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Article: Havel changed a nation.(Editorials)(Playwright-president helped birth Czech Republic)(Editorial)
- Article from:
- The Register Guard (Eugene, OR)
- Article date:
- February 7, 2003
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2003 The Register Guard. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: The Register-Guard
THIRTEEN YEARS after leading Czechoslovakia through its transition from communist rule to a functioning democracy, Vaclav Havel stepped down this week as president of the Czech Republic. His retirement closes an important chapter in the history of not only his own country, but of all Europe.
It was in 1989 that the Soviet empire in Eastern Europe collapsed and countries as disparate - and yet as similar - as Poland, Hungary and Czechoslovakia embraced economic and political reforms. Idolized for his radical plays of the 1960s, his development of the anti-authoritarian, pro-democracy underground movement and his unquestioned ...