cover image of Annus Mirabilis. Year 1989 and Slovakia. From a totalitarian regime to democracy project

    12 - 13 Nov 2019, Bratislava

    Annus Mirabilis. Year 1989 and Slovakia. From a totalitarian regime to democracy

    The conference is one of events organised in cooperation with ENRS on the 30th anniversary of the democratic revolutions of 1989.

    Venue: Historical Building of the National Council of the Slovak Republic on Župné námestie 12, Bratislava

    Programme

    12/11/2019 Tuesday

    9.00 – 10.30
    Opening of the Conference
    Moderation: Peter Jašek (Nation´s Memory Institute, Bratislava)

    Keynote lectures
    Wolfgang Mueller (University of Vienna): ´The End of our Era is at Hand.´ The East European Revolutions 1989/1990 in Perspective
    James Krapfl (McGill University, Montreal): Methodological questions in the Study of the 1989 Revolutions
    10.30 – 10.45
    Coffee break
    10.45 – 12.30
    1st Panel: International context of the Revolutions
    Michail Prozumenščikov (Russian State Archive of Contemporary History, Moscow): Reaction of the Leadership of the USSR on the Events in Czechoslovakia
    Mark Kramer (Harvard University): The Impact of the 1989 Upheavals on the Soviet Union
    Aleksandr Cipko (Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow): Gorbachev's perestroika spawned "velvet revolutions" in Eastern Europe
    Etienne Boisserie (Institute national des langues et civilisations orientales, Paris): Perceptions and analysis of the Revolution in Czechoslovakia in France

    Moderation: Beáta Katrebová Blehová (Nation´s Memory Institute, Bratislava)
    12.30 – 13.30
    Break
    13.30 – 15.00
    2nd Panel: Revolutions in Eastern Block. 1st Block
    Maximilian Graf (Austrian Institute of History, Rome): The „Peaceful Revolution“ in Perspective: Reassessing the Reasons for the Fall of the Berlin Wall and the Dissolution of the German Democratic Republic
    Rafał Łatka (Institute of National Remembrance, Warsaw): The Catholic Church in Poland – Key Factor in the Transformation Process?
    Áron Máthé (Committee of National Remembrance, Budapest): Pan-European Picnic and the Fall of the Iron Curtain
    Philipp Lesiak (Ludwig Boltzmann Institute, Graz): Austria and the Opening of the Iron Curtain

    Moderation: Burkhard Olschowsky (Federal Institute for Culture and History of the Germans in Eastern Europe, Oldenburg)
    15.00 – 15.15
    Coffee break
    13.30 – 15.00
    2nd Panel: Revolutions in Eastern Block. 2nd Block
    Mirosław Szumiło (Institute of National Remembrance, Marie Curie-Skłodowska University, Lublin): Polish Union Workers Party in the Face of political Transformation in Poland in 1989
    Florin Abraham (National University of political Science, Bucharest): Romanian Revolution of December 1989: from the historical Event to the topic of political Mythology
    Leo Janson (World Energy Council, Riga): An Industrial Element in Resistance to the Soviet Regime: A unique Case of the Riga Metro Project in late 80s
    Aleksandar Jakir (University Split): Can we actually speak of a „Democratic Revolution“ in 1989 in Case of Croatia?

    Moderation: Maximilian Graf (Austrian Institute of History, Rome)
    17.30 – 19.00
    Round Table
    Guests: Ivan Bába (Hungary), Łukasz Kamiński (Poland), Richard Cummings (USA)

    Moderation: Pavol Demeš

    13/11/2019 Wednesday

    9.00 – 11.00
    3rd Panel: The Velvet Revolution and Slovakia (Czechoslovakia). 1st Block
    Viktor Nikitin (Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow): Czechoslovak-Soviet Relations. From perestrojka to the dissolution of the Soviet Union (1986-1991)
    Jan Kalous (Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes, Prague): „Stake in the fence“. Miloš Jakeš and his idea of perestrojka in Czechoslovakia
    Paweł Fiktus (University Wroclaw, Higher School of Law, Wroclaw): The Velvet Revolution from the Polish perspective
    Martin Mocko (Historian, Bratislava): The Revolution in the Communist Party of Slovakia
    Ondrej Podolec (Nation´s Memory Institute, Bratislava): The End of Political Repression: Changes in Criminal Law after November 1989

    Moderation: Martin Homza (Comenius University, Bratislava)
    11.00 – 11.15
    Coffee break
    11:15-13:15
    3rd Panel: The Velvet Revolution and Slovakia (Czechoslovakia). 2nd Block
    Tomáš Vilímek (Institute of Contemporary History, Prague): Awakened society? The transformation of the social atmosphere in Czechoslovakia in the late 1980s
    Josef Halla (Historian, Prague): Attempts to formulate political attitudes in the Czechoslovak dissent in 1987-1989 and how to apply these ideas and their actors after November 1989
    Róbert Letz (Comenius University, Bratislava): The role of the Christian dissent in the fall of the communist regime in 1989
    Martin Homza (Comenius University, Bratislava): Students of Comenius University before the 16 November 1989 on the example of the Faculty of Arts
    Beáta Katrebová Blehová (Nation´s Memory Institute, Bratislava): Annus mirabilis 1989 and the Slovak political exile

    Moderation: Ondrej Podolec (Nation´s Memory Institute, Bratislava)
    12.45 – 13.45
    Break
    13.45 – 15.15
    4th Panel: Sources and Remembrance Policy. 1st Block
    Oľga Pavlenko (Russian State University for the Humanities, Moscow): 1989 in the personal Documents of the Soviet Diplomats and Officials
    Zora Machková (National Archives of the Czech Republic, Prague): Year 1989 in the collections of the National Archives of the Czech Republic
    Světlana Ptáčníková (Security Services Archive, Prague): From Palach's Week to Lorenc's Shredding. Events of 1989 in the sources of the Security Services Archive

    Moderation: Daniela Tvrdoňová (Slovak National Archive, Bratislava)
    15.15 – 15.30
    Coffee break
    15.30 – 17.15
    4th Panel: Sources and Remembrance Policy. 2nd Block
    Tajana Gerbocová (Slovak National Archive, Bratislava): Public against Violence fund in the Slovak National Archive
    Martin Ceber, Alena Bolfová (State Archive in Banská Bystrica): November 1989 in the archive funds of the State Archive in Banská Bystrica
    Margita Bandoľová, Erik Dulovič (State Archive in Košice): Sources to November 1989 in the State Archives in Košice and its departments
    Kamil Nedvědický (Ministry of Justice of the Czech Republic, Prague): Limits of post-November justice

    Moderation: Peter Barta (Slovak National Museum)
    17.30 – 19.00
    Round Table
    Guests: Ján Budaj, Ladislav Snopko, Vladimír Ondruš, Juraj Alner

    Moderation: Jozef Hajko

    Partners

    Organisers
    logo of UPN
    logo of Klub 89
    logo of Slovenské Národné Múzeum
    logo of Slovak National Archives SNA
    General partner
    logo of ENRS
    Event organised as a part of the 1989. Changes and Challanges framework
    logo of 1989 Changes & Challenges SK