Editing Velvet Revolution (section)

== External factors ==
The events of November 1989 confirmed that outside factors were significant catalysts for the downfall of Communism in Czechoslovakia. Therefore, the transformations in Poland and Hungary and the collapse of the regime in East Germany, both of which could be traced to the new attitude of the Soviets toward East Europe, encouraged Czechs and Slovaks to take to the streets to win their freedom. However, national factors, including the economic and political crisis and the actions of groups and individuals working towards a transformation, destabilised support for the system.<ref name="proquest">Wolchik, Sharon L. [https://www.proquest.com/docview/200723100 “Czechoslovakia's ‘Velvet Revolution.’”] 1990. Current History. 89:413–16, 435–37. Retrieved 11 March 2009.</ref>

Relations with the US and [[Israel]] began to change in early 1989, with ties warming up, and meetings and negotiations being held on various open issues. All sides involved had a strategic interest in an improvement of ties, and the treatment of Jews and the Jewish heritage and Holocaust memory was one of the litmus tests for the success of the overall rapprochement.<ref>Wein, Martin J.. A History of Czechs and Jews: A Slavic Jerusalem. United Kingdom: Taylor & Francis Limited, 2019, pp. 185-193 [https://books.google.com/books?id=0bugBgAAQBAJ&q=wein+slavic+jerusalem]</ref>