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The beginning of social change began with a peaceful demonstration of students on November 17, 1989, on the occasion of the closure of Czechoslovak post-secondary schools by the occupying Nazis. The communist regime's police force brutally suppressed this demonstration on Narodni Trida in Prague. Students and Artists came to the forefront of subsequent civic uprisings. The meeting of the Drama Club of November 19th gave rise to Civic Forum, which became an umbrella group for organizations and individuals who demanded fundamental changes in the Czechoslovak political system. From its inception, Václav Havel became its leading figure. The social upheaval came to a climax on December 29th, 1989, when Václav Havel, as the candidate of Civic Forum, was elected President by the Federal Assembly of Czechoslovakia. In his inaugural address, he promised to lead the nation to free elections, which he fulfilled in the summer of 1990. He was elected to the Czechoslovak Presidency a second time by the Federal Assembly on the 5th of July the same year.
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