The document summarizes how people in Czechoslovakia peacefully resisted the authoritarian socialist regime during the late 1980s through non-violent demonstrations and establishing underground networks. It highlights Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr.'s philosophies of non-violence and then describes how in 1988, over 2,000 people held a candlelight vigil in Bratislava to protest restrictions on religious freedom despite police attacks on the peaceful crowd. This event helped inspire the larger non-violent Velvet Revolution protests that eventually overthrew the communist government in Czechoslovakia.

1. People who used non-violence to
resolve conflicts
Základná škola Svätej Rodiny
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Mahatma Gandhi
Nonviolence is a
weapon of the strong.
Earth provides enough
to satisfy every man's
need, but not every
man's greed.

3. Sooner or later
all the people of the world
will have to discover a way
to live together in peace.
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Dr Martin Luther King Jr.

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They have deprived people of their
freedom, and tried to force them to do in
the way they wanted them

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The life in
Czechoslovakia during
the era of Socialism
was very complicated
and difficult

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8.  People didn´t like this life, they fought against
the system – but they didn´t use violence
 Illegal meetings in churches, smuggling of
religious literature
 Establishment of ,,Secret Church“ in
Czechoslovakia - printing and distribution of
religious literature, secret consecrations of
new priests
 The most famous act of ,,Secret Church“ in
Czechoslovakia was ,,Candle demonstration“
in Bratislava
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10. Candle Demonstration
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11. ,,Candle demonstration“was held at
Hviezdoslav square on 25th March1988
 It was organised by: Ján Čarnogurský, Vladimír
Jukl, František Mikloško
 It was the first public expression of resistance
 There were more than 2000 people
 The crowd of people was praying in peace, in spite
of that the police attacked the people, plenty of
them were arrested
 The whole world was informed by BBC, The voice
of America and other TV channels all over the
world
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13. • People jingled the keys and waved the flags
• The leaders of the Velvet revolution from
podium declaimed the requests of people and
criticised the Socialist regime
• Most known leaders of the Velvet revolution :
Milan Kňažko, Ján Budaj, Václav Havel
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15.  That is the history of Slovakia and an example
of how to fight against violence without using
it and eventually reach what we were fighting
for. There can be many obstacles but we have
to be stubborn and go on till we reach our
goals.
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16. Thank you for your
attention
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