In the New Years Address, a statement that stuck out to me came during the promises to the nation. Havel states that his first promise is to “ensure that we soon step up to the ballot boxes in a free election, and that our path toward this historic milestone will be dignified and peaceful”. Why do you think there was such an emphasis on stating that it would be dignified and peaceful?
Through the Iron Curtain
I noticed the same thing, and I even was wondering how he can make these promises so soon? I think there is such an emphasis on creating a strong democracy because the people expect this of him and need hope for the future. He mentioned that the state of Czechoslovakia was terrible, and the only way for the people to fix it is if the people are motivated. Also, Havel was such a huge part of the Velvet Revolution, so I feel like if he doesn’t advocate for this so strongly, he may lose support.
I think that Havel was particularly concerned about violence on one hand because it was avoidable in overthrowing the Communist regime in Czechoslovakia; on the other, the Prague Spring had only occurred 22 years earlier and Romania was currently serving as a painful reminder of how terrible war could be.
I agree with what Cole is saying with this, however, I think there is another layer to it. Primarily, the focus on the election being fair and dignified suggests to me as a type of condemnation of the Soviet leadership. Perhaps a jab at the passing on of the Soviet Leadership in the USSR as not being duly elected or a jab at the Soviet Bloc with rigged elections, it seems to be saying we know what we are and we are not you. Another layer to this too seems to suggest that in their mind, in order to be a legitimate overthrowing of Soviet rule, they had to be something that the Soviet was not.