. Based on in-depth interviews, we have examined the transformation of Slovak society since the Velvet Revolution (1989) and joining EU (2004). The focus is given to the historical background that led to the change of a regime. The transformation to a democratic society resulted in the formation of a new Slovak identity, which was examined through Hofstede’s cultural dimensions. Respondents provided facts, thoughts, and their views of living in Slovak society since these two significant milestones.