Collapse of the Eastern Bloc and the USSR

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Collapse of the Eastern Bloc and the USSR

• History 12
• Ms Leslie

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4 reasons for collapse

• 1. Economic failure
• Economic stagnation - prices increased, wages did
  not

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2. New technology/media

• Electronic communication made censorship more
  difficult.
• Fax machines were difficult for a totalitarian
  regime to control. Radio and television signals
  were more and more difficult to jam.
• This lead to the east learning about conditions
  in the West and raising their expectations for
  standards of living

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3. Gorbachev

• Reluctant to use force, which caused the
  Europeans to become bolder.
• Reformed the communist regime to the point of
  collapse

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4. nationalism

• Countries like Poland wanted to rid their country
  of occupiers for years.
• Czechs and Slovaks had finally been freed of the
  Austrian-Hungarian empire, only to lose to the
  Nazis and then Soviets.
• Ruskie go home was a common cry.

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The Prague Spring

• Czechoslovakias attempt at liberalization
• Was a democratic country between the two world
  wars.
• In 1968 Dubcek is in charge. He brings back
  freedom of press, assembly, worship and travel
  abroad. He was preparing for free elections and
  called his reform movement socialism with a
  human face

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• His reforms allowing workers more say in
  factories, standard of living raised travel to
  the West open to all.
• His reforms were threatening to spread to
  Romania, this was a threat the Soviets could not
  allow

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• August 22, 500,000 troops were sent in.
• there was no organized Czech resistance like
  there was in Hungary in 1956
• Dubcek was arrested and replaced with Husak who
  followed Moscows instructions and removed all
  the newly gained freedoms.

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• It is important to note that the Czechs were not
  trying to break out of the USSR, but to humanize
  communism.
• This resulted in the Brezhnev Doctrine. it was
  the right and duty of neighbouring socialist
  countries to intervene in each others affairs
  when socialism was threatened.

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Results of the Prague Spring

• 1. Czechoslovakia returned to communist control
  and Russian troops were stationed there.

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• 2. The Brezhnev Doctrine stated that Iron Curtain
  countries would not be allowed to abandon
  communism, "even if it meant a third world war".
• 3. Increase of the Cold War. People in the West
  were horrified and so were many communist
  countries, especially Romania and Yugoslavia.

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Poland

• In 1980 Poland had created the Solidarity trade
  union by Lech Walesa. They organized several
  peaceful protests and massive strikes.
• In 1981 the government declared martial law, made
  solidarity illegal and Walesa was imprisoned.

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• In the 1980s the economy of Poland was going
  down hill.
• In 1981 there was a new leader, General
  Jaruzelski, who was a hardline soviet.
• Food prices rose 400.

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• In 1983 martial law was lifted and a few
  solidarity leaders were released. (illegal until
  1989)

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Poland 1989

• In the spring Jaruzelski began talks with the
  opposition about economic reform as he needed
  them onboard to make his reforms.
• They produced a new constitution which allowed
  for free elections but the communists would keep
  special privileges

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• elections gave Solidarity 92 of the seats in the
  Senate and 160/161 seats in the lower house.
• The Communists invoked their special
  constitutional privileges and Jaruzelski remained
  president while a solidarity leader, Mazowiecski,
  was Prime Minister.
• lead to a government coalition of communists and
  non-communists.

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• 1990 Lech Walesa Became president of Poland.
• They become separate from the USSR
• Its important to note that the soviets did
  nothing to intervene in the democratization of
  Poland.

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Hungary

• In 1985 the economy was in
• trouble. The leader Janos Kadar,
• started democratization.
• 1988 hes thrown out by people who want
  communistic reforms
• But, after seeing the events unfolding in
  Poland, the communists in charge decided to leave
  peacefully.

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• In March 1990 free elections were held and the
  Democratic Forum party (Peasants and Farmers) won
  and Jozsef Antall became Prime ministers.
• Not a single shot was fired in this revolution,
  opposite of what happened in 1956.

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Czechoslovakia

• 1980s economy is failing causing the leader,
  Husak to resign and be replaced by hardliner
  Milos Jakes.
• Nov 17, 1989 was the Velvet revolution when
  huge demonstrations in Prague were violently put
  down

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• Further demonstrations and strikes are organized
  by former leader Dubcek and Vaclev Havel, causing
  the communist party to leave peacefully.

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• Havel became President of a democratic
  Czechoslovakia on Dec 29, 1989.
• In 1992 Czechoslovakia split in to the two states
  it is today.

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Romania

• Had a brutal dictator, Nicolae Ceausescu since
  1965.
• Romania was still loyal to the Warsaw Pact.

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• Small changes happened in Romania such as
  dropping Russian language from the school system
  and not supporting the Soviet invasion of
  Czechoslovakia, they also had their own
  relationship with Israel.

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• On Dec 17, 1989, in Timisoara the government
  massacred protesters,
• this sparked another protest on Dec 21 which
  resulted in more deaths.

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• By the Dec 22 Protest the army refused orders to
  fire on the people.
• The crowds arrested Ceausescu and his wife and
  within days they were tried and executed.
• Romania was then lead by another dictator, Ion
  Iliescu until 1996

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East Germany

• Was ruled by dictator Erich Honecker since 1971,
  the most repressive of all the soviet satellites.
  
• Refused to make any concessions with his people
  despite the events that were unfolding around
  him.

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• On the other hand, Gorbachev had traveled to West
  Germany to seek financial assistance and had
  stated he wished to see the end of the division
  between the two Germanys.

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• Summer of 1989 thousands of East Germans were now
  escaping through the Polish, and Hungarian
  borders to Austria.
• By October there were demonstrations all over
  East Germany calling for reform.
• This reform movement was led by the Protestant
  church and was called the New Forum.

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• Honecker wanted to shoot the protesters but he
  was overruled by party officials.
• Honecker was then dumped by the party and Egon
  Krenz became the new leader of East Germany, for
  3 months.

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And the wall came tumbling down

• Nov 9, 1989 Krenz announced that he would make it
  easier for East Germans to cross the border
• By 10 pm East Berliners flocked ot the wall
  demanding it be opened
• The border guards let them through

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• Thousands of people stormed the wall
• Started tearing it down
• Biggest party in history
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vMM2qq5J5A1s

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First elections

• Nov 9, 1989 the Berlin wall was opened up and
  free elections were promised.
• These elections were won by Hulmut Kohls
  Christian Democrats.

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• The reunification process of Germany started and
  Gorbachev promised to withdraw troops.
• On Oct 30, 1990 Helmut Kohl became the first
  chancellor of all of Germany since Hitler.

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Yugoslavia

• Was not a soviet satellite.
• It was created in 1919 at the Paris Peace
  conference and had 2 nations in it Croatia,
  Serbia, Montenegro, Slovenia, Bosnia-Herzegovina
  and Macedonia.

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• A lot of ethnic based hatred, especially between
  the Serbs and Croatians stemming from the
  Croatian collaboration with the Nazis in WWII.
• Big Nazi movement still

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• Tito who ruled until his death in 1980 liberated
  the country from the Nazis.
• He did not tolerate nationalist sentiments, upon
  his death a new ethnic representative government
  was set up this new government fell apart in
  the mid 1980s

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• In 1988 Slobodan Milosevic became Prime Minister
  and he started a civil war. He was elected on
  the pretense that he would maintain a united
  Yugoslavia was Serbs as the dominant group
• By 1991 Croatia and Slovenia were demanding
  independence.

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1991- Serb-Croatian war

• June Croatia declares independence. Followed by
  Slovenia. Croatia had a large Serbian Majority
  which complicated things. Serbia then invaded
  Croatia and held key parts of the republic by
  summer.

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• Milosevic was willing to negotiate peace terms
  with Croatia, now that he was in possession of
  most of it.
• The UN had to intervene with 11,000 peacekeepers.
• End of 1991 Croatia, Slovenia and
  Bosnia-Herzegovina were independent.

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War in Bosnia- Herzegovina

• Population made up of Muslims, Croatians and
  Serbs.
• Bosnian Serbs attacked the Bosnian Muslims,
  hoping to gain their territory.
• Milosevic encouraged the Serbs to undertake
  ethnic cleansing meaning the Serbs moved the
  Muslims to camps and killed most of the men.

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• No one intervened to stop the genocide but
  everyone knew about it.
• NATO finally deployed its airforce and did a few
  air strikes against the Serbs
• 1996 peace was reached in December
• 1999 events in Kosovo are directly related to
  this war.

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• Milosevic was tried for crimes against humanity,
  violating the laws of war, breaches of the Geneva
  Conventions and alleged genocide for his role
  during the wars in Croatia, Bosnia, and Serbian
  province of Kosovo.
• He died of a heart attack in 2006 in his jail cell

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Fall of the USSR

• Khrushchev was removed from power in 1964
• because of failures in agriculture and the Cuban
  Missile Crisis.
• His behaviour at the UN was also embarrassing
  (shoe banging)
• He stepped down officially for health reasons and
  died in 1971.

Btw - this famous photo is doctored - no actual
photo of event
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Leonid Brezhnev

• Leader 1964-82
• More like Stalin
• Stubborn. Would not recognize the decay of
  Communism
• Benefited from the struggles of the working class.

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• Tightened control over criticism and artistic
  freedoms.
• Exiles Solzhenitsyn in 1974 over his biographic
  one day in the life of Ivan Denisovich
• Became ill - made him talk funny, kiss people and
  award himself a lot of medals
• Had a stroke in May 1982 and died November.

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The KGB also fed him a lot of pills as he got
older and sicker, causing erratic behaviour
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Yuri Andropov

• Leader 1982-84
• Former chief of KGB ability to use police
  terror to crush dissidents
• 67 years old with a heart problem
• Knew the party needed reform for economic growth
  to happen

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• Wanted to eliminate corruption in the high levels
  of the party punished black marketers,
  tightened factory discipline (punishing
  drunkenness on the floor), managers were given
  more decision making power in regards to prices
  and wages.
• Productivity increased

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• Wanted to have better relations with the USA, but
  Reagan refused
• The most dramatic even happened when Soviet
  forces shot down a Korean Boeing 747 over their
  territory, killing hundreds. There was fear of
  American retaliation
• Andropov died in Feb 1984

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Konstantin Chernenko

• Leader 1984-85
• Was ill when he took office (73 years old)
• Traditional and opposed to reform
• Died in March 1985 from heart and lung disease.

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Accomplishments of the USSR until 1985

• Russia now a modern superpower
• USA and USSR equal in military might
• Everyday lives on citizens improved famine no
  longer an issue
• Improvements in education, medical services and
  life expectancy

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5 Problems in 1980s USSR

• 1. Economic Stagnation
• Economic growth slowed from 5 in the 1960s to
  2 in the 1980s. the people were growing tired
  of lining up for food and a black market had
  developed.

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• There were 265 million people in the USSR and
  they had to import massive amounts of grain to
  feed them all.
• From 1985-90 there was rationing of common items.
  
• And consumer goods were of poor quality.
• And resources were used inefficiently.

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2. Military spending

• had to compete with the USA. The military budget
  was 15-25 of the GNP, in the USA is was only
  about 5.
• The USSR was unable to grow their military while
  ensuring a quality of life for the people.

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3. Political stagnation and corruption

• Party officials had a privileged life and wanted
  to keep it that way.
• The system helped their economic needs, so why
  change it?

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4. Ideology

• A command economy is different from a free market
  because it does not allow a relationship between
  the producer and consumer.
• In a command economy, supply and demand is
  replaced by centralized planning the state
  decides pricing.

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5. Nationalism

• The Tsars and dictators used extreme oppression
  to dominate over Russias diverse population.
• Only 50 of the USSR was Russian.
• As nationalism increased, so did demand for
  independence and reforms.

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Mikhail Gorbachev

• Became the leader in March 1985 at the age of 54.
  
• His greatest strength was his personality he was
  charming and charismatic.

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• His intention was to reform the communist party
  for the modern age, no bring it down.
• His first years in office were spent trying to
  rid the system of corruption and to catch up with
  capitalist countries in industry and agriculture.
  
• successful at the high levels of office, but
  local governments ignored his reforms.

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• Wanted to reform industry to ensure better
  quality products.
• In the mid 80s he also started talking about
  ending the Soviet adventure in Afghanistan.

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• 1986 April - Chernobyl.
• The nuclear melt down was a huge embarrassment
  and made it apparent that the socialist system
  had to change drastically.

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Glasnost 1986

• This term basically means openness or making
  public.
• For the first time in Russian/Soviet history a
  leader was inviting and encouraging open debate
  about issues in the country.
• No longer would opponents of the regime be
  purged.

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• Newspapers less censored
• Academic world allowed to review socialist
  policies
• Political prisoners were freed from exile
• Gorbachev denounced Stalin

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• Told the people that Socialism had not been
  established yet in Russia.
• Removed corrupt party members from the Brezhnev
  era and even put a few on trial for corruption.
• believed he was democratizing communism, which
  would make it better then capitalism

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Perestroika 1987

• A book that Gorbachev published which means
  restructuring.
• He used this book to outline his plans for the
  USSR

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• 1.denounced Stalins command economy and praised
  Lenins 5 year plans
• 2.committed to one party and one ideology
• 3.admitted that the treatment of Hungary in 1956
  and Czechoslovakia in 1968 was a mistake.

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• 4.wanted to rebuild the spirit of detente with
  the west. He recognized the common human
  values between the East and the West and that
  political dogma was less important
• 5.it became clear Gorbachev was committed to
  reform

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• 1987 party officials would now be elected, not
  appointed.
• 1988 elected officials allowed to set prices
  for goods

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• Gorbachevs biggest victory could be in foreign
  relations.
• The press loved him. Margaret Thatcher said he
  was a man she could do business with.
• He met regularly with Reagan to discuss nuclear
  arms.

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Gorbachevs errors 1985-89

• 1. anti-alcohol campaign lost revenue
• 2. heavily invested in machinery
• 3. glasnost criticism of economy
• deficit grew annually
• 5. stayed in Afghanistan too long
• 6. local officials continued to ignore his
  reforms
• 7. net production did not increase enough. Only
  2 a year.

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1989-1991 beginning of the collapse

• Gorbachev wanted to create a socialist market
  economy, this was very much like NEP were
  private businesses were owned by groups of people
  and they flourished.
• These stores competed and won against state run
  stores.

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• Coal miners in the Kuz and Don Basins had been on
  strike and won a huge pay increase this raised
  the expectation of workers across the USSR.

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May 25 June 9, 1989 Reform Congress

• The newly elected congress in the USSR. Was made
  up of 3 groups.
• One led by Boris Yeltsin, another by Sakharov and
  the third by traditional communists.
• Accomplished nothing by making criticism of the
  state a national pastime.

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• Glasnost allowed writers to openly criticize
  every aspect of Soviet life, causing the public
  to despise politicians.
• Materials from the West were coming in like Paul
  McCartneys albums, books and TV shows

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• The further from Moscow, the louder the protests.
  
• By 1989 all of the Eastern bloc had separated
  from the USSR.
• 1991 The Baltic States also became independent.

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1990

• so much reform had taken place that the
  fundamentals laid by Lenin and Stalin were gone.
  Such as
• the one party state
• economic monopoly of the state
• atheism of the Communist Party
• Ideological singularity
• Centralized administration of everything.

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Enter Yeltsin

• Yeltsin was rising in power in 1989-1990.
• He was seen as a counter to the Communist-linked
  Gorbachev.
• Yeltsin wanted reform and got his support from
  the Russian Republic.
• Gorbachev was loyal to the communist Party
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vR-z9wfueMAw
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?veZ5S-_RLddQ

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• Yeltsin invited Gorbachev to leave the party and
  join Yeltsins ranks, Gorbachev refused, causing
  Yeltsin and his supporters to desert Gorbachev.
• Gorbachev was loosing supporters in the Party and
  government

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1991

• people of the USSR were worse off then they had
  been in decades.
• People were back to starving.
• Gorbachev was blamed for their suffering
  although he was seen as a hero internationally.
  The people were proud of the USSRs history and
  Gorbachev was attacking it.

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• Production declined 18, energy was also down 10
  and the economy was on the brink of collapse.
• Gorbachev failed to secure a large international
  loan to stabilize the economy at the G-7
  conference.
• Yeltsin heavily criticized him for this.

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• Gorbachev also failed in keeping the republics
  united.
• By July the republics were openly opposing his
  plans and defying his authority.

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Attempted coup detat August 1991.

• Gorbachev and his wife went on Vacation and he
  asked Yeltsin to stay in Moscow
• August 19 conspirators announced the State
  Committee for Emergency Situation.
• The coup was poorly planed and they failed to
  take hold of the government.
• They did not arrest Soviet supporters and had
  asked Gorbachev to resign nicely. Gorbachev
  declined.

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• Yeltsin emerged from these events as a leader.
• He had driven on tanks in the streets of Moscow
  to drive out the Committee and set up barricades
  around the RSFSR Supreme Soviet Building.
• This action would force the coup leaders to use
  the army on its own people.

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• The Coup leaders argued over whether or not to
  use violence, they disbanded.
• Aug 22, Gorbachev returns from Vacation

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Results of the Coup detat

• Gorbachev now a lame duck leader. Yeltsin had
  saved him and now criticized him openly.
• Soviet Army was discredited
• Yeltsin outlawed the Communist Party in the
  Russian Republic.
• Independence movements around the USSR gained
  momentum

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• On Dec 1, 1991 the Ukraine voted to leave the
  USSR.
• They created the Commonwealth of Independent
  states (CIS).
• A structure with which Yeltsin was able to
  dismiss the USSR and Gorbachev.
• On Christmas Day, Gorbachev signed documents that
  would dissolve the USSR by the 31st.
• End )