Kenneth Li

Euro Hist
Period 6th
5-29-08
Ch. 36 pgs 1013-1024

V. The Soviet Union to 1989

1) Major themes of Soviet history after 1945 were rivalry with U.S. for world
leadership, the rivalry with China for leadership of Communist nations.
2) Soviet Union emerged from WWII as major world power, but Stalin did
little or noting to modify repressive regime he had fostered.
i) Heavy industry was still favored in place of production for consumers.
ii) Soviet Army assured subservience to the goals of Soviet Union.
A. The Khrushchev Years
1) No single leader immediately replaced Stalin, but by 1956 Nikita
Khrushchev made became premier, remaining in that position until
1964.
i) In 1956 at 20th century of Communist Party, Khrushchev made secret
speech in which he denounced Stalin and his crimes against
Socialist justice during the purges of 1930s.
ii) By 1958 all of Stalin’s former supporters were gone.
2) Under Khrushchev, intellectuals were somewhat freer to express their
opinions.
i) He often went outside usual bureaucratic channels in search of
information and new ideas.
ii) Intellectual liberalization of Soviet life during this period looked
favorable largely in comparison with what had preceded it and
continued to seem so later when freedom of expression declined again
in 2 decades after Khrushchev’s fall.
3) In economic policy Khrushchev made moderate efforts to decentralize
economic planning and execution.
i) Ever-growing defense budget and space program that successfully
launched first human-engineered earth satellite, Sputnik, in 1957
made major demands on nation’s productive resources.
4) Khrushchev strongly redirected Stalin’s agricultural policy.
i) Machine-tractor stations were abandoned.
ii) Policy initially increased grain production to new records.
iii) Agricultural problem continued to grow over the decades.
iv) By 1970s Soviet Union imported vast quantities of grain from U.S. and
other countries.
5) By 1964 high Communist party leaders and many people lower in the party
had concluded that Khrushchev had tried to do too much too soon and
had done it too poorly.
i) Leonid Brezhnev eventually emerged as his successor.
B. Brezhnev
 1) Domestically Soviet government became markedly more repressive after
1964.
i) Bureaucratic obstacles impeded emigration to Israel.
2) Internal repression gave rise to dissident movement.
i) Dissidents included prominent citizens, such as Nobel Prize-winning
physicist Andrei Sakharov.
3) Foreign policy the Brezhnev years witnessed attempts both to reach
accommodation with U.S. and to continue to expand Soviet influence
and maintain Soviet leadership of Communist movement.
4) In December 1979 Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan.
i) The Afghanistan invasion, in addition to exacerbating tensions with U.S.
tied hands of Soviet government in its own sphere of influence in Eastern
Europe.
ii) Soviet government also clearly lost internal support as its army became
bogged down and suffered steady losses.
C. Communism and Solidarity in Poland
1) In early July 1980 Polish government raised meat prices.
i) Most important leader to emerge from among the strikers was Lech
Walesa.
ii) Less than week later the Polish Communist head of state was replaced;
later that year Polish courts recognized Solidarity as an
independent union and state controlled radio broadcast Roman Catholic
mass.
2) In summer of 1981 secret elections for Polish party congress permitted real
choices among candidates.
i) In December 1981 martial law was declared.
3) By the time of Brezhnev’s death in 1982, entire Soviet system had grown
rigid and seemed hardly capable of meeting the needs of its people or
pursuing successful foreign policy.
i) Nations of Eastern Europe were expected to continue with one-party
governments, their aspirations for self-determination smothered,
and only limited possibilities for independent political action.
D. Gorbachev Attempts to Redirect the Soviet Union
1) Both of Brezhnev’s immediate successors, Yuri Andropov and Constantin
Cherneko, died after holding office for short periods.
i) His reforms unloosed forces that within 7 years would force him to
retire and end both Communist rule and Soviet Union as it had
existed since Bolshevik Revolution of 1917.
2) Initially, Gorbachev and his supporters challenged the way the party and
bureaucracy had traditionally managed Soviet government and
economy.
i) A larger role was allowed for private enterprise on local level.
ii) He and his advisers considered policies to liberalize the economy and
move it rapidly toward free market.
iii) Democratic critics blamed overly slow reform and urged more rapid
move to free market economy.
 3) Gorbachev also allowed an extraordinarily broad public discussion and
criticism of Soviet history and Soviet Communist party.
i) Within factories, workers were permitted to criticize party officials and
economic plans of party and government.
ii) Congress of People’s Deputies was elected in 1989 and then formally
elected Gorbachev as president.
4) Soviet Union was vast empire of diverse peoples and nationalities.
i) Glasnost quickly brought to the fore the discontents of all such peoples,
no matter how or when they had been incorporated into Soviet
state.
VI. 1989: Year of Revolutions in Eastern Europe
1) In 1989 Soviet domination and Communist rule in Eastern Europe came to
an abrupt end.
i) Once they realized Soviets would stand back, thousands of ordinary
citizens denounced Communist party domination and asserted their
desire for democracy.
2) Generally peaceful character of most of these revolutions was not
inevitable.
i) Communist party officials of Eastern Europe and Soviet Union clearly
decided at some point in 1989 that they couldn’t offend world
opinion with similar attack on democratic demonstrators.
A. Solidarity Reemerges in Poland
1) During mid-1980s, Poland’s government relaxed martial law.
i) An active underground press and several new dissenting political
organizations emerged, Poland’s economy continued to deteriorate,
demonstrating inability of Communist governments to deliver
economic growth and prosperity.
2) During 1987 government released last of its Solidarity prisoners in
sweeping amnesty.
i) This time Communist government failed to reimpose control.
3) Jaruzselski, with tacit consent of Soviet Union, repealed martial law and
promised free elections to parliament with increased powers.
i) On August 24, 1989, after negotiating with Lech Walesa, Jaruzselski
named Tadeusz Mazowiecki the first non-Communist prime
minister of Poland since 1945.
B. Hungary Moves Toward Independence
1) Hungary had for some time shown greatest national economic independence
of Soviet Union in Eastern Europe.
i) In early 1989, as events unfolded in Poland, Hungarian Communist
government began to take other independent actions.
ii) Soon thereafter government permitted free travel between Hungary and
Austria, opening first breach in Iron Curtain.
2) In May 1989 Premier Janos Kadar, who had been installed after Soviet
intervention in 1956, was voted from office by Parliament.
i) In October, Hungary promised free elections.
 ii) By 1990 coalition o democratic parties controlled parliament and
governed country.
C. The Breach of the Berlin Wall and German Reunification
1) In autumn of 1989 popular demonstration erupted in many East German
cities.
i) Streets filled with people demanding democracy and an end to
Communist party rule.
2) Gorbachev told leaders of East German Communist party that Soviet Union
would no longer support them.
i) They convinced few East Germans, however, and the emigration to
West continued.
ii) By early 1900 Communist government of East Germany, after failing to
reorganize itself, had been swept away in free elections.
D. The Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia
1) Late in 1989, in “velvet revolution,” Communist rule in Czechoslovakia
quickly unraveled.
i) Patterns were similar to those occurring elsewhere.
ii) Changes they offered were inadequate.
2) Popular new Czech leader who led forces against party was Vaclav Havel,
playwright of international standing whom government had frequently
imprisoned.
3) Early in December tottering Communist government admitted that invasion
of 1968 had been mistake.
i) In late December 1989 Havel was elected president.
E. Violent Revolution in Romania
1) Most violent upheaval of 1989 occurred in Romania.
i) Romania was one-party state with total centralized economic planning.
ii) He had also placed his closest relatives in major political positions
where they personally profited through corrupt practices.
2) On December 15 troubles erupted in city of Timisoara in western Romania.
i) A few days later demonstrators in Bucharest publicly shouted against
Ceausescu at major rally, and by December 22 city was in full
revolt.
ii) Provisional government in Bucharest announced that first free elections
since end of WWII would take place in spring of 1990.
VII. The Collapse of the Soviet Union
1) Gorbachev clearly believed that Soviet Union could no longer afford to
support Communist governments in that region or intervene to uphold
authority.
A. Renunciation of Communist Political Monopoly
1) In early 1990 Gorbachev formally proposed to Central Committee of Soviet
Communist party that party abandon its monopoly of power.
2) Gorbachev confronted challenges from 3 major political forces by 1990.
i) They were deeply disturbed by country’s economic stagnation and
political and social disorder.
ii) In other words, Gorbachev seemed to be making strategic retreat.
 iii) Believed that he only needed these more conservative forces would
give him support he needed.
3) Gorbachev made calculation b/c he was now facing opposition form
members of 2nd group.
i) Throughout late 1980s he had been critical of Gorbachev.
ii) In new political climate, that position gave him firm political base from
which to challenge Gorbachev’s authority and increase his own.
4) Third force was regional unrest.
i) Initially greatest unrest came from the three Baltic republics of Estonia,
Latvia, and Lithuania.
5) During 1989 and 1990 parliaments of Baltic republics tried to increase
independence, and Lithuania actually declared independence.
i) Throughout 1990 and 1991 Gorbachev sought to negotiate new
constitutional arrangements between republics and central
government.
B. The August 1991 Coup
1) Turning point in all of these events came in August 1991 when conservative
forces that Gorbachev had brought into government attempted a coup.
i) Boris Yeltsin denounced the coup and asked world to help maintain
Soviet Union’s movement toward democracy.
2) Within 2 days coup collapsed.
i) Gorbachev returned to Moscow.
ii) Constitutional arrangements between central government and
individual republics were revised.
C. The Yeltsin Years
1) As president of Russia, Boris Yeltsin was head of largest and most powerful
of new states.
i) Its members were mostly former Communists who wanted to slow or
halt movement toward reform.
ii) Military backed Yeltsin and eventually surrounded Parliament building
with troops and tanks.
2) These actions temporarily consolidated Yeltsin’s position and authority.
i) In December elections radical nationalists openly intolerant of non-
Russian ethnic groups and advocating rebuilding Russia’s empire
made an uncomfortable strong showing, nearly capturing more seats in new
Parliament than supporters of Yeltsin.
3) Parliamentary elections of late 1995 saw Communist party reassert its
political presence as it achieved control of over 1/3 of seats in Russian
Parliament.
i) Yeltsin defeated Communist Party candidate for presidency in summer
of 1996.
4) Future course of Russia remains highly confused.
i) Economic life of nation has remained stagnant at best.
ii) It’s possible hat unrest will produce turmoil from which new, strong
leadership will emerge after Yeltsin leaves office in 2000.
 iii) It’s also possible that Russia for next decade will resemble Mexico
during 1920s and 1930s, when wake of its revolution that country
experienced almost 2 decades of uncertain political
stability.
VIII. The Collapse of Yugoslavia and Civil War
1) Yugoslavia was created after WWI.
i) Croats and Slovenes are Roman Catholic and se Latin alphabet.
ii) Most members of each group reside in region which they are associated
historically – Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Montenegro, Macedonia, and
Bosnia-Herzegonia.
2) Yugoslavia’s first communist leader, Marshal Tito had acted independently
of Stalin in late 1940s and pursued his own foreign policy.
i) After his death serious economic difficulties undermined authority of
central government, and Yugoslavia gradually dissolved into civil
war.
3) In late 1980s old ethnic differences came to fore again in Yugoslav politics.
i) Ethnic tension and violence soon resulted.
ii) Slovenia and Croatia declared independence from central Yugoslav
government and were soon recognized by several European
nations.
4) From this point on, violence escalated steadily.
i) Croatian Serbs demanded safeguards against discrimination providing
the Serbian army with pretext to move against Croatia.
ii) At its core conflict is ethnic; as such, it highlights potential for violent
ethnic conflict within former Soviet Union.
5) Conflict took new turn in 1992 as Croatian and Serbian forces determined to
divide Bosnia-Herzagovina.
i) The Serbs in particular, pursuing policy called “ethnic cleansing,” a
euphemism redolent of some of worst horrors of WWII, have
killed or forcibly moved many Bosnian Muslims.
6) More than any other single event, unremitting bombardment of Sarajevo,
capital of Bosnia-Herzagovina, brought violence of Yugoslav civil war
to attention of the world.
i) Thereafter, NATO forced Serbs to withdraw their artillery from around
Sarajevo.
7) Events of civil war came to head in 1995 when NATO forces carried out
strategic air strikes.
i) Agreement was great complexity, but recognized an independent
Bosnia.
8) Situation in former Yugoslavia remains dangerous and deadly.
i) In 1999 NATO undertook collective action against Serbian government
to halt massive mistreatment of Kosovo ethnic Albanians.
IX. Problems in the Wake of the Collapse of Communism
1) Collapse of communism has presented Europe with new problems and new
opportunities.
 i) If countries of the former Soviet bloc reorganize their economies
successfully, their citizens may come to enjoy kinds of consumer
goods that have long been available in Western Europe.
ii) In other parts of Eastern Europe former Communists have become
major political force.
2) Problems in new political and economic situation are enormous.
i) These nations also now recognize that by standards of Western Europe
they are poor.
3) Nations of Western Europe, facing considerable public resentment over
costs already incurred from collapse of communism, are hesitant to
send economic aid to the east.
i) Other parts of Europe, most notably Great Britain, are experiencing an
economic downturn and believe they lack resources to aid Eastern
Europeans.
4) Political challenges of collapse of communism are no less great than
economic.
i) Liberty made it possible by end of Communist government has thus far
tended to be used in pursuit of ethnic goals, leading almost
inevitably to domestic political turmoil.
5) Under these rapidly changing conditions NATO has continued to exist and
moved to expand membership to include Poland, Czech Republic and
Hungary
i) NATO eventually attempted to assume role of internal peacekeeper in
new Europe.