History Chapter 30-1,-2
Beginning of the End of the Cold War
1989 and 1990 were crucial in the ending of the Cold War. A new Soviet policy under Gorbachev, the Soviet Union no longer gave military support to Communist governments in Eastern Europe, opening the door to the overthrow of the Communist regimes there
Bulgarian gov
1991 - election of new gov, led by the United Democratic Front, creating a slow movement to market economy
Defeat of Serbia and Treaty
A formal peace treaty, based on the Dayton Accords, was signed in Paris on December 14. The agreement split Bosnia into a loose union of a Serb republic and a Muslim Croat federation.
Attempt to Take Power from Gorbachev
A group of conservative leaders arrested Gorbachev and tried to seize power but failed when Yeltsin and thousands of Russians resisted the rebel forces. The Soviet republics moved for complete independence.
Ion Iliescu
A new government under Ion Iliescu was formed. After building the Berlin Wall separating West from East Berlin in 1961, East Germany developed the strongest economy among the Soviet Union's Eastern European satellites.
Gorbachev
After Mikhail Gorbachev came to power, the Soviet Union began to change its foreign policy, and the Cold War ended.
Communism in Czechoslovakia
After Soviet troops had crushed the reform movement in Czechoslovakia in 1968, Czech Communists under Gustav Husak used a policy of massive repression to maintain their power. Mass demonstrations took place throughout Czechoslovakia in 1988 and 1989 and in December 1989, the Communist government collapsed. President Husak was replaced by Vaclav Havel, a writer.
Tito's Death
After Tito's death in 1980, Tito's responsibilities passed to a collective state presidency under the leadership of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia.
Weakening Serbia
Air strikes by NATO bombers, strongly advocated by President Bill Clinton, were launched in retaliation for Serb attacks, weakening the Serb military positions.
Tito
Although Yugoslavia had a Communist government, it had never been a Soviet satellite state. The dictatorial leader, Marshal Joseph (Broz) Tito, had worked to keep together Yugoslavia.
German Communism
Beginning in 1971, Erich Honecker became head of the Communist Party and used the Stasi, the secret police, to rule. In 1988, popular unrest led many East Germans to flee their country. Mass demonstrations against the regime broke out and the Communist government was collapsing.
Free Market Economy
Boris Yeltsin was committed to introducing a free market economy, but it was not easy. A dramatic rise in the activities of organized crime mobs led increasing numbers of Russians to support former Communists and hard-line nationalists
Détente
By the 1970s, American-Soviet relations had entered détente, a reduction of tensions. In 1979, the collapse of détente began a new period of East-West confrontation.
Final Failures of the SU
By the 1970s, the Communist ruling class in the Soviet Union had become complacent and corrupt. Brezhnev was unwilling to tamper with the party leadership and state bureaucracy, regardless of its inefficiency Declining economy, alcoholism, and poor working conditions gave rise to a troubled system. Within the Communist Party, a small group of reformers knew the real condition of the Soviet Union. One member was Mikhail Gorbachev, leader of the Soviet Union.
Ceausescu's Economic Policy
Ceausescu's economic policy led to a sharp drop in living standards and his plan for rapid urbanization angered the Romanian people.
Effects of New Europe
Czechoslovakia resolved its differences peacefully. Yugoslavia descended into brutal warfare. In the lands of the former Soviet Union, ethnic and nationalist problems threatened to tear new states apart. The Chechens wanted to secede from Russia and create their own republic. The Russians waged a brutal war against the Chechens to keep them.
Goulash Communism
Economic prosperity and consumer goods in return for domestic tranquility (in Hungary)
Success vs Defeat in Democracy
For both political and economic reasons, the new non communist states of Eastern Europe faced uncertain futures. Nevertheless, by 1996, some of these states, such as Poland and the Czech Republic, were making a successful transition to both free markets and democracy.
New Thinking by Gorbachev
Gorbachev (new leader of SU) created "New Thinking," which opened the door to an agreement with the US in 1987 to eliminate intermediate-range nuclear weapons (the INF Treaty).
US Debt
Gorbachev hoped to make far-reaching economic and internal reforms. The US' national debt tripled and moved from being a creditor nation to being the world's biggest debtor nation.
Perestroika
Gorbachev preached the need for radical reforms, restructuring, or "perestroika". Gorbachev called for the beginning of a market economy (consumers influence what is produced) with limited free enterprise (based on private ownership of businesses) and some private property.
Gorbachev Resigns
Gorbachev resigned on December 25, 1991, and turned over his responsibilities as commander in chief to Boris Yeltsin, the president of Russia.
Gorbachev's Reforms
Gorbachev seemed intent on making new reforms. Although the Soviet Union still excelled in space exploration, it fell behind the West in other new technology. Ordinary citizens grew tired of standing in line just to buy basic goods.
New State President
Gorbachev tried to create a new state presidency. Up to this time, the position of first secretary of the party had been the most important. However, as the Communist Party became less closely tied to the state, the position of first secretary carried less and less power. In March 1990, Gorbachev became the Soviet Union's first president.
Yeltsin
Gorbachev wanted to work more closely with Boris Yeltsin, who had been elected president of the Russian Republic in June 1991.
Openness in Perestroika
He realized that an attempt to reform the economy without political or social reform would fail. One of the most important instruments of perestroika was glasnost, or "openness." Soviet citizens and officials were encouraged to discuss openly the strengths and weaknesses of the Soviet Union.
Failure of Détente
Hopes ran high for détente but received a setback in 1979, when the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan. Carter canceled American participation in the 1980 Olympic Games held in Moscow and placed an embargo on the shipment of American grain to Russia
Nicolae Ceausescu
In 1965, the Communist leader Nicolae Ceausescu set up a rigid and dictatorial regime in Romania. He used a secret police-the Securitate-to crush all dissent.
Aleksander Kwasniewski
In 1995, Aleksander Kwasniewski, a former Communist, defeated Walesa and became the new Polish president.
Fight Against Ceausescu
In December 1989, the Securitate murdered thousands who were peacefully demonstrating in the Timisoara, leading to mass demonstrations in Bucharest. After the dictator was booed at a mass rally, the army refused to support any more repression. Ceausescu and his wife were executed on Christmas.
New Polish President and Problems
In December 1990, Walesa was chosen as the new Polish president. Rapid free-market reforms led to severe unemployment and discontent.
Two-Candidate Elections/Congress
In June 1987, the principle of two-candidate elections was introduced. At the Communist Party conference, Gorbachev called for the creation of an elected parliament, the Congress of People's Deputies Gorbachev decreed that other political parties could now form. He also struck Article 6, which had guaranteed the "leading role" of the Communist Party, from the Soviet constitution.
Communist People's Positions
In many countries, former Communists were able to retain important positions of power or become the new owners of private property.
Todor Zhivkov
Leader of Bulgarian communist party but protests result in his ousting
Lech Walesa
Lech Walesa organized a national trade union known as Solidarity, becoming a threat to the government's control of power.
Brezhnev
Leonid Brezhnev did not want reforms or the loss of communist governments. Brezhnev insisted on the right of the Soviet Union to intervene if communism was threatened (Brezhnev doctrine).
Gorbachev in the Communist Party
Mikhail Gorbachev had joined the Communist Party in 1952 and worked his way up the ranks. In March 1985, party leaders elected him general secretary of the party, and he became the new leader.
Kadar in Hungary
Moved slowly towards legalizing small private enterprises
Fall of Communist Governments
NATO agreed to send a force to monitor the frontier between the new political entities. The fall of Communist governments in Eastern Europe during the revolutions of 1989 brought a wave of euphoria and new governments introduced the democratic and market systems
Muslim Bosnian Government Army Forces and by the Croatian Army
New offensives by Muslim Bosnian government army forces and by the Croatian army regained considerable territory that had been lost to Serbian forces.
Destruction of Berlin Wall
On November 9, the government opened the border with the West. Germans swarmed across the border. The Berlin Wall became the sight of massive celebrations as people tore down the wall. On March 18, 1990, in East Germany's first free elections ever, the Christian Democrats won and supported political union with West Germany, which took place in 1990.
Example of Détente
One example of détente in the 1970s was the Helsinki Agreements. Signed by the United States, Canada, and all European nations in 1975, it recognized all borders in central and Eastern Europe that had been set up since the end of World War 11 to accept the Soviet sphere of influence in Eastern Europe.
Slobodan Milosevic
Slobodan Milosevic, who became leader of the Yugoslav republic of Serbia in 1987, rejected these efforts and only if new borders were drawn up to take care of the Serb minorities of a Greater Serbian state would this work.
Slovenia and Croatia Independence
Slovenia and Croatia declared their independence in June 1991. Milosevic's government sent the Yugoslav army into Slovenia, but without success. In September 1991 the Yugoslav army began a full assault against Croatia. Increasingly, the Yugoslav army was the Serbian army and was aided by Serbian minorities in Croatia.
Polish Communism
Solidarity gained the support of the workers and the Roman Catholic Church, under Pope John Paul 11. After new demonstrations in 1988, the Polish regime finally agreed to free parliamentary elections and a newly elected government ended Communist rule in Poland.
Ronald Reagan in the Cold War
The Cold War intensified when Ronald Reagan was elected president in 1980. In 1982, the Reagan administration introduced the nuclear-tipped cruise missile and became a supporter of the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) to create a space shield that could destroy incoming missiles. By giving military aid to the Afghan rebels, Reagan helped to maintain a war in Afghanistan that the Soviet Union could not win.
Inefficiency in SU
The Soviet Union was roughly equal to the United States in nuclear arms. Its leaders felt secure and were willing to relax their authoritarian rule. Dissidents-those who spoke out against the regime-were still punished. Brezhnev continued to emphasize heavy industry. The government's central planning led to a complex bureaucracy that discouraged efficiency. Farm problems added to Soviet economic woes. Bad harvests and no work ethic forced the Soviets to buy grain from the West
Ethnic Tensions
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a truly multiethnic country, and as Gorbachev released this iron grip, ethnic tensions again came to the forefront. Nationalist movements emerged throughout the republics of the Soviet Union.
New Capitalist Eastern Europe
The rapid conversion of Eastern Europe to capitalist, or free-market, economies proved painful. Quick changes were often disastrous and produced much suffering and uncertainty.
New Nations and Serbian Problems
The recognition of Slovenia, Croatia, and Bosnia Herzegovina by many countries early in 1992 did not stop the Serbs from turning their guns on Bosnia-Herzegovina. The Serbian policy of removing Bosnian Muslims from their lands revived memories of the Nazis but European governments failed to take a stand against the Serbians.
Reunification of Germany
The reunification of Germany on October 3, 1990, was a powerful symbol of the end of the Cold War Era. President Bill Clinton began to reassert American power in the world. He sent American troops to Haiti in September 1994 to restore the country's fragile democratic system and brought an end to the war in Bosnia.
Czechs and Slovaks
The two different national groups, Czechs and Slovaks, did not agree over the makeup of the new state. On January 1, 1993, Czechoslovakia split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Havel was elected the first president of the new Czech Republic.
Velvet Revolution
Took place in Czechoslovakia when the communist government collapsed. Havel (writer) took power, but ethnic differences caused the country to split into the Czech republic and Slovakia, Czech republic being much more prosperous
Democratic Forum
Won elections of 1990 in Hungary and were committed to democracy and free market economy
Yeltsin's Force Against Chechens
Yeltsin's brutal use of force against the Chechens , who wanted to secede from Russia and create their own independent republic, also undermined his support. Despite this, Yeltsin won reelection in 1996.
Collapse of Communism in Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia was caught up in the reform movements sweeping through Eastern Europe. New parties emerged, and the Communist Party collapsed. In 1990, the Yugoslav republics of Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Macedonia lobbied for their independence.
