Dear Compatriots and Friends.

On October 28th we are celebrating the 91st anniversary of the creation of the first independent Czechoslovak state and on November 17th the 20st  anniversary of so called Velvet Revolution which marked the beginning of the end of the 41 years of the Communist regime in the then Czechoslovakia.

The development in Austria-Hungary towards the end of World War One had led to the inevitable breakdown of the monarchy. Thus, after a long and painful period of non-violent independence struggle on the 28th of October 1918 the autonomous Czechoslovak Republic was created and few days later the president became Tomaš G. Masaryk a well know international pro-independence figure.

Thus Czechoslovakia started a very successful path of democracy and economic development, which lasted for the next 20 years. Afterwards it was forcefully interrupted  by annexation of its part in 1938 by the German Nazi regime, followed by occupation in 1939 which lasted till 1945. After a brief period of reconstruction after the end of the 2nd World War another dark period came – from 1948 for 41 years Communist regime backed by then SovietUnion took the power.

On  November 17th 1989, the regime led by the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia intervened against demonstrations organized by students as to the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the closure of Czech schools by the Nazis. People came out on the streets to protest against the brutality of the intervention and organized demonstrations and strikes.

The communists were forced to relinquish absolute political power during the Velvet Revolution. The regime had exhausted itself and didn’t have the strength to engage in a power struggle with the whole of society. Political parties were reinstated and the first free elections were held in 1990.

 Vaclav Havel, the well known dissident, who had led the negotiations with the communist government, became the president. Later, the political representatives of the Czechs and Slovaks were unsuccessful in finding a suitable bilateral model for the coexistence of the two historic nations. This resulted in the organized and orderly split of the joint state and proclamation of the Czech Republic and Slovak Republic on January 1st 1993.

 After the Velvet revolution in 1989 Czechoslovakia and from 1993 the Czech Republic became a full member of the democratic world with a free market economy. We joined NATO and EU and are taking part in various peace-keeping operations and antiterrorist operations all over the world.

 It is important to recall the 20th anniversary of the Fall of Iron Curtain which ended  a painful epoch of an existence of the divided world full of hostile borders and barriers. During this period hundreds thousands of people left their homeland due to a political oppression which was unleashed by the communist regimes in power. Those people were seeking refuge in the free and democratic countries.  Within this more than 40 year a huge number  of them were welcomed with open arms also in Australia where they found their new homes and became the respected and valuable members of the Australian society, among them also Czechs.

 It is my great honour and privilege to use this opportunity and sincerely thank to Australian people and Government for the help and hospitality they so kindly granted to large  number of our countrymen in need.

 

Juraj Chmiel, October, 2009