Collapse of Communism

Perestrokia and Galasnost

*allowed free enter-price in the soviet union for the first time *allowed people to speak out against the government *allowed people to run for office even if they weren't necessarily hand picked by the communist government

Revolution in Czech.

In 1989, popular protests forced the communist government to step down. The people wanted more economic, political, and press freedoms. These protests were successful and this peaceful end to communist rule in ___ was called the velvet revolution. After this revolution, the new government established a free-market economy and restored civil liberties.

Revolution in Poland

In 1989, workers walked off their jobs. In response to the walk-off, the government allowed the first free elections. Solidarity union candidates won overwhelmingly and Lech Walesa became the elected president. This revolution sparked the spread of revolution to other places in Europe.

The Velvet Divorce

In czech, there were two major areas; slovakia and the czech republic. when the revolution occurred, slovakia was hit harder economically by the end to communism. czech then split into cwo countries: slovakia and the czech republic

Lech Walesa

Led a workers strike in poland in 1980 and formed a union called solidarity. He was imprisoned after unions were once again banned in Poland.

The Fall of the Berlin Wall

in 1989, thousands of east germans began to move to west germany, and the german citizens began to tear down the _____ _____. For the first time since WW2, germans were able to travel freely in and out of East Germany. Historians use this event to mark the end of the cold war.

Dayton Peace Agreement

in 1995, a peace agreement was signed, ending the war. serbia and bosnia-herzegovina became separate, independent states, and dozens involved in the genocide were charged with war crimes, including serbian president slobodan milosevic.

1990

reunification of Germany

1989

revolutions of 1989 and the fall of the berlin wall

Ethnic Cleansing in the Bosnia-Herzegovnia War

serbia used murder and terror to eliminate all the muslims. serbia called this policy ethnic cleansing

1993

split of czechlovakia

Revolution in Germany

started because of the revolution of Hungary. Hungary opened its borders, creating a hole in the iron curtain. Hungary shared a border with austria, which as a western territory, and so thousands of East Germans used this hole in the iron curtain as an escape route to the west. Many of the people in East Germany had family members living on the opposite side, West Germany, and they also didn't really like it there. When East Germany found out about these escapes, they closed their borders completely. Protesters reacted to this by fighting for free elections and the right to travel freely. The borders were taken down as well as the berlin wall.

ethnic cleansing

the elimination of a region's ethnic minority by forcible removal or murder

War in Bosnia-Herzgovnia

the muslims there and croats supported independence, but the serbs opposed it. serbia attacked in 1992, which created a civil war. serbian forces committed acts of genocide and targeted muslims in the area.

velvet revolution

the peaceful transition from communism to democracy in Chezcholslavakia. In 1989, popular protests in czech. forced the communist government to step down. The people wanted more economic freedoms, more political freedoms, and freedom of the press. The new government established a free-market economy and restored civil liberties.

Czechoslovakia's prior History of Revolution

the people were cautious about protesting against the Soviets because in 1968, they tried to implement liberal reforms and had some new leaders elected who wanted to relax restrictions on the press and to allow more freedom of speech. In response to these new leaders, the USSR and other warsaw pact nations invaded and removed the leaders from office and instituted their own people whom they believed would be more loyal to the Soviets

ethnic cleansing in srebrencia

the worst case of genocide occured in the city of srebrencia in july of 1995. more than 8,000 men and boys were killed and buried in mass graves. The united nations considered this mass murder to be a genocide

Effects of Re-Unification of Germany (EAST)

they faced economic difficulties in their conversion to a free-market economy, they had to sell businesses owned by their side's government, a lot of businesses went bankrupt , they experienced slow economic growth, business closures, and people had to go out to find jobs because where they worked got shut down. they lost many of their best trained workers because those workers moved to the other side.

Effects of Re-Unification of Germany (WEST)

they were resentful about the high costs, and they experienced more unemployment as more people from the other side relocated to their side

reunification

to make whole again; to put back into a single unit

implement

to put into effect

Re-Unification of Germany

took place in 1990. The east and the west signed a treaty that united their economies. Next, they signed a treaty that united their government and legal systems.

Yugoslavia

was formed after WW2 as a federation of six republics: slovenia, croatia, madelonia, bosnia-herzegovnia, serbia, and montenegro. It was extremely diverse and was home to many ethnicities and religions such as albanian, bulgarian, croatian, hungarian, macedonian, montenegrin, muslim, serbian, slovack, and slovene. There were very high numbers of serbs and muslims. It was under control of a very powerful dictator Josip Broz Tito. After the death of Josip Tito in 1980, violence and conflict began

Bosnia-Hezegovina

was the most ethnically diverse of all the republics of yugoslavia. The majority of the people there were muslim (44%)

Revolution in Hungary

was the second revolution just weeks after the poland revolution. ___ began to implement elements of a free-market economy and a new constitution was created. Radical reformers took charge of the communist party and then voted to dissolve it. The communist party is dissolved and free elections were held.

Workers in Poland

had no rights, didn't have the right to negotiate for a salary, to unionize, walk off the job, or try to lobby for better working conditions. If there were unions, these unions were controlled by the government

genocide

a deliberate killing of a group of people for religious, ethnic, or political reasons

International Reaction to Ethnic Cleansing

a multinational force of 25,000 united nation peacekeepers were sent to bosnia to end the fighting. this was lead by great britain whom also convinced the us to participate in this. they provided humanitarian aid, such as food and medical care, shelter, and clothing

Solidarity

a union formed by Lech Walesa that millions of poles supported. After this union was formed, the communist government gave the workers the right to form unions. A year later, they banned unions, including solidarity

the breakup of yugoslavia

after the fall of communism, the republics began to break away. slovenia, croatia, and macedonia declared independence in 1991. Bosnia-Herzegovnia declared independence in 1992, and serbia and montenegro formed a federation

1992-1996

bosnian war

Mikhail Gorbachev

created new reforms after becoming head of the soviet union in 1985. His reforms were called perestrokia and glasnost. His intent was to improve the soviet unions economic conditions, but these reforms encouraged rebellion in the soviet republic and satellite states in eastern europe.

1980

creation of the solidarity union in poland