Fall of Communism

One of the most powerful and energetic Soviet leaders

General Secretary of the Communist Party from 1985-1991 and the last head of the Soviet Union

Changed the Soviet system by fundamental reforms

Had better relations with the West Europe and the United States

“ This man has a nice smile, but he has got iron teeth” Andrei Gromyko, the Soviet foreign ministry

Mikhail Gorbachev

Three elements of ReformRestructuring (Perestroika):- Was planned to change and restructure the economy, which focused

so much on the military and failed to support with the real needs the Soviet population

- Permitted an easing of government price controls, which gave more independence for state entrepreneurs

- Improved the economy, but made the economy stuck between central planning and free-market mechanism

Openness (Glasnost):- A policy which called for increased openness and transparency in

government institutions and activities in the Soviet Union- Free speech, Free expression and a Cultural revolution

Democratization:- Attacked corruption in the bureaucracy - The first free elections- Weakened the Communist party’s monopoly of power nad control

The Revolutions of 1989Rousing events denoted the triumph and the alteration of the lasting opposition to communist rule and dominance in eastern EuropeConsequences:- Entering the European life and culture- Russia and 14 independent states – broken pieces of the SU- The emergence of West and East Germany as the one - country- The end of the Cold War - The United States as the only superpower

Democratic Movements in Eastern Europe, 1989

With the abolition of the Brezhnev Doctrine, the revolutions spread throughout eastern Europe. Former Satellite States began to set themselves free to establish their own place in the universe of free nations.

Poland and Solidarity1. 1988,- Labor unrest + inflation + Solidarity’s refusal to cooperate with the military state = edge of the economic collapse.2. 1989 - Agreement that legalized Solidarity.3. By free elections, Solidarity members entered the Polish parliament which led to revolutionary political changes.4. Elimination of the Communist party and the hated secret police.

HungaryFollowing Poland:1. Since 1956 Janos Kadar

had been holding the power with the Communist party.

2. May 1988: he replaced by a reform communist.

3. August 23, 1989: Hungary opens its border with Austria, creating the first chink in the Iron Curtain.

4. October 23, 1989: The Hungarian Republic is declared, ending the Communist Hungarian People’s Republic.

East Germany1. October 9, 1989:

Demonstrations in Leipzig demand democratic reforms in East Germany.

2. November 9, 1989: The Berlin Wall falls, as East German officials end all travel restrictions to West Germany and ecstatic Germans dance in the streets together.

CzechoslovakiaIn December 1989, in ten short days Communism collapsed in Czechoslovakia.This was called Velvet Revolution organized by students, intellectuals and Vaclav Havel.

- Marked for violent and bloody revolution. - Nicolae Ceausescu, an iron dictator, is characterized by Stalinist cruelty. - Mass protests in December 1989 where armed Ceausescu’s forces were defeated.

November 10, 1989: The Bulgarian Communist leader is replaced by the foreign minister, who renames the party the Bulgarian Socialist Party.  Communist rule in Bulgaria ends after 45 years.

The Disintegration of the Soviet Union

 March 1989          Democratic Elections and the Rise of Nationalism 1990                     Elections in the Republics, Economy begins to collapse March 1990          Lithuania Declares Independence June 1990             Russia Proclaims sovereignty, “rebirth of Russia” 

August 1991         Military Coup in Russia Fails – BorisYeltsin December 1991    Soviet Union officially dissolved

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