Prague Embassy cable, Student Strike Situation Report

This November 21 U.S. embassy report demonstrates the influence of the independent student strike at the beginning of the Velvet Revolution. The students' power stemmed largely from their ability to organize quickly. On November 18, student leaders in Prague had announced an immediate university strike in addition to the general strike. That Monday, thousands of students refused to attend classes and instead held discussions on the political situation. Moreover, independent students were gradually linking the 20-odd university towns into a nationwide strike network, allowing them to coordinate protest actions and inform people about the November 17 events more easily. From the government's perspective, the students' (and actors') strike was creating an organizational structure that could harness the hitherto uncontrolled popular protests into a united opposition front. Therefore Prime Minister Ladislav Adamec himself was willing to negotiate with independent students to nip their strike in the bud. Union of Socialist Youth chairman Vasil Mohorita worked the student strike from another angle, promising material resources in an effort to co-opt the students' momentum for the reform socialists' cause. These attempts ultimately proved unsuccessful because the student strike had already grown strong enough to maintain its independence and the Communist regime was moving too slowly to keep pace with the popular demands.