Collapse of Communism

In 1989, following nationwide strikes and protests, the Communists relinquished power. A new, transitional government was formed with most of the posts being held by opponents of the Communists. Václav Havel, a playwright and leading opponent of Communism, was elected president. The new government was Czechoslovakia's first non-Communist government in more than 40 years. In 1990, after the country's first free multiparty elections since 1946, a government made up of a coalition of parties opposed to the Communists replaced the transitional government and Havel was re-elected. The new government began to establish an economy based on private enterprise.