Transcript Collapse of the Eastern Bloc and the USSR

Collapse of the Eastern
Bloc and the USSR
History 12
Ms Leslie
4 reasons for collapse
1.
Economic failure
Economic stagnation
- prices increased,
wages did not
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
3. Gorbachev
Reluctant to use
force, which
caused the
Europeans to
become bolder.
Reformed the
communist
regime to the
point of collapse
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.
The Prague Spring
Czechoslovakia’s 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’
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
 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 Moscow’s
instructions and removed
all the newly gained
freedoms.
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.
Results of the Prague
Spring
1. Czechoslovakia
returned to
communist
control and
Russian troops
were stationed
there.
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.
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.
In the 1980’s 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%.
In 1983 martial law
was lifted and a few
solidarity leaders
were released.
(illegal until 1989)
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
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.
 1990 – Lech Walesa
Became president of
Poland.
 They become separate
from the USSR
 It’s important to note
that the soviets did
nothing to intervene in
the democratization of
Poland.
Hungary
In 1985 the economy was in
trouble. The leader Janos Kadar,
started democratization.
1988 he’s thrown out by people who
want communistic reforms
 But, after seeing the events unfolding
in Poland, the communists in charge
decided to leave peacefully.
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.
Czechoslovakia
 1980’s – 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
 Further
demonstrations and
strikes are organized
by former leader
Dubcek and Vaclev
Havel, causing the
communist party to
leave peacefully.
Havel became
President of a
democratic
Czechoslovakia on
Dec 29, 1989.
In 1992
Czechoslovakia split
in to the two states
it is today.
Romania
Had a brutal
dictator, Nicolae
Ceausescu since
1965.
Romania was still
loyal to the
Warsaw Pact.
 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.
On Dec 17, 1989, in
Timisoara the
government
massacred
protesters,
this sparked another
protest on Dec 21
which resulted in
more deaths.
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
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.
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.
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’.
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.
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
 Thousands of people
stormed the wall
 Started tearing it
down
 Biggest party in
history
 http://www.youtube.
com/watch?v=MM2q
q5J5A1s
First elections
Nov 9, 1989 the Berlin wall was
opened up and free elections were
promised.
These elections were won by
Hulmut Kohl’s Christian
Democrats.
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.
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, BosniaHerzegovina and
Macedonia.
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
 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 1980’s
 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.
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.
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.
War in BosniaHerzegovina
 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.
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.
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
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
Leonid Brezhnev
Leader 1964-82
More like Stalin
Stubborn. Would not
recognize the decay
of Communism
Benefited from the
struggles of the
working class.
 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.
The KGB also fed
him a lot of pills as
he got older and
sicker, causing
erratic behaviour
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
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
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
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.
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
5 Problems in 1980’s
USSR
1. Economic Stagnation
Economic growth slowed from 5%
in the 1960’s to 2% in the 1980s.
the people were growing tired of
lining up for food and a black
market had developed.
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.
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.
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?
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.
5. Nationalism
The Tsars and dictators used
extreme oppression to dominate
over Russia’s diverse population.
Only 50% of the USSR was
Russian.
As nationalism increased, so did
demand for independence and
reforms.
Mikhail Gorbachev
Became the leader in
March 1985 at the age
of 54.
His greatest strength
was his personality; he
was charming and
charismatic.
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.
Wanted to reform industry to
ensure better quality products.
In the mid 80’s he also started
talking about ending the Soviet
adventure in Afghanistan.
1986 – April Chernobyl.
The nuclear melt down
was a huge
embarrassment and
made it apparent that
the socialist system
had to change
drastically.
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.
Newspapers less censored
Academic world allowed to review
socialist policies
Political prisoners were freed from
exile
Gorbachev denounced Stalin
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
Perestroika – 1987
A book that Gorbachev
published which means
‘restructuring’.
He used this book to
outline his plans for the
USSR
1.denounced Stalin’s command economy
and praised Lenin’s 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.
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
1987 – party officials would now
be elected, not appointed.
1988 – elected officials allowed to
set prices for goods
Gorbachev’s 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.
Gorbachev’s errors 1985-89
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
anti-alcohol campaign – lost revenue
heavily invested in machinery
glasnost = criticism of economy
deficit grew annually
stayed in Afghanistan too long
local officials continued to ignore his
reforms
7. net production did not increase
enough. Only 2% a year.
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.
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.
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.
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 McCartney’s
albums, books and TV shows
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.
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.
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/w
atch?v=R-z9wfueMAw
 http://www.youtube.com/w
atch?v=eZ5S-_RLddQ
Yeltsin invited Gorbachev to leave
the party and join Yeltsin’s ranks,
Gorbachev refused, causing Yeltsin
and his supporters to desert
Gorbachev.
Gorbachev was loosing supporters
in the Party and government
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 USSR’s history and
Gorbachev was attacking it.
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.
Gorbachev also failed in keeping
the republics united.
By July the republics were openly
opposing his plans and defying his
authority.
Attempted coup d’etat –
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.
 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.
The Coup leaders argued over
whether or not to use violence,
they disbanded.
Aug 22, Gorbachev returns from
Vacation
Results of the Coup d’etat
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
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 :)