Food for Thought

Week 14: Wednesday, April 25

Prague, 1989: The textbook remarks on how peaceful the collapse of communism was in many parts of Eastern Europe. In Havel's Czechoslovakia, the "Velvet Revolution" toppled the communist regime with a minimum of force. Here, protestors offer flowers to riot police.

For a brief introduction to Havel, see page 83 in the textbook.

1) From Khrushchev to Brezhnev, what fundamental changes had taken place in the Soviet system? In other words, how did it differ from Stalin's regime?

2) What did Gorbachev seek to accomplish through his reforms of the Soviet system?

3) What serious problems did the distintegration of the Soviet Union and the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe leave behind?

4) According to Havel, in what ways did Czechoslovakia differ from a classic dictatorship? How had it become a "post-totalitarian" system?

5) What was Havel's purpose in discussing the greengrocer who puts up a sign declaring: "Workers of the world unite!" Why does the grocer put up the sign?

6) According to Havel, what had become the purpose of ideology?

7 What did Havel mean by "living in the truth," and how will living in such a fashion lead to the destruction of the post-totalitarian state? What does the truth demand of us?

Romania, 1989: All, however, was not peaceful. In Romania, Nicolae Ceausescu, who had ruled as a despot for almost 25 years, was executed after a very short and irregular trial conducted by elements of the armed forces. Video of his trial and execution were broadcast widely throughout Europe.

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Copyrighted by Hugh Dubrulle, 2007.