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PRAGUE — Thousands marched through the Czech capital Tuesday in commemoration of a student protest 20 years ago that grew into the human tidal wave sweeping away the communist regime in what was then Czechoslovakia.
Nov. 17, 1989, began with fiery speeches at a university campus in Prague, inspiring thousands of students to march downtown toward Wenceslas Square. As darkness fell, police cracked down, beating protesters with truncheons and injuring hundreds in the melee.
Unbowed, the crowds mushroomed in the ensuing days, with demonstrators chanting: “You have lost already!” They were right. Following the collapse of the Berlin Wall and communism in the region, by Dec. 10 Czechoslovakia had a new government.
