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  • Improve international relations (in general)
  • Ending Soviet presence in Afghanistan
  • Loosening Soviet control in Eastern Europe
  • Foreign policy based on Leninist practices unrealistic
  • U.S. would not allow "worldwide revolution"
  • Gorbachev sought to divert funds from defense to aid in the recovery of a stagnant Soviet economy.
  • U.S. would likely agree if Soviets changed their policies

  • Four Summits (Geneva, Reykjavik, Washington, Moscow) sought to transform the American image of the Soviets.
  • INF Treaty, START Treaty

  • Gorbachev clearly stated his lack of interest in maintaining conflict: the "bleeding wound"
  • Economic toll and loss of lives led to criticism
  • Soviet involvement also made deals with the West difficult
  • Election of Mohammed Najibullah (1986) as leader of PDPA
  • Would stabilize the situation and allow the Soviets out
  • Soviets began to withdraw troops in mid 1986
  • Gorbachev and Reagan agreed on ending involvement in Afghan civil war (Geneva Conference, April 1988)
  • Maintaining "buffer states" became too expensive for Soviets
  • Gorbachev also began to realize some change was necessary for the future of communism - easing Soviet control, for one

The End of the Brezhnev Doctrine

  • Soviet troops would no longer be sent into Eastern Europe
  • Gorbachev declared nations had the right to determine their own social system (though he expected communism)

Reasons for Change

  • Economic: growing cost of intervention, and a more successful Eastern Europe would also help the Soviet Union.
  • International Relations: improve relations with Eastern Europe and Europe as a whole.
  • Stresses the common history and culture of European nations
  • Security in Europe only achieved by pan-European initiatives (and bodies)
  • Gorbachev's policies develop in accordance with rise of European Union.
  • Perestroika, Glasnost, Demokratizatsiya
  • Encouraged Eastern European countries to adopt economic policies similar to those in Soviet Union
  • He did not order them to do so
  • Gorbachev's speeches began to undermine order in Eastern Europe
  • Would aid in the fall of communist regimes
  • Gorbachev's policies called for openness and promised a lack of direct Soviet intervention in Eastern Europe
  • Encouraged dissidents and governments were not prepared to resist without Soviet assistance

  • Solidarity re-formed in October 1987
  • Encouraged by Gorbachev's speeches and reforms
  • Despite harassment, membership continued to grow
  • Economic problems in 1988
  • Led to widespread strikes (after government increased food prices) - Solidarity began to demand reforms
  • Solidarity was legalized (January 1989) and agreed on political and economic reforms with the Polish government.
  • Ensuing elections resulted in major gains in representation for Solidarity (99 Senate seats and 160 of 161 seats in the Sejm
  • Election of first non-communist prime minister in 40 yrs.
  • Janos Kadar, ruler of Hungary, had already championed reform for quite a time before Gorbachev
  • In 1986, many of Kadar's supporters lost their places in government
  • Karoly Grosz (1987) became prime minister and was tasked with handling the growing economic crisis
  • Grosz began to reduce party control of the government
  • Imre Pozsgay called for a new constitution that guarantees freedom of expression.
  • Formation of the Hungarian Democratic Forum (HDF)
  • Kadar later forced to resign; Grosz became general-secretary of Hungarian Communist Party (and Pozsgay a member of the Politburo)
  • Push for press freedom and multi-party elections
  • Date of elections planned in March 1990.
  • The Opposition Round Table opened the borders between Hungary and East Germany and Hungary and Austria
  • Government and Roundtable began to discuss reform and new elections
  • Hungarian Communist Party became Hungarian Socialist Party
  • 23 October 1989: Hungarian Republic was established
  • Push for a market-based economy (private (and foreign) ownership of firms
  • Communists did poorly in the elections
  • Unusual with respect with other satellite states
  • Had forged economic links with West Germany
  • East Germans could watch West German television
  • Earlier in 1980s, mines on the border with West Germany were removed
  • East German leader, Erich Honecker, refused to make concessions to dissidents and largely ignored Gorbachev
  • Opening of Hungarian border with East Germany triggered the course of events leading up to the end of communism
  • Made worse by Honecker's situation - could not expect assistance from the Soviets.
  • Honecker continued to refuse reform, even though strikes and uprisings proliferated
  • Forced to resign and was succeeded by Egon Krenz.
  • Krenz decided to open the Berlin Wall and all of East Germany's borders.
  • Ethnic Turks began to protest in May 1989
  • Government had reversed earlier policies with regard to ethnic minorities (action divided many in the party)
  • Growing economic problems contributed to events
  • In November 1989, Mladenov ousted hardline leader (Zhivkov) in a political coup
  • Mladenov came to agree with Gorbachev's policies
  • Environment Conference (Oct. 1989) gave rise to a dissident movement
  • Mladenov resigned in protest, when the secret police began arresting activists.
  • National Assembly (Dec. 1989) allowed Mladenov to carry out a top-down reform of Bulgarian government
  • The one exception to the pattern of "peaceful" transitions of government in the 1980s
  • Numerous protests began to happen across the country, all of which were forcefully suppressed
  • 1987: Workers in Brasov protested against pay
  • 1989: Dismissal of local parish priest began a protest
  • 1989: Romanian students began protesting the gov't

  • Ceausescu attempted to stage rallies to draw up support, but the crowd hissed at him (and at a later event, even prevented him from speaking.)
  • When Ceausescu and his wife attempted to flee, they were captured and ultimately sentenced to be executed.
  • Ion Iliescu became the new leader

Czechoslovakia (1968-85)

  • The Events of 1968
  • The "Prague Spring" sought to initiate political and economic reforms
  • "Socialism with a human face"
  • Led to development of the Brezhnev Doctrine
  • Czechoslovakia after 1968
  • Gustav Husak (replaced Dubcek) began process of "normalization":
  • Purging of reformers, censorship, travel restrictions, centralized economic control
  • Czechoslovakia's economy flourished in the 1970s
  • Political dissidence continued
  • "Charter 77": Sought to enforce the human rights provisions set out in the Helsinki Accord (1975)
  • Problem worsened by economic troubles late in the 1970s
  • Once Gorbachev called for reform in USSR, such calls also grew in Czechoslovakia
  • Husak resigned as party leader (Dec. 1987)
  • His successor, Milos Jakes, promised more of the same
  • Calls for reform in Czechoslovakia led by intellectuals and students (in Poland, they were workers, priests, students)
  • Two main sections
  • 1. More democratic socialism (like Prague 1968)
  • 2. Capitalism (non-communist students)
  • Events elsewhere spurred on protests
  • End of Brezhnev Doctrine
  • Honecker's resignation in East Germany
  • Formation of Civic Forum and PAV - demanded major concessions from the government
  • Mass demonstrations caused party leadership (including Jakes) to resign in November 1989.
  • Younger generations were fighting against aging members of communist parties
  • Aging members had seen the horrors of WWII
  • Younger members had experienced the Prague Spring
  • They also saw Western goods and wanted them
  • Used civil disobedience rather than violence
  • Czechosolovakia more industrialized than other Eastern European nations (more prepared than others)

Impact of Gorbachev

Czechoslovakia's "Velvet Revolution"

Reasons for Velvet Revolution's Success

Main Developments in Eastern Europe during the 1980s

Poland

Romania

Hungary

Bulgaria

East Germany

Gorbachev's Foreign Policy

Gorbachev and International Relations

Afghanistan

Eastern Europe

"Common European Home"

Encouraging Reform

Gorbachev, the Cold War, and Eastern Europe

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