ABSTRACT
In Czechoslovakia, socialism has been replaced politically by liberal democracy, whilst economically it is in the process of being replaced by the swift introduction of private ownership of the means of production and by the free market. This momentous change is the result of the ‘velvet revolution’ which took place at the end of 1989. Undeniably, change in the Soviet Union and, more importantly, the revolutionary changes in other socialist countries had their effect on the events in Czechoslovakia at that time. If nothing more, they indicated to the Czechs that change was possible and that it would not be resisted from the outside as it had been in 1968. However, changes do not happen merely because they are possible. They have to be carried out by people who have an interest in instigating them.
