Revolutions of 1989

Revolutions of 1989

Clockwise, from top left: Round Table Talks in Warsaw; Fall of theBerlin Wall; Velvet Revolution in Prague; Baltic Way in Estonian,Latvian and Lithuanian SSRs; Romanian Revolution in Bucharest

Other names Fall of Communism, Collapse of Communism,Collapse of Socialism, Fall of Socialism,Autumn of Nations, European Spring

Participants Citizens of Eastern Bloc nations

Location Europe (especialy Central Europe, then South-East and Eastern Europe)ChinaCommunist countries in other parts of theworld

Date 9 March 1989 – 27 April 1992(3 years, 1 month, 2 weeks and 4 days)

Result Peaceful transfer of power to non-Communist governments in Poland,Hungary, East Germany, Czechoslovakia ,Bulgaria and AlbaniaGerman reunificationViolent transfer of power to a non-Communist government in RomaniaBreakup of the Soviet UnionBreakup of Yugoslavia and the YugoslavWarsViolent suppression of the Chinesedemocracy movementDissolution of the Warsaw PactIntensification of the process of EuropeanintegrationSkepticism about Communism all over theworld associated with decreasing supportfor communist parties, especially inEuropeChanges in dozens of other countries,especially involving the rise ofconsumerismEnd of the Cold WarAmerican hegemony and the spread ofAmerican culture and laissez-fairecapitalism to previously sealed-offCommunist countries; rise of the US as aworld police forceIslamist terrorists increasingly target Westin the absence of Eastern BlocThe world economy becomes truly a

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"Fall of Communism" redirects here. For the fall of the Soviet Union, see Dissolution of the Soviet Union.

The Revolutions of 1989 (also known as the Fall of Communism, theCollapse of Communism, the Revolutions of Eastern Europe and theAutumn of Nations[1]) were the revolutions which overthrew the communiststates in various Central and Eastern European countries.

The events began in Poland in 1989,[2][3] and continued in Hungary, EastGermany, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia and Romania. One feature common to mostof these developments was the extensive use of campaigns of civil resistancedemonstrating popular opposition to the continuation of one-party rule andcontributing to the pressure for change.[4] Romania was the only Eastern Bloccountry to overthrow its Communist regime violently.[5] The Tiananmen Squareprotests of 1989 failed to stimulate major political changes in China. However,powerful images of courageous defiance during that protest helped to spark aprecipitation of events in other parts of the globe. Among the famous anti-Communist revolutions was the fall of the Berlin Wall, which served as thesymbolic gateway to German reunification in 1990.

The Soviet Union was dissolved by the end of 1991, resulting in 14 countries(Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan)declaring their independence from the Soviet Union and the bulk of the countrybeing succeeded by the Russian Federation. Communism was abandoned inAlbania and Yugoslavia between 1990 and 1992, the latter splitting into fivesuccessor states by 1992: Slovenia, Croatia, Macedonia, Bosnia andHerzegovina, and Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (later renamed Serbia andMontenegro, and later still split into two states, Serbia and Montenegro). Serbiawas then further split with the breakaway of the semi-recognized state of Kosovo.Czechoslovakia too was dissolved three years after the end of communist rule,splitting peacefully into the Czech Republic and Slovakia in 1992.[6] The impactwas felt in dozens of Socialist countries. Communism was abandoned incountries such as Cambodia, Ethiopia, Mongolia and South Yemen. Thecollapse of Communism led commentators to declare the end of the Cold War.

The adoption of varying forms of market economy immediately resulted in ageneral decline in living standards in post-Communist States, together with sideeffects including the rise of business oligarchs in countries such as Russia, andhighly disproportional social and economic development. Political reforms werevaried but in only five countries were Communist institutions able to keep forthemselves a monopoly on power: China, Cuba, North Korea, Laos, andVietnam. Many Communist and Socialist organisations in the West turned theirguiding principles over to social democracy. The European political landscapewas drastically changed, with numerous Eastern Bloc countries joining NATOand stronger European economic and social integration entailed.

Contents [hide]

1 Background1.1 The Development of the Communist Bloc1.2 Emergence of Solidarity1.3 Changes in Beijing1.4 Mikhail Gorbachev

2 Solidarity's impact grows3 Tiananmen Square protests of 19894 Revolutions of 1989

4.1 Poland4.2 Hungary4.3 East Germany4.4 Czechoslovakia4.5 Bulgaria4.6 Romania

5 Malta Summit6 Election chronology in Eastern Europe 1989-19917 Albania and Yugoslavia8 Dissolution of the Soviet Union

8.1 Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania

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global economy

Eastern Bloc

v · t · e ·

The fourth congress of the PolishUnited Workers' Party, held in 1963.

Queue waiting to enter a store, atypical view in Poland between the1950s and 1980s

8.1 Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania8.2 Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova8.3 Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan8.4 Chechnya8.5 Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan8.6 Post-Soviet conflicts

9 Other events9.1 Communist and Socialist countries

9.1.1 Africa9.1.2 Middle East9.1.3 Asia9.1.4 Latin America

9.2 Other countries10 Political reforms11 Economic reforms12 Ideological continuation of communism13 Interpretations14 Remembrance

14.1 Organizations14.2 Events14.3 Places14.4 Other

15 See also16 References17 Further reading18 External links

Background

The Development of the Communist BlocFurther information: Soviet Bloc, People's Republic of China, and List of socialist countries

Ideas of Socialism had been gaining momentum among working class citizens of the world sincethe 19th century. These culminated in the early 20th century when several countries andsubsequent nations formed their own Communist Parties. Many of the countries involved hadmonarchic governments and aristocratic social structures with an established nobility. Ordinarily,Socialism was undesirable within the circles of the ruling classes of the late 19th/early 20thcentury states; as such, Communist ideology was repressed - its champions suffered persecutionwhile the nation on the whole was discouraged from adopting the mindset. This had been thepractice even in the states which identified as exercising a multi-party system.

The Bolshevik Revolution of 1917 saw the multi-ethnic Soviets overturn a previously nationalistczarist state. The Bolsheviks comprised ethnicities of all entities which would compose the SovietUnion throughout its phases.

During the interwar period, Communism had been on the rise in many parts of the world (e.g. inthe Kingdom of Yugoslavia, it had grown popular in the urban areas throughout the 1920s). Thisled to a series of purges in many countries to stifle the movement.

Just as Communism had at some stage grown popular throughout the entities of Central andEastern Europe, its image had also begun to tarnish at a later time all within the interwar period.As Socialist activists stepped up their campaigns against their oppressor regimes, they resortedto violence (including bombings and various other killings) to achieve their goal: this led large partsof the previously pro-Communist populace to lose interest in the ideology. A Communist presenceforever remained in place however, but reduced from its earlier size.

After World War II, the Soviet Union had established a presence in a number of countries. There,they brought into power various Communist parties who were loyal to Moscow. The Soviets retained troops throughout the territories theyhad occupied. The Cold War saw these states, bound together by the Warsaw Pact, have continuing tensions with the capitalist westsymbolized by NATO. Mao Zedong established communism in China in 1949.

During the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, a spontaneous nationwide anti-authoritarian revolt, the Soviet Union invaded Hungary to assertcontrol. In 1968, the USSR repressed the Prague Spring by organizing the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia.

Emergence of SolidarityMain article: Solidarity (Polish trade union)

Labour turmoil in Poland during 1980 had led to the formation of the independent trade union, Solidarity, led by Lech Wałęsa, which overtime became a political force. On 13 December 1981, Communist leader Wojciech Jaruzelski started a crack-down on Solidarity,declaring martial law in Poland, suspending the union, and temporarily imprisoning all of its leaders.

Changes in BeijingNew Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping developed the concept of Socialism with Chinese characteristics.

Mikhail GorbachevAlthough several Eastern bloc countries had attempted some abortive, limited economic and political reform since the 1950s (Hungarian

Soviet Socialist Republics [show]

States of the Eastern Bloc [show]

Related organisations [show]

Dissent and opposition [show]

Cold War events [show]

Decline [show]

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20–21 March 1981, issue of WieczórWrocławia (This Evening in Wrocław).Blank spaces remain after thegovernment censor pulled articles frompage 1 (right, "What happened atBydgoszcz?") and from the last page(left, "Country-wide strike alert"), leavingonly their titles. The printers—Solidarity-trade-union members— decided to runthe newspaper as is, with blank spacesintact. The bottom of page 1 of thismaster copy bears the hand-writtenSolidarity confirmation of that decision.

Revolution of 1956, Prague Spring of 1968), the advent of reform-minded Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in 1985 signaled the trendtoward greater liberalization. During the mid 1980s, a younger generation of Soviet apparatchiks, led by Gorbachev, began advocatingfundamental reform in order to reverse years of Brezhnev stagnation. The Soviet Union was facing a period of severe economic declineand needed Western technology and credits to make up for its increasing backwardness. The costs of maintaining its so-called "empire"– the military, KGB, subsidies to foreign client states – further strained the moribund Soviet economy.

The first signs of major reform came in 1986 when Gorbachev launched a policy of glasnost (openness) in the Soviet Union, andemphasized the need for perestroika (economic restructuring). By the spring of 1989, the Soviet Union had not only experienced livelymedia debate, but had also held its first multi-candidate elections in the newly established Congress of People's Deputies. Thoughglasnost advocated openness and political criticism, at the time, it was only permitted in accordance with the political views of theCommunists. The general public in the Eastern bloc were still threatened by secret police and political repression.

Moscow's largest obstacle to improved political and economic relations with the Western powers remained the Iron Curtain that existedbetween East and West. As long as the specter of Soviet military intervention loomed over Central, South-East and Eastern Europe, itseemed unlikely that Moscow could attract the Western economic support needed to finance the country's restructuring. Gorbachevurged his Central and South-East European counterparts to imitate perestroika and glasnost in their own countries. However, whilereformists in Hungary and Poland were emboldened by the force of liberalization spreading from East to West, other Eastern bloccountries remained openly skeptical and demonstrated aversion to reform. Past experiences had demonstrated that although reform inthe Soviet Union was manageable, the pressure for change in Central and South-East Europe had the potential to become uncontrollable.These regimes owed their creation and continued survival to Soviet-style authoritarianism, backed by Soviet military power and subsidies.Believing Gorbachev's reform initiatives would be short-lived, orthodox Communist rulers like East Germany's Erich Honecker, Bulgaria'sTodor Zhivkov, Czechoslovakia's Gustáv Husák, and Romania’s Nicolae Ceauşescu obstinately ignored the calls for change.[7] "Whenyour neighbor puts up new wallpaper, it doesn't mean you have to too," declared one East German politburo member.[8]

Solidarity's impact growsMain article: Solidarity (Polish trade union)

Throughout the mid-1980s, Solidarity persisted solely as an underground organization, supportedby the Catholic Church. However, by the late 1980s, Solidarity became sufficiently strong tofrustrate Jaruzelski's attempts at reform, and nationwide strikes in 1988 forced the government toopen a dialogue with Solidarity. On 9 March 1989, both sides agreed to a bicameral legislaturecalled the National Assembly. The already existing Sejm would become the lower house. TheSenate would be elected by the people. Traditionally a ceremonial office, the presidency wasgiven more powers[9] (Polish Round Table Agreement).

By 1989, the Soviet Union had repealed the Brezhnev Doctrine in favor of non-intervention in theinternal affairs of its Warsaw Pact allies, termed the Sinatra Doctrine in a joking reference to theFrank Sinatra song "My Way". Poland became the first Warsaw Pact state country to break freeof Soviet domination. Taking notice from Poland, Hungary was next to follow.[citation needed]

Tiananmen Square protests of 1989Main article: Tiananmen Square protests of 1989

In December 1986, Chinese student demonstrators, taking advantage of the loosening politicalatmosphere, staged protests against the slow pace of reform. Students called for campuselections, the chance to study abroad, and greater availability of western pop culture. HuYaobang, a protégé of Deng Xiaoping and a leading advocate of reform, was blamed for theprotests and forced to resign as the CCP General Secretary in January 1987. In the "Anti Bourgeois Liberalization Campaign", Hu wouldbe further denounced.

The protests were sparked by the death of Hu Yaobang on 15 April 1989. By the eve of Hu's funeral, one million people[citation needed] hadgathered at Tiananmen square.

Gorbachev's visit to China on 15 May during the protests brought many foreign news agencies to Beijing, and their sympathetic portrayalsof the protesters helped galvanize a spirit of liberation among the Central, South-East and Eastern Europeans who were watching. TheChinese leadership, particularly Communist Party General Secretary Zhao Ziyang, having begun earlier than the Soviets to radicallyreform the economy, was open to political reform, but not at the cost of a potential return to the disorder of the Cultural Revolution.

The movement lasted seven weeks, from Hu's death on 15 April until tanks cleared Tiananmen Square on 4 June. In Beijing, the resultingmilitary response to the protesters by the PRC government left many civilians and military personnel charged with clearing the square ofthe dead or severely injured. The number of deaths is not known and many different estimates exist.

Revolutions of 1989On 7 July 1989 President Mikhail Gorbachev implicitly renounced the use of force against other Soviet-bloc nations. Speaking tomembers of the 23-nation Council of Europe, Mr. Gorbachev made no direct reference to the so-called Brezhnev Doctrine, under whichMoscow has asserted the right to use force to prevent a Warsaw Pact member from leaving the Communist fold, but stated 'Anyinterference in domestic affairs and any attempts to restrict the sovereignty of states - friends, allies or any others - are inadmissible'.[10]

PolandMain article: End of Communism in Poland (1989)

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Negotiations during the Polish RoundTable Talks

Solidarity Chairman Lech Wałęsa(center) with US President George H. W.Bush (right) and Barbara Bush (left) inWarsaw, July 1989.

Main article: End of Communism in Poland (1989)

A wave of strikes hit Poland in April and May 1988, and a second wave began on 15 August 1988when a strike broke out at the July Manifesto coal mine in Jastrzębie-Zdrój, the workersdemanding the re-legalisation of Solidarity. Over the next few days sixteen other mines went onstrike followed by a number of shipyards, including on 22 August the Gdansk Shipyard famous asthe epicentre of the 1980 industrial unrest that spawned Solidarity.[11] On 31 August 1988 LechWalesa, the leader of Solidarity, was invited to Warsaw by the Communist authorities who hadfinally agreed to talks.[12] On 18 January 1989 at a stormy session of the Tenth Plenary Sessionof the ruling Communist Party, General Jaruzelski managed to get party backing for formalnegotiations with Solidarity leading to its future legalisation - although this was achieved only bythreatening the resignation of the entire Communist Party leadership if thwarted.[13] On 6 February1989 formal Round Table discussions began in the Hall of Columns in Warsaw. On 4 April 1989the historic Round Table Agreement was signed legalising Solidarity and setting up partly freeparliamentary elections to be held on 4 June 1989 (incidentally, the day following the midnightcrackdown on Chinese protesters in Tiananmen Square). A political earthquake followed. Thevictory of Solidarity surpassed all predictions. Solidarity candidates captured all the seats theywere allowed to compete for in the Sejm, while in the Senate they captured 99 out of the 100available seats (with the one remaining seat taken by an independent candidate). At the sametime, many prominent Communist candidates failed to gain even the minimum number of votesrequired to capture the seats that were reserved for them.

On 15 August 1989, following the defection to Solidarity of the Communists' two longtime coalitionpartners, the United People's Party (ZSL) and the Democratic Party (SD), the last CommunistPrime Minister of Poland, General Czeslaw Kiszczak, said he would resign to allow a non-Communist to form an administration.[14] This virtually assured that a Solidarity member would become prime minister. On 19 August1989 in a stunning watershed moment Tadeusz Mazowiecki, an anti-Communist editor, Solidarity supporter, and devout Catholic, wasnominated as Prime Minister of Poland - and the Soviet Union voiced no protest, despite calls from hard-line Romanian dictator NicolaeCeaușescu for the Warsaw Pact to intervene militarily to 'save socialism' as it had in Prague in 1968.[15] Five days later, on 24 August1989, Poland's Parliament ended more than 40 years of one-party rule by making Mazowiecki the country's first non-Communist PrimeMinister since the early postwar years. In a tense Parliament, Mr. Mazowiecki got 378 votes, with 4 against and 41 abstentions.[16] On13 September 1989 a new non-Communist government was approved by parliament, the first of its kind in the former Eastern Bloc.[17] On17 November 1989 the statue of Felix Dzerzhinsky, Polish founder of the Cheka and symbol of Communist oppression, was torn down inBank Square, Warsaw.[18] On 29 December 1989 the Sejm amended the constitution to change the official name of the country from thePeople's Republic of Poland to the Republic of Poland. The communist Polish United Workers' Party dissolved itself on 29 January 1990,and transformed into Social Democracy of the Republic of Poland.[19]

In 1990, Jaruzelski resigned as Poland's president and was succeeded by Wałęsa, who won the 1990 presidential elections[19] held intwo rounds on 25 November and 9 December. Wałęsa's inauguration as president on 21 December 1990 is thought by many to be theformal end of the Communist People's Republic of Poland and the beginning of the modern Republic of Poland. The Warsaw Pact wasdissolved on 1 July 1991. On 27 October 1991 the first entirely free Polish parliamentary elections since the 1920s took place. Thiscompleted Poland's transition from Communist Party rule to a Western-style liberal democratic political system. The last Russian troopsleft Poland on 18 September 1993.[19]

HungaryMain article: End of Communism in Hungary (1989)

See also: Removal of Hungary's border fence and Pan-European Picnic

Following Poland's lead, Hungary was next to revert to a non-Communist government. Although Hungary had achieved some lastingeconomic reforms and limited political liberalization during the 1980s, major reforms only occurred following the replacement of JánosKádár as General Secretary of the Communist Party on 23 May 1988 with Karoly Grosz.[20] On 24 November 1988 Miklós Németh wasappointed Prime Minister. On 12 January 1989, the Parliament adopted a "democracy package", which included trade union pluralism;freedom of association, assembly, and the press; a new electoral law; and a radical revision of the constitution, among others.[21] On 29January 1989, contradicting the official view of history held for more than 30 years, a member of the ruling Politburo Imre Pozsgaydeclared that Hungary's 1956 rebellion was a popular uprising rather than a foreign-instigated attempt at counterrevolution.[22] Massdemonstrations on 15 March, the National Day, persuaded the regime to begin negotiations with the emergent non-Communist politicalforces. Round Table talks began on 22 April and continued until the Round Table agreement was signed on 18 September. The talksinvolved the Communists (MSzMP) and the newly emerging independent political forces Fidesz, the Alliance of Free Democrats (SzDSz),the Hungarian Democratic Forum (MDF), the Independent Smallholders' Party, the Hungarian People’s Party, the Endre Bajcsy-Zsilinszky Society, and the Democratic Trade Union of Scientific Workers. At a later stage the League of Free Trade Unions and theChristian Democratic People's Party (KNDP) were invited.[23] It was at the talks that a number of Hungary's future political leadersemerged, including László Sólyom, József Antall, György Szabad, Péter Tölgyessy and Viktor Orbán.[24]

On 2 May 1989, the first visible cracks in the Iron Curtain appeared when Hungary began dismantling its 150 mile long border fence withAustria.[25] This increasingly destabilized the GDR and Czechoslovakia over the summer and autumn as thousands of their citizensillegally crossed over to the West through the Hungarian-Austrian border. On 1 June 1989 the Communist Party admitted that formerPrime Minister Imre Nagy, hanged for treason for his role in the 1956 Hungarian uprising, was executed illegally after a show trial.[26] On16 June 1989 Nagy was given a solemn funeral on Budapest's largest square in front of crowds of at least 100,000, followed by a hero'sburial.[27]

The Round Table agreement of 18 September encompassed six draft laws that covered an overhaul of the Constitution, establishment of aConstitutional Court, the functioning and management of political parties, multiparty elections for National Assembly deputies, the penalcode and the law on penal procedures (the last two changes represented an additional separation of the Party from the stateapparatus).[28][29] The electoral system was a compromise: about half of the deputies would be elected proportionally and half by themajoritarian system.[30] A weak presidency was also agreed upon, but no consensus was attained on who should elect the president(parliament or the people) and when this election should occur (before or after parliamentary elections). On 7 October 1989, the

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Berlin Wall at the Brandenburg Gate,10 November 1989

Protests beneath the monument in

Communist Party at its last congress re-established itself as the Hungarian Socialist Party.[31] In a historic session from 16 to 20October, the parliament adopted legislation providing for multi-party parliamentary elections and a direct presidential election, which tookplace on March 24, 1990.[32] The legislation transformed Hungary from a People's Republic into the Republic of Hungary, guaranteedhuman and civil rights, and created an institutional structure that ensured separation of powers among the judicial, legislative, andexecutive branches of government.[33] The Soviet military occupation of Hungary, which had persisted since World War II, ended on 19June 1991.

East GermanyMain article: Die Wende

Main article: Peaceful Revolution

On 4 May 1989, Hungary started dismantling its barbed wire border with Austria, opening anescape route through the iron curtain to the West that was used by a growing number of EastGermans. By the end of September 1989, more than 30,000 East Germans had escaped to theWest before the GDR denied travel to Hungary, leaving the CSSR (Czechoslovakia) as the onlyneighboring state where East Germans could travel. Thousands of East Germans tried to reachthe West by occupying the West German diplomatic facilities in other Eastern European capitals,notably the Prague Embassy where thousands camped in the muddy garden from August toNovember. The GDR closed the border to the CSSR on 3 October, thereby isolating itself from allneighbors. Having been shut off from their last chance for escape, an increasing number of EastGermans participated in the Monday demonstrations in Leipzig on 4, 11, and 18 September, eachattracting 1,200 to 1,500 demonstrators; many were arrested and beaten. However, the peoplerefused to be intimidated. The 25 September demonstration attracted 8,000 demonstrators.

After the fifth successive Monday demonstration in Leipzig on 2 October attracted 10,000protesters, Socialist Unity Party (SED) leader Erich Honecker issued a shoot and kill order to themilitary.[34] Communists prepared a huge police, militia, Stasi, and work-combat troop presenceand there were rumors a Tiananmen Square-style massacre was being planned for the followingMonday's demonstration on 9 October.[35]

On 6 and 7 October, Gorbachev visited East Germany to mark the 40th anniversary of the German Democratic Republic, and urged theEast German leadership to accept reform. A famous quote of his is rendered in German as "Wer zu spät kommt, den bestraft das Leben"(He who is too late is punished by life). However, Honecker remained opposed to internal reform, with his regime even going so far asforbidding the circulation of Soviet publications that it viewed as subversive.

In spite of rumours that the Communists were planning a massacre on 9 October an incredible 70,000 citizens demonstrated in Leipzigthat Monday. The authorities on the ground refused to open fire. This victory of the people facing down the Communists guns encouragedmore and more citizens to take to the streets. The following Monday on 16 October 120,000 people demonstrated on the streets ofLeipzig.

Faced with this ongoing civil unrest, the ruling Socialist Unity Party (SED) deposed Honecker on 18 October, and replaced him with thenumber-two man in the regime, Egon Krenz. However, the demonstrations kept growing - on Monday 23 October the Leipzig protestersnumbered 300,000 and remained as large the following week. The border to Czechoslovakia was opened again on 1 November, but theCzechoslovak authorities soon let all East Germans travel directly to West Germany without further bureaucratic ado, thus lifting theirpart of the Iron Curtain on 3 November. On 4 November the authorities decided to authorize a demonstration in Berlin and were faced withthe Alexanderplatz demonstration where half a million citizens converged on the capital demanding freedom in the biggest protest theGDR ever witnessed. Unable to stem the ensuing flow of refugees to the West through Czechoslovakia, the East German authoritieseventually caved in to public pressure by allowing East German citizens to enter West Berlin and West Germany directly, via existingborder points, on 9 November, without having properly briefed the border guards. Triggered by the erratic words of regime spokesmanGünter Schabowski in a TV press conference, stating that the planned changes were "in effect immediately", hundreds of thousands ofpeople took advantage of the opportunity; soon new crossing points were forced open in the Berlin Wall by the people, and sections ofthe wall literally torn down as this symbol of oppression was overwhelmed.

On 13 November GDR Prime Minister Willi Stoph and his entire cabinet resigned. A new government was formed under a considerablymore liberal Communist, Hans Modrow. On 1 December the Volkskammer removed the SED's leading role from the constitution of theGDR. On 3 December Krenz resigned as leader of the SED; he resigned as head of state three days later. On 7 December Round Tabletalks opened between the SED and other political parties. On 16 December 1989 the SED was dissolved and refounded as the SED-PDSabandoning Marxism-Leninism and becoming a mainstream democratic center-left party.

On 15 January 1990 the Stasi's headquarters was stormed by protesters. Modrow became the de facto leader of East Germany until freeelections were held on 18 March 1990—the first held in that part of Germany since 1933. The SED, renamed the Party of DemocraticSocialism, was heavily defeated. Lothar de Maizière of the East German Christian Democratic Union became Prime Minister on 4 April1990 on a platform of speedy reunification with the West. The two Germanies were reunified on 3 October 1990.

The Kremlin's willingness to abandon such a strategically vital ally marked a dramatic shift by the Soviet superpower and a fundamentalparadigm change in international relations, which until 1989 had been dominated by the East-West divide running through Berlin itself.The last Russian troops left the territory of the former GDR on 1 September 1994.

CzechoslovakiaMain article: Velvet Revolution

The "Velvet Revolution" was a non-violent revolution in Czechoslovakia that saw the overthrow ofthe Communist government. On 17 November 1989 (Friday), riot police suppressed a peacefulstudent demonstration in Prague. That event sparked a series of popular demonstrations from 19November to late December. By 20 November the number of peaceful protesters assembled inPrague had swelled from 200,000 the previous day to an estimated half-million. A two-hour generalstrike, involving all citizens of Czechoslovakia, was successfully held on 27 November.

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Prague's Wenceslas Square.

Revolutionaries on the streets duringthe Romanian Revolution of 1989

A seminal image of deposedRomanian dictator Nicolae Ceauşescu'shelicopter fleeing the Revolution inBucharest.

Mikhail Gorbachev and PresidentGeorge Bush on board the Soviet cruiseship Maxim Gorky, Marsaxlokk Harbour.

With the collapse of other Communist governments, and increasing street protests, theCommunist Party of Czechoslovakia announced on 28 November 1989 that it would relinquishpower and dismantle the single-party state. Barbed wire and other obstructions were removed from the border with West Germany andAustria in early December. On 10 December, President Gustáv Husák appointed the first largely non-Communist government inCzechoslovakia since 1948, and resigned. Alexander Dubček was elected speaker of the federal parliament on 28 December and VáclavHavel the President of Czechoslovakia on 29 December 1989. In June 1990 Czechoslovakia held its first democratic elections since 1946.On 27 June 1991 the last Soviet troops were withdrawn from Czechoslovakia.[36]

BulgariaMain article: End of Communism in Bulgaria (1989)

In October and November 1989 demonstrations on ecological issues were staged in Sofia, where demands for political reform were alsovoiced. The demonstration were suppressed, but on 10 November 1989 – the day after the Berlin Wall was breached – Bulgaria's long-serving leader Todor Zhivkov was ousted by his Politburo. He was succeeded by a considerably more liberal Communist, former foreignminister Petar Mladenov. Moscow apparently approved the leadership change, despite Zhivkov's reputation as a slavish Soviet ally. Thenew regime immediately repealed Zhivkov's more draconian restrictions on speech and movement, which led to the first massdemonstration on 17 November. Newly formed anti-communist movements united as the Union of Democratic Forces on 7 December. TheUDF was not satisfied with Zhivkov's ouster, and demanded additional democratic reforms, most importantly the removal of theconstitutionally mandated leading role of the Bulgarian Communist Party.

Amid escalating street protests, Mladenov gave way and announced on 11 December 1989 that the Communist Party had abandonedpower. It was also decided that a round table on the Polish model would be held in 1990 and elections held by June 1990. TheCommunist Party was formally stripped of its constitutional monopoly on power in February 1990. Between 3 January and 14 May 1990during the Round table talks an agreement was reached on the transition to democracy. The Communist Party renamed itself as theBulgarian Socialist Party in April 1990. In June 1990 the first free elections since 1935 were held, won by the Bulgarian Socialist Party.

RomaniaMain article: Romanian Revolution of 1989

After having survived the Braşov Rebellion in 1987, NicolaeCeauşescu was re-elected for another five years as leaderof the Romanian Communist Party in November 1989,signalling that he intended to ride out the anti-Communistuprisings sweeping the rest of Europe. As Ceauşescuprepared to go on a state visit to Iran, his Securitateordered the arrest and exile of a local Hungarian Calvinistminister, László Tőkés, on 16 December, for sermonsoffending the regime. Tőkés was seized, but only afterserious rioting erupted. Timişoara was the first city to react, on 16 December, and civil unrestcontinued for 5 days.

Returning from Iran, Ceauşescu ordered a mass rally in his support outside Communist Partyheadquarters in Bucharest on 21 December. However, to his shock, the crowd booed and jeeredhim as he spoke. Years of repressed dissatisfaction boiled to the surface throughout theRomanian populace and even among elements in Ceauşescu's own government, and thedemonstrations spread throughout the country.

At first the security forces obeyed Ceauşescu's orders to shoot protesters. However, on themorning of 22 December, the Romanian military suddenly changed sides. This came after it wasannounced that defense minister Vasile Milea had committed suicide after being unmasked as atraitor. Believing Milea had actually been murdered, the rank-and-file soldiers went over virtually en

masse to the revolution. Army tanks began moving towards the Central Committee building with crowds swarming alongside them. Therioters forced open the doors of the Central Committee building in an attempt to capture Ceauşescu and his wife, Elena, coming within afew meters of the couple. However, they managed to escape via a helicopter waiting for them on the roof of the building. The revolutionresulted in 1,104 deaths. Unlike its kindred parties in the Warsaw Pact, the PCR simply melted away; no present-day Romanian partyclaims to be its successor.

Although elation followed the flight of the Ceauşescus, uncertainty surrounded their fate. On Christmas Day, Romanian television showedthe Ceauşescus facing a hasty trial, and then undergoing summary execution. An interim National Salvation Front Council led by IonIliescu took over and announced elections for April 1990 – the first free elections held in Romania since 1937. However, they werepostponed until 20 May 1990.

Malta SummitThe Malta Summit consisted of a meeting between U.S. President George H. W. Bush andU.S.S.R. leader Mikhail Gorbachev, taking place between 2–3 December 1989, just a few weeksafter the fall of the Berlin Wall, a meeting which contributed to the end of the ColdWar[citation needed] partially as a result of the broader pro-democracy movement. It was theirsecond meeting following a meeting that included then President Ronald Reagan, in New York inDecember 1988. News reports of the time[citation needed] referred to the Malta Summit as the mostimportant since 1945, when British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, Soviet premier JosephStalin and U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt agreed on a post-war plan for Europe at the YaltaConference.

Election chronology in Eastern Europe 1989-1991

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The building of the Parliament ofBosnia and Herzegovina burns afterbeing hit by Serbian tank fire.

Between the spring of 1989 and the spring of 1991 every Communist or former communist Eastern European country, and in the case ofthe USSR and Yugoslavia every constituent republic, held competitive parliamentary elections for the first time in many decades. Someelections were only partly free, others fully democratic. The chronology below gives the details of these historic elections; the date is thefirst day of voting as several elections were spilt over several days for run-off contests:

USSR - 26 March 1989Poland - 4 June 1989Turkmenistan - 7 January 1990Uzbekistan - 18 February 1990Lithuania - 24 February 1990Moldova- 25 February 1990Kyrgyzstan - 25 February 1990Tajikistan - 25 February 1990Belarus - 3 March 1990Russia - 4 March 1990Ukraine - 4 March 1990East Germany - 18 March 1990Estonia - 18 March 1990Latvia - 18 March 1990Hungary - 25 March 1990Kazakhstan - 25 March 1990Slovenia - 8 April 1990Croatia - 24 April 1990Romania - 20 May 1990Armenia - 20 May 1990Czechoslovakia - 8 June 1990Bulgaria - 10 June 1990Azerbaijan - 30 September 1990Georgia - 28 October 1990Macedonia - 11 November 1990Bosnia and Herzegovina - 18 November 1990Serbia - 8 December 1990Montenegro - 9 December 1990Albania - 7 April 1991

Albania and YugoslaviaMain articles: Fall of Communism in Albania, Breakup of Yugoslavia, and Yugoslav wars

The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was not a part of the Warsaw Pact but pursued itsown version of "Communism" under Josip Broz Tito. It was a multi-ethnic state which Tito wasable to maintain through a doctrine of "Brotherhood and unity," but tensions between ethnicitiesbegan to escalate with the so-called Croatian Spring of 1970–71, a movement for greater Croatianautonomy, which was suppressed. In 1974 there followed constitutional changes devolving someof the federal powers to the constituent republics and provinces. After Tito's death in 1980 ethnictensions grew, first in Albanian-majority Kosovo. In late 1980s Serbian leader Slobodan Miloševićused the Kosovo crisis to stoke up Serb nationalism and attempt to consolidate and dominate thecountry, which alienated the other ethnic groups.

Parallel to the same process, Slovenia witnessed a policy of gradual liberalization since 1984,somewhat similar to the Soviet Perestroika. This provoked tensions between the League ofCommunists of Slovenia on one side, and the central Yugoslav Party and the Federal Army on theother side. By the late 1980s, many civil society groups were pushing towards democratization,while widening the space for cultural plurality. In 1987, a group of liberal intellectuals published amanifesto in the alternative Nova revija journal; in their so-called Contributions for the SlovenianNational Program, they called for democratization and a greater independence for Slovenia. Someof the articles openly contemplated Slovenia's independence from Yugoslavia and theestablishment of a full-fedged parliamentary democracy. The manifesto was condemned by the Communist authorities, but the authorsdid not suffer any direct repression, and the journal was not suppressed (although the editorial board was forced to resign). At the end ofthe same year, a massive strike broke out in the Litostroj manufacturing plant in Ljubljana, which led to the esbalishment of the firstindependent trade union in Yugoslavia. The leaders of the strike established an independent political organization, called the SocialDemocratic Union of Slovenia. Soon afterwards, in mid May 1988, an independent Peasant Union of Slovenia was organized. Later in thesame month, the Yugoslav Army arrested four Slovenian journalists of the alternative magazine Mladina, accusing them of revealing statesecrets. The so-called Ljubljana trial triggered mass protests in Ljubljana and other Slovenian cities. The Committee for the Defence ofHuman Rights was established as the platform of all major non-Communist political movements. All these events became known as theSlovenian Spring. By early 1989, several anti-Communist political parties were already openly functioning, challenging the hegemony ofthe Slovenian Communists. Soon, the Slovenian Communists, pressured by their own civil society, came into conflict with the SerbianCommunist leadership.

In January 1990, an extraordinary Congress of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia was called in order to settle the disputes amongits constituent parties. Faced with being completely outnumbered, the Slovenian and Croatian Communists walked out of the Congresson 23 January 1990, thus effectively bringing to an end the Yugoslav Communist Party. Both parties of the two western republicsnegotiated free multi-party elections with their own opposition movements.

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[edit]The Fall of Enver Hoxha's Statue incentral Tirana

Mass demonstration in Moscowagainst the 1991 KGB coup attempt

Tanks in Moscow's Red Squareduring the 1991 coup attempt

On 8 April 1990, the democratic and anti-Yugoslav DEMOS coalition won the elections in Slovenia, while on 24 April 1990 the Croatianelections witnessed the landslide victory of the nationalist Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) led by Franjo Tuđman. The results weremuch more balanced in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Macedonia in November 1990, while the parliamentary and presidential elections ofDecember 1990 in Serbia and Montenegro consolidated the power of Milošević and his supporters. Free elections on the level of thefederation were never carried out. Instead, the Slovenian and Croatian leaderships started preparing plans for secession from thefederation. In the Slovenian independence referendum on 23 December 1990, 88.5% of residents voted for independence.[37] In theCroatian independence referendum, on 2 May 1991, 93.24% voted for independence.

The escalating ethnic and national tensions were exacerbated by the drive for independence and led to the following Yugoslav wars:

War in Slovenia (1991)Croatian War of Independence (1991–1995)Bosnian War (1992–1995)Kosovo War (1998–1999), including the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia.

In addition, the insurgency in the Preševo Valley (1999–2001) and the insurgency in the Republic of Macedonia (2001) are also oftendiscussed in the same context.[38][39][40]

The independence of the constituent (federal) units, occurred in the following chronological order:

Slovenia (25 June 1991)Croatia (25 June 1991)Republic of Macedonia (8 September 1991)Bosnia and Herzegovina (1 March 1992)Federal Republic of Yugolslavia (29 April 1992) - comprising Serbia and Montenegro. Renamed 'State Union of Serbia & Montenegro'on 4 February 2003.Montenegro (3 June 2006)Serbia (5 June 2006) proclaimed its succession to the Union of Serbia & Montenegro as an independent state.Kosovo (17 February 2008), Only partially recognized.

In the Socialist People's Republic of Albania, Enver Hoxha, who led Albania for decades, died 11April 1985. In 1989, the first revolts started in Shkodra and spread in other cities. Eventually, theexisting regime introduced some liberalization, including measures in 1990 providing for freedomto travel abroad. Efforts were begun to improve ties with the outside world. March 1991 electionsleft the former Communists in power, but a general strike and urban opposition led to the formationof a coalition cabinet including non-Communists. Albania's former Communists were routed inelections March 1992, amid economic collapse and social unrest.

Dissolution of the Soviet UnionMain article: Dissolution of the Soviet Union

On 1 July 1991, the Warsaw Pact was officially dissolvedat a meeting in Prague. At a summit later that same month, Gorbachev and Bush declared a US–Soviet strategic partnership, decisively marking the end of the Cold War. President Bushdeclared that US–Soviet cooperation during the 1990–91 Gulf War had laid the groundwork for apartnership in resolving bilateral and world problems.

As the Soviet Union rapidly withdrew its forces from Central and Southeast Europe, the spilloverfrom the 1989 upheavals began reverberating throughout the Soviet Union itself. Agitation for self-determination led to first Lithuania, and then Estonia, Latvia and Armenia declaring independence.Disaffection in other Soviet republics, such as Georgia and Azerbaijan, was countered bypromises of greater decentralization. More open elections led to the election of candidatesopposed to Communist Party rule.

Glasnost had inadvertently released the long-suppressed national sentiments of all peoples withinthe borders of the multinational Soviet state. These nationalist movements were furtherstrengthened by the rapid deterioration of the Soviet economy, whose ramshackle foundationswere exposed with the removal of Communist discipline. Gorbachev's reforms had failed toimprove the economy, with the old Soviet command structure completely breaking down. One byone, the constituent republics created their own economic systems and voted to subordinateSoviet laws to local laws.

In an attempt to halt the rapid changes to the system, a group of Soviet hard-liners represented byVice-President Gennadi Yanayev launched a coup attempting to overthrow Gorbachev in August1991. Boris Yeltsin, then president of the Russian SFSR, rallied the people and much of the army against the coup and the effortcollapsed. Although restored to power, Gorbachev's authority had been irreparably undermined. In September, the Baltic states weregranted independence. Later that month, Gorbachev resigned as leader of the Communist Party, and the Supreme Soviet indefinitelysuspended all party activities on Soviet soil.

Over the next three months, one republic after another declared independence, mostly out of fear of another coup. Also during this time,Russia began taking over what remained of the Soviet government, including the Kremlin. The penultimate step came on 1 December,when voters in the second most powerful republic, Ukraine, overwhelmingly voted to secede from the Soviet Union in a referendum. Thisended any realistic chance of keeping the Soviet Union together. On 8 December, Yeltsin met with his counterparts from Ukraine andBelarus and signed the Belavezha Accords, declaring that the Soviet Union had ceased to exist. Gorbachev denounced this as illegal, buthe had long since lost any ability to influence events outside of Moscow.

Two weeks later, 11 of the remaining 12 republics—all except Georgia—signed the Alma-Ata Protocol, which confirmed the Soviet Unionhad been effectively dissolved and replaced by a new voluntary association, the Commonwealth of Independent States. Bowing to theinevitable, Gorbachev resigned as Soviet president on 25 December, and the Supreme Soviet dissolved itself the next day. By the end of

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Baltic Way was a human chain ofapproximately two million peoplededicated to liberating the BalticRepublics from the USSR.

Photos of the 9 April 1989 victims ofthe Tbilisi Massacre on a billboard inTbilisi.

Chechen women praying in Grozny,December 1994.

1991, the few Soviet institutions that hadn't been taken over by Russia had dissolved. The Soviet Union was officially disbanded, breakingup into fifteen constituent parts, thereby ending the world's largest and most influential Communist state, and leaving China to thatposition. A constitutional crisis devolved into violence in Moscow as the Russian Army was called in to reestablish order.

Estonia, Latvia, LithuaniaMain article: Singing Revolution

Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania implemented democratic reforms and achieved independence fromthe Soviet Union.

The Singing Revolution is a commonly used name for events between 1987 and 1991 that led tothe restoration of the independence of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.[41][42] The term was coinedby an Estonian activist and artist, Heinz Valk, in an article published a week after the 10–11 June1988 spontaneous mass night-singing demonstrations at the Tallinn Song Festival Grounds.[43]

Lithuania declared its independence on 11 March 1990. On 30 March, Estonia announced thestart of a transitional period to independence, and Latvia followed suit a few days later. Thesedeclarations were met with force from the Soviet Union in early 1991, in confrontations known as"The Barricades" in Latvia and the "January Events" in Lithuania. The Baltic states contended thattheir incorporation into the Soviet Union had been illegal under both international law and their ownlaw, and they were reasserting an independence that still legally existed.

Soon after the launching of the August coup, Estonia and Latvia declared full independence. By the time the coup was foiled, the USSRwas no longer unified enough to mount a forceful resistance, and it recognized the independence of the Baltic states on 6 September.

Belarus, Ukraine, MoldovaIn Belarus, former Communist leader Alexander Lukashenko has retained power and has been criticized for repressing political oppositionever since.

Moldova – Participated in the War of Transnistria between Moldova and Russian-connected forces. Communists came back to power in a2001 election under Vladimir Voronin, but faced civil unrest in 2009 over accusation of rigged elections.

Ukraine – Ukraine declared its independence in August 1991. Presidencies of former Communists Leonid Kravchuk and Leonid Kuchmawere followed by the Orange Revolution in 2004, in which Ukrainians elected Viktor Yushchenko (also former member of CPSU).

Georgia, Armenia, and AzerbaijanGeorgia and the North Caucasus have been marred by ethnic and sectarian violence since thecollapse of the USSR. In April 1989 the Soviet Army massacred demonstrators in Tbilisi. ByNovember 1989, the Georgian SSR officially condemned the Russian invasion in 1921 andcontinuing genocidal occupation[citation needed]. Democracy activist Zviad Gamsakhurdia served aspresident from 1991 to 1992. Russia aided break-away republics in wars in South Ossetia andAbkhazia during the early 1990s, conflicts that have periodically reemerged, and Russia hasaccused Georgia of supporting Chechen rebels during the Chechen wars. A coup d'état installedformer Communist leader Eduard Shevardnadze as President of Georgia until the Rose Revolutionin 2003.

In Armenia, the independence struggle included violence. The Nagorno-Karabakh War was foughtbetween Armenia and Azerbaijan. Armenia became increasingly militarized (with the ascendancyof Kocharian, a former president of Nagorno-Karabakh, often viewed as a milestone), whileelections have since been increasingly controversial, and government corruption became more rife. After Kocharyan, notably, SerzhSargsyan ascended to power. Sargsyan is often noted as the "founder of the Armenian and Karabakh militaries" and was, in the past,defense minister and national security minister.

In Azerbaijan the Azerbaijani Popular Front Party won first elections with the self-described pro-Western, populist nationalist Elchibey.However, Elchibey planned to end Moscow's advantage in the harvesting of Azeri oil and build much stronger links with Turkey andEurope, and as a result was overthrown by former Communists in a coup backed by Russia and Iran (which viewed the new country as acompelling threat, with territorial ambitions within Iranian borders and also being a strong economic rival)[citation needed]. Mutallibov rose topower, but he was soon destabilized and eventually ousted due to popular frustration with his perceived incompetence, corruption andimproper handling of the war with Armenia. Azerbaijani KGB and Azerbaijani SSR leader Heydar Aliyev captured power and remainedpresident until he transferred the presidency to his son in 2003. The Nagorno-Karabakh War was fought between Armenia and Azerbaijan,and has largely defined the fates of both countries. However, unlike Armenia, which remains a strong Russian ally, Azerbaijan has begun,since Russia's 2008 war with Georgia, to foster better relations with Turkey and other Western nations, while cutting ties with Russia,including its CIS membership.

ChechnyaIn Chechnya, using tactics partly copied from the Baltics, Anti-Communist coalition forces led byformer Soviet general Dzhokhar Dudayev staged a largely bloodless revolution, and ended upforcing the resignation of the Communist republican president. Dudayev was elected in a landslidein the following election and in November 1991 he proclaimed Checheno-Ingushetia'sindependence as the Republic of Ichkeria. Ingushetia voted to leave the union with Chechnya, andwas allowed to do so (thus it became the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria). Due to his desire toexclude Moscow from all oil deals, Yeltsin backed a failed coup against him in 1993. In 1994,Chechnya, with only marginal recognition (one country: Georgia, which was revoked soon after thecoup landing Shevardnadze in power), was invaded by Russia, spurring the First Chechen War.The Chechens, with considerable assistance from the populations of both former-Soviet countriesand from Sunni Muslim countries repelled this invasion and a peace treaty was signed in 1997.However, Chechnya became increasingly anarchic, largely due to the both political and physical destruction of the state during the

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A depiction of the Jeltoqsan eventson Republic Square in Almaty.

invasion, and general Shamil Basaev, having evaded all control by the central government, conducted raids into neighboring Dagestan,which Russia used as pretext for reinvading Ichkeria. Ichkeria was then reincorporated into Russia as Chechnya again, though fightingcontinues.

Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and UzbekistanIn Kazakhstan, the independence struggle began with the Jeltoqsan uprising in 1986. FormerCommunist leader Nursultan Nazarbayev has been in power since 1991.

In Kyrgyzstan, former Communist leader Askar Akayev retained power until the Tulip Revolution in2006.

In Tajikistan, former Communist leader Rahmon Nabiyev retained power, which led to the civil warin Tajikistan. Emomalii Rahmon has succeeded Nabiyev and has retained power since 1992.

In Turkmenistan, former Communist leader Saparmurat Niyazov retained power until his death2006 and has been criticized as one of the world's most totalitarian and repressive leaders,maintaining his own cult of personality.

In Uzbekistan, former Communist leader Islam Karimov retained power and has been criticized forrepressing the political opposition ever since.

Post-Soviet conflictsMoscow was involved in a number of conflicts, including the Nagorno-Karabakh War, the War of Transnistria, the 1991–1992 SouthOssetia War, the First Chechen War, the War in Abkhazia (1992–1993), the Ossetian–Ingush conflict, and the Crimea conflict in Ukraine.

Other events

Communist and Socialist countriesSee also: List of socialist countries

Reforms in the Soviet Union and the Eastern bloc also saw dramatic changes to Communist and Socialist states outside of Europe.

AfricaAngola – The ruling MPLA government abandoned Marxism-Leninism in 1991 and agreed to the Bicesse Accords in the same year,however the Angolan Civil War between the MPLA and the conservative UNITA continued for another decade.Benin – Mathieu Kérékou's regime was pressured to abandon Marxism-Leninism in 1990.Congo-Brazzaville – Denis Sassou Nguesso's regime was pressured to abandon Marxism-Leninism in 1991. The nation had electionsin 1992.Ethiopia – A new constitution was implemented in 1987 and, following the withdrawal of Soviet and Cuban assistance, the Communistmilitary junta Derg led by Mengistu Haile Mariam was defeated by the rebel EPRDF in the Ethiopian Civil War and fled in 1991.Madagascar – Socialist President Didier Ratsiraka was ousted.Mali – Moussa Traoré was ousted, Mali adopted a new constitution and held multi-party elections.Mozambique – The Mozambican Civil War between the socialist FRELIMO and the RENAMO conservatives was ended via treaty in1992. FRELIMO subsequently abandoned socialism and with the support of the U.N., held multiparty elections.Somalia – Rebelling Somalians overthrew Siad Barre's Communist military junta during the Somali Revolution. Somalia has been in aconstant state of civil war ever since.Tanzania – The ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi party cut down its Socialist ideology and foreign donors pressured the government toallow multiparty elections in 1995.

Middle EastAfghanistan – Soviet occupation ended and the Communist government under Mohammad Najibullah fell to the Mujahideen in 1992.South Yemen – Abandoned Marxism-Leninism in 1990; it reunified with the more capitalist North Yemen that year, though this laterled a civil war.Syria – Syria participated in the Madrid Conference of 1991 and met its Cold War enemy Israel in peace negotiations.

AsiaBurma – The 8888 Uprising in 1988 saw the demise of the Burma Socialist Programme Party, but failed to bring democracy, althoughMarxism was abandoned. It has since been led by a military government under the State Peace and Development Council.Cambodia – The Vietnam-supported government, which had been in power since the fall of the Khmer Rouge, lost power following UN-sponsored elections in 1993.China – The Communist Party of China began implementing liberalizing economic reforms during the late 1970s under Deng Xiaoping.However, the pro-democracy protests of 1989 were crushed by the military.Laos – Remained Communist under the Lao People's Revolutionary Party. Laos was forced to ask France and Japan for emergencyassistance, and also to ask the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank for aid. Finally, in 1989, Kaisôn visited Beijing toconfirm the restoration of friendly relations, and to secure Chinese aid.India – Indian economic reforms were launched in 1991.Mongolia – The 1990 Democratic Revolution in Mongolia saw a gradual moved to allow free multi-party elections and the writing of thenew constitution. The Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party retained its majority in the 1990 elections, but lost the 1996 elections.North Korea – Kim Il-sung died in 1994, passing power to his son Kim Jong-il. Unprecedented floods and the dissolution of the SovietUnion led to the North Korean famine, which resulted in the deaths of an estimated 2.5 million to 3 million North Koreans. Allreferences to Marxism-Leninism were replaced by Juche in 1992, thus signifying an apparent downplaying of the role of Communismin North Korea.Vietnam – The Communist Party of Vietnam has undertaken Doi Moi reforms since 1986, liberalizing certain sectors of the economyin a manner similar to China. Vietnam is still a single-party Communist state.

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Latin AmericaCuba – The end of Soviet subsidies led to the Special Period. A large but unsuccessful protest was held in 1994.Nicaragua – Daniel Ortega's Sandinista lost the multi-party elections in 1990, and the National Opposition Union won.

Other countriesMany Soviet-supported political parties and militant groups around the world suffered from demoralization and loss of financing.

Austria – The Communist Party of Austria lost its East German financing and 250 million euros in assets.Belgium – The Communist Party of Belgium was divided to two parties in 1989.Finland – The Finnish People's Democratic League was dissolved in 1990 and the bankrupt Communist Party of Finland collapsed in1992, and absorbed to the Left Alliance.France – The collapse of the Eastern Bloc came as a shock to the French Communist Party. The crisis is called la mutation.West Germany – The Red Army Faction lost its long-term supporter, the Stasi, after the Berlin Wall fell.[44]

Greece – The Organisation of Marxist-Leninist Communists of Greece was dissolved in 1993 and merged into the Movement for aUnited Communist Party of Greece.Ireland – The Communist Party of Ireland declined significantly.Italy – The collapse caused the Italian Communist Party to reform itself, creating two new groups, the larger Democratic Party of theLeft and the smaller Communist Refoundation Party. The disappearance of the Communist party in part led to profound changeswithin the Italian political party system in 1992–1994.Japan – The Japanese Communist Party issued a statement titled "We welcome the end of a great historical evil of imperialism andhegemonism".Malaysia – The Malayan Communist Party laid down its arms in 1989, ending the Communist Insurgency War that had lasteddecades.Mexico – The Mexican Communist Party and a number of other Communist parties were dissolved in 1989 and absorbed first into theMexican Socialist Party and then into the Party of the Democratic Revolution.Netherlands – The Communist Party of the Netherlands was dissolved in 1991 and absorbed to the GreenLeft.Norway – The Communist Party of Norway changed their pro-Soviet line.Palestinian Territories – The Palestine Liberation Organization lost one of its most important diplomatic patrons, due to thedeterioration of the Soviet Union, and Arafat's failing relationship with Moscow.Peru – The Shining Path, responsible for killing tens of thousands people, shrunk in the 1990s.Sweden – The Communist Association of Norrköping was dissolved in 1990 and Kommunistiska Förbundet Marxist-Leninisternaceased to function as nationwide party. The pro-Albanian Kommunistiska Partiet i Sverige and the Maoist Communist Workers' Partyof Sweden were dissolved in 1993. The main leftist party, Vänsterpartiet kommunisterna, VPK (Left Party – Communists), abandonedthe Communist part of its name, and became simply Vänsterpartiet (Left Party).Turkey – The Communist Labour Party of Turkey was split.United Kingdom – The Communist Party of Great Britain was dissolved.

Concurrently, many anti-Communist authoritarian states, formerly supported by the US, gradually saw a transition to democracy.

Chile - The military junta under Augusto Pinochet was pressured to implement democratic elections, which saw Chile'sdemocratization in 1990.El Salvador - The Salvadoran Civil War ended in 1992 following the Chapultepec Peace Accords. The rebel FMLN movement became alegal political party and participated in subsequent elections.Panama - The Manuel Noriega regime was overthrown by the US invasion in 1989 as a result of his suppression of elections, drug-trafficking activities and the killing of a US serviceman.South Korea - The June Democracy Movement's protests led to the fall of the Chun Doo-hwan government in 1987, and the country'sfirst democratic elections. In 2000, North and South Korea agreed in principle to work towards peaceful reunification in the future.South Africa - Negotiations were started in 1990 to end the Apartheid system. Nelson Mandela was elected as the President of SouthAfrica in 1994.Taiwan - The nationalist Kuomintang party that had ruled under strict martial law since the end of the Chinese Civil War introduceddemocratizing reforms.United States - Following the end of the Cold War, the United States became the world's main superpower, growing even more inworld influence as a result. The United States ceased to support many of the Right-wing military regimes it had during the Cold War,pressing for more nations to adopt democratic policies. However, some of the groups the United States had previously supported,such as certain factions of the Mujahideen in the Soviet-Afghan War, broke their pro-US stances favoring rigid Islamism instead, whichwould culminate in the 9-11 attacks and the US invasion of Afghanistan.

Political reformsMain article: Decommunization

Decommunization is a process of overcoming the legacies of the Communist state establishments, culture, and psychology in the post-Communist states.

Decommunization was largely limited or non-existent. Communist parties were not outlawed and their members were not brought to trial.Just a few places even attempted to exclude members of communist secret services from decision-making. In a number of countries theCommunist party simply changed its name and continued to function.[45]

In several European countries, however, endorsing or attempting to justify crimes committed by Nazi or Communist regimes will bepunishable by up to 3 years of imprisonment.[46]

Economic reformsEnterprises in Socialist countries had little or no interest in producing what customers wanted because of prevailing shortages of goodsand services.[47] In the early 1990s, a popular refrain stated that "there is no precedent for moving from Socialism to capitalism."[48] Only

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Five double-headed Russian coat-of-arms eagles (below) substituting theformer state emblem of the Soviet Unionand the “CCCP” letters (above) in thefacade of the Grand Kremlin Palaceafter the dissolution of the Soviet Union.

the over 60 year old people remembered how a market economy worked. It was not hard to imagine Central, South-East and EasternEurope staying poor for decades.[49]

There was a temporary fall of output in official economy and increase in unofficial economy.[47] Countries implemented different reformprograms such as the Balcerowicz Plan in Poland. Eventually the official economy began to grow.[47]

In 2004 Polish Nobel Peace Prize winner and President Lech Wałęsa described a transition from capitalism to Communism as "heatingup an aquarium with fish" to get fish soup. He said that reversing Communism to capitalism was challenging, but "We can already seesome little fish swimming in our aquarium."[50]

In a 2007 paper Oleh Havrylyshyn categorized the speed of reforms in the Soviet Bloc:[48]

Sustained Big-Bang (fastest): Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Czech Republic, Poland, SlovakiaAdvance Start/Steady Progress: Croatia, Hungary, SloveniaAborted Big-Bang: Albania, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Kyrgyzstan, RussiaGradual Reforms: Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Tajikistan, RomaniaLimited Reforms (slowest): Belarus, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan

It was concluded that gradual reformers suffered more social pain, not less. The countries with fastest transition to market economyperformed much better on the Human Development Index.[48]

The 2004 enlargement of the European Union included Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, andSlovenia. The 2007 enlargement of the European Union included Romania and Bulgaria. The same countries have also become NATOmembers.

Chinese economic liberalization started since 1978 have helped lift millions of people out of poverty, bringing the poverty rate down from53% of the population in the Mao era to 12% in 1981. Deng's economic reforms are still being followed by the CPC today and by 2001 thepoverty rate became only 6% of the population.[51]

Economic liberalization in Vietnam was initiated in 1986, following Chinese example.

Economic liberalization in India was initiated in 1991.

Harvard University Professor Richard B. Freeman has called the effect of reforms "The Great Doubling". He calculated that the size ofglobal workforce doubled from 1.46 billion workers to 2.93 billion workers.[52][53] An immediate effect was a reduced ratio of capital tolabor. In the long term China, India, and the former Soviet bloc will save and invest and contribute to the expansion of the world capitalstock.[53]

China's rapid growth has led some people to predict a "Chinese Century".[54][55][56]

Ideological continuation of communismFurther information: Decommunization in Russia, Putinism, Neo-Stalinism, and Human rightsin Russia

Compared with the efforts of the other former constituents of the Soviet bloc and the Soviet Union,decommunization in Russia has been restricted to half-measures, if conducted at all.[57] As of2008, nearly half of Russians view Stalin positively, and many support restoration of hismonuments dismantled in the past.[58][59] Neo-Stalinist material such as describing Stalin's massmurder campaigns as "entirely rational" has been pushed into Russian textbooks.[60]

In 1992, President Yeltsin's government invited Vladimir Bukovsky to serve as an expert to testifyat the CPSU trial by Constitutional Court of Russia, where the Communists were suing Yeltsin forbanning their party. The respondent's case was that the CPSU itself had been an unconstitutionalorganization. To prepare for his testimony, Bukovsky requested and was granted access to a largenumber of documents from Soviet archives (then reorganized into TsKhSD). Using a smallhandheld scanner and a laptop computer, he managed to secretly scan many documents (somewith high security clearance), including KGB reports to the Central Committee, and smuggle thefiles to the West.[61] The event that many expected would be another Nuremberg Trial and thebeginnings of reconciliation with the Communist past, ended up in half-measures: while the CPSUwas found unconstitutional, the Communists were allowed to form new parties in the future.Bukovsky expressed his deep disappointment with this in his writings and interviews: "Havingfailed to finish off conclusively the Communist system, we are now in danger of integrating theresulting monster into our world. It may not be called Communism anymore, but it retained manyof its dangerous characteristics... Until the Nuremberg-style tribunal passes its judgment on allthe crimes committed by Communism, it is not dead and the war is not over."[62]

InterpretationsThe events caught many by surprise. Predictions of the Soviet Union's impending demise had been often dismissed.[63]

Bartlomiej Kaminski's book The Collapse Of State Socialism argued that the state Socialist system has a lethal paradox: "policy actionsdesigned to improve performance only accelerate its decay".[64]

By the end of 1989, revolts had spread from one capital to another, ousting the regimes imposed on Central, South-East and EasternEurope after World War II. Even the isolationist Stalinist regime in Albania was unable to stem the tide. Gorbachev's abrogation of theBrezhnev Doctrine was perhaps the key factor that enabled the popular uprisings to succeed. Once it became evident that the feared RedArmy would not intervene to crush dissent, the Central, South-East and Eastern European regimes were exposed as vulnerable in theface of popular uprisings against the one-party system and power of secret police.

Coit D. Blacker wrote in 1990 that the Soviet leadership "appeared to have believed that whatever loss of authority the Soviet Union mightsuffer in Central and South-East Europe would be more than offset by a net increase in its influence in western Europe."[65] Nevertheless,it is unlikely that Gorbachev ever intended for the complete dismantling of Communism and the Warsaw Pact. Rather, Gorbachev

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assumed that the Communist parties of Central and South-East Europe could be reformed in a similar way to the reforms he hoped toachieve in the CPSU. Just as perestroika was aimed at making the Soviet Union more efficient economically and politically, Gorbachevbelieved that the Comecon and Warsaw Pact could be reformed into more effective entities. However, Alexander Yakovlev, a close advisorto Gorbachev, would later state that it would have been "absurd to keep the system" in Central and South-East Europe. Yakovlev hadcome to the conclusion that the Soviet-dominated Comecon could not work on non-market principles and that the Warsaw Pact had "norelevance to real life."[8]

Remembrance

OrganizationsMemorial – Memorial is an international historical and civil rights society that operates in a number of post-Soviet states. It focuses onrecording and publicising the Soviet Union's totalitarian aspect of the past, but also monitors human rights in post-Soviet states at thepresent time, for example in Chechnya.[66]

EventsGerman Unity Day in Germany – A national holiday commemorating the anniversary of German reunification in 1990Statehood Day in Slovenia – Commemorates the country's declaration of independence from Yugoslavia in 1991.Independence and Unity Day in Slovenia – Commemorates the country's independence referendum.Day of National Unity in Georgia – is a public holiday commemorating victims of the 9 April tragedyNational Day in HungaryConstitution Day in Romania – Commemorates the 1991 Romanian Constitution that enshrined the return to democracy after the fallof the Communist regime.Struggle for Freedom and Democracy Day in the Slovak RepublicStruggle for Freedom and Democracy Day in the Czech Republic

PlacesCheckpoint Charlie Museum in Berlin, GermanyDDR Museum in Berlin, GermanyStasi Museum in the old headquartersGdańsk Shipyard in PolandMuseum of Communism, PolandMuseum of Communism, Czech RepublicMemorial to the Victims of Communism in the Czech RepublicLennon Wall in the Czech RepublicHouse of Terror in HungaryMemento Park in HungaryMemorial of Rebirth in RomaniaSighet Memorial Museum in the old prison in Sighetu Marmației, RomaniaMuseum of Socialist Art in BulgariaMuseum of the Occupation of LatviaMuseum of Occupations (Estonia)Museum of Occupation (Lithuania)Museum of Genocide Victims in Vilnius, LithuaniaMuseum of Victims of Communism in MoldovaMuseum of Victims of Occupational Regimes "Prison on Lontskoho" in Lviv, UkraineMuseum of Soviet occupation in Kiev, UkraineMuseum of Soviet Occupation in Tbilisi, GeorgiaDawn of Liberty in Kazakhstan – A monument dedicated to JeltoqsanGlobal Museum on CommunismThis list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

OtherThe Soviet Story – An award-winning documentary film about the Soviet Union.The Singing Revolution – A documentary film about the Singing Revolution.Heaven on Earth: The Rise and Fall of Socialism – A book and a documentary film based on the bookLenin's Tomb: The Last Days of the Soviet Empire – A Pulitzer Prize-awarded bookA Political Tragedy in Six Acts – the biography of dissident Vaclav HavelRight Here, Right Now (Jesus Jones song) – An international hit written by Mike Edwards and performed by his rock band JesusJones, released in September 1990"Wind of Change" (song) - A hit song by the German heavy-metal band Scorpions that celebrates Perestroyka and the fall ofcommunism in Eastern EuropeThis list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

See alsoDissolution of the Soviet UnionBreakup of YugoslaviaArab Spring1990 Democratic Revolution in Mongolia

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Baltic TigerCarpat TigerChinese democracy movementCivil resistanceColor revolutionsCommonwealth of Independent StatesEnlargement of the European UnionEnlargement of NATOHistory of SolidarityPeople Power RevolutionJanuary EventsJán ČarnogurskýJBTZ-trialJeans RevolutionMaking the History of 1989 (online database)Polish Round Table AgreementReagan DoctrineYugoslav Wars

ReferencesThis article incorporates information from the revision as of 1 April 2006 of the equivalent article on the Polish Wikipedia.1. ̂See various uses of this term in the following publications . The term is a play on a more widely used term for 1848 revolutions, the

Spring of Nations. Also Polish term Jesień Ludów or Jesień Narodów in in Polish language publications .2. ̂Sorin Antohi and Vladimir Tismăneanu, "Independence Reborn and the Demons of the Velvet Revolution" in Between Past and Future:

The Revolutions of 1989 and Their Aftermath, Central European University Press. ISBN 963-9116-71-8. p.85 .3. ̂Boyes, Roger (4 June 2009). "World Agenda: 20 years later, Poland can lead eastern Europe once again" . The Times (UK). Retrieved 4

June 2009.4. ̂Adam Roberts, Civil Resistance in the East European and Soviet Revolutions, Albert Einstein Institution, 1991. ISBN 1-880813-04-1.

Available as pdf from: http://www.aeinstein.org/organizationse3a7.html .5. ̂Piotr Sztompka, preface to Society in Action: the Theory of Social Becoming, University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0-226-78815-6. p. x .6. ̂http://www.cecl.gr/RigasNetwork/databank/Constitutions/Yugoslavia.html7. ̂Romania – Soviet Union and Eastern Europe , U.S. Library of Congress8. ̂a b Steele, Jonathan. Eternal Russia: Yeltsin, Gorbachev and the Mirage of Democracy. Boston: Faber, 1994.9. ̂Poland:Major Political Reform Agreed , Facts on File World News Digest, 24 March 1989. Facts on File News Services. 6 September

200710. ̂Markham, James M. (7 July 1989). "GORBACHEV SPURNS THE USE OF FORCE IN EASTERN EUROPE" . The New York Times.11. ̂Page 151. Lech Walesa. "The Struggle and the Triumph: An Autobiography". Arcade (1991). ISBN 1-55970-221-412. ̂Page 157. Lech Walesa. "The Struggle and the Triumph: An Autobiography". Arcade (1991). ISBN 1-55970-221-413. ̂Page 174. Lech Walesa. "The Struggle and the Triumph: An Autobiography". Arcade (1991). ISBN 1-55970-221-414. ̂Tagliabue, John (15 August 1989). "POLAND'S PREMIER OFFERING TO YIELD TO NON-COMMUNIST" . The New York Times.15. ̂APPLE Jr, R. W. (20 August 1989). "A NEW ORBIT; Poland's Break Leads Europe And Communism To a Threshold" . The New York

Times.16. ̂Tagliabue, John (25 August 1989). "OPENING NEW ERA, POLES PICK LEADER" . The New York Times.17. ̂Tagliabue, John (13 September 1989). "Poles Approve Solidarity-Led Cabinet" . The New York Times.18. ̂http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124051894535749519.html19. ̂a b c (Polish) Polska. Historia PWN Encyklopedia. Retrieved 11 July 2005.20. ̂Kamm, Henry (23 May 1988). "HUNGARIAN PARTY REPLACES KADAR WITH HIS PREMIER" . The New York Times.21. ̂"Hungary Eases Dissent Curbs" . The New York Times. 12 January 1989.22. ̂"Hungary, in Turnabout, Declares '56 Rebellion a Popular Uprising" . The New York Times. 29 January 1989.23. ̂Falk, p.14724. ̂József Bayer, "The Process of Political System Change in Hungary" , in Schriftenreihe des Europa Institutes Budapest, 2003, p.18025. ̂Stokes, G: "The Walls Came Tumbling Down", page 131. Oxford University Press, 199326. ̂"Hungarian Party Assails Nagy's Execution" . The New York Times. 1 June 1989.27. ̂Kamm, Henry (17 June 1989). "Hungarian Who Led '56 Revolt Is Buried as a Hero" . The New York Times.28. ̂Heenan, p.1329. ̂De Nevers, p.13030. ̂Elster, p.6631. ̂Kamm, Henry (8 October 1989). "COMMUNIST PARTY IN HUNGARY VOTES FOR RADICAL SHIFT" . The New York Times.32. ̂"Hungary Purges Stalinism From Its Constitution" . The New York Times. 19 October 1989.33. ̂"HUNGARY LEGALIZES OPPOSITION GROUPS" . The New York Times. 20 October 1989.34. ̂Rosalind M. O. Pritchard. Reconstructing education: East German schools and universities after unification. p. 10.35. ̂Mary Fulbrook. History of Germany, 1918-2000: the divided nation. p. 256.36. ̂http://blogs.wsj.com/emergingeurope/2011/06/28/soviet-soldiers-left-czechoslovakia-20-years-ago-ordinary-well-off-russians-to-move-

in/37. ̂http://www.sussex.ac.uk/sei/documents/slovenian3.pdf REFERENDUM BRIEFING NO 338. ̂Judah, Tim (17 February 2011). "Yugoslavia: 1918 - 2003" . BBC. Retrieved 1 April 2012.39. ̂Naimark (2003), p. xvii40. ̂Rogel (2004), pp. 91-9241. ̂*Thomson, Clare (1992). The Singing Revolution: A Political Journey through the Baltic States. London: Joseph. ISBN 0-7181-3459-1.42. ̂Ginkel, John (September 2002). "Identity Construction in Latvia's "Singing Revolution": Why inter-ethnic conflict failed to occur".

Nationalities Papers 30 (3): 403–433. doi:10.1080/0090599022000011697 .43. ̂Between Utopia and Disillusionment By Henri Vogt; p 26 ISBN 1-57181-895-244. ̂Schmeidel, John. "My Enemy's Enemy: Twenty Years of Co-operation between West Germany's Red Army Faction and the GDR Ministry

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for State Security." Intelligence and National Security 8, no. 4 (October 1993): 59–72.45. ̂After Socialism: where hope for individual liberty lies . Svetozar Pejovich.46. ̂Is Holocaust denial against the law? Anne Frank House47. ̂a b c Anders Aslund (1 December 2000). "The Myth of Output Collapse after Communism" .48. ̂a b c Oleh Havrylyshyn (9 November 2007). "Fifteen Years of Transformation in the Post-Communist World" .49. ̂"The world after 1989: Walls in the mind" . The Economist. 5 November 2009.50. ̂Nobel Peace Prize winner predicts optimism for the future under "the banner of Our Lady"51. ̂Fighting Poverty: Findings and Lessons from China’s Success (World Bank). Retrieved 10 August 2006.52. ̂The Great Doubling: The Challenge of the New Global Labor Market53. ̂a b Richard Freeman (2008). "The new global labor market" . University of Wisconsin–Madison Institute for Research on Poverty.54. ̂"China set to be largest economy" . BBC News. 22 May 2006.55. ̂Elliott, Michael (22 January 2007). "The Chinese Century" . TIME Magazine.56. ̂Fishman, Ted C. (4 July 2004). "The Chinese Century" . The New York Times. Retrieved 12 September 2009.[dead link]

57. ̂Karl W. Ryavec. Russian Bureaucracy: Power and Pathology, 2003, Rowman & Littlefield, ISBN 0-8476-9503-4, page 1358. ̂“The Glamorous Tyrant: The Cult of Stalin Experiences a Rebirth,” by Mikhail Pozdnyaev, Novye Izvestia59. ̂http://www.kavkaz-uzel.ru/newstext/news/id/1208902.html .60. ̂Stalin's mass murders were 'entirely rational' says new Russian textbook praising tyrant . The Daily Mail. 23 April 201061. ̂Many of these scanned documents are available as the "Soviet Archives" (INFO-RUSS)62. ̂The Cold War and the War Against Terror By Jamie Glazov (FrontPageMagazine) 1 July 200263. ̂Cummins, Ian (23 December 1995). "The Great MeltDown". The Australian.64. ̂The Collapse of State Socialism Foreign Affairs65. ̂Coit D. Blacker. "The Collapse of Soviet Power in Europe." Foreign Affairs. 1990.66. ̂Memorial website

Further readingGarton Ash, Timothy (5 November 2009). "1989!" . The New York Review of Books 56 (17).Leffler, Melvyn P.; Westad, Odd Arne, eds. (2010). The Cambridge History of the Cold War: Vol. III, Endings. Cambridge: CambridgeUniversity Press. ISBN 978-0-521-83721-7.Lévesque, Jacques (1997). The Enigma of 1989: The USSR and the Liberation of Eastern Europe . University of California Press.p. 275. ISBN 978-0-520-20631-1.Roberts, Adam (1991). Civil Resistance in the East European and Soviet Revolutions . Cambridge, MA: Albert Einstein Institution.ISBN 1-880813-04-1.Roberts, Adam; Garton Ash, Timothy, eds. (2009). Civil Resistance and Power Politics: The Experience of Non-violent Action fromGandhi to the Present . Oxford: University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-955201-6. Contains chapters on the Soviet Union (Mark Kramer),Czechoslovakia (Kieran Williams), Poland (Alexander Smolar), Baltic States (Mark R. Beissinger), China (Merle Goldman), and EastGermany (Charles Maier).Sebestyen, Victor (2009). Revolution 1989: The Fall of the Soviet Empire. Phoenix. ISBN 978-0-7538-2709-3.Walesa, Lech (1991). The Struggle and the Triumph: An Autobiography. Arcade. ISBN 1-55970-221-4.

External linksThe History of 1989: The Fall of Communism in Eastern EuropeSome of aspects of state national economy evolution in the system of the internationaleconomic order.A look at the collapse of Eastern European Communism two decades laterAnnotated BibliographyOliver Kloss: Revolutio ex nihilo? Zur methodologischen Kritik des soziologischen Modells "spontaner Kooperation" und zur Erklärungder Revolution von 1989 in der DDR. In: Heiner Timmermann (Hrsg.): Agenda DDR-Forschung. Ergebnisse, Probleme, Kontroversen.(Dokumente und Schriften der Europäischen Akademie Otzenhausen. Band 112) Muenster, LIT Verlag, 2005, ISBN 3-8258-6909-1, S.363–379 + Ergänzender Anhang A – F.

Revolutions of 1989

Cold War

Eastern Bloc

Categories: Revolutions of 1989 Conflicts in 1989 1989 in Europe Anti-communism Modern Europe 20th-century revolutionsDecommunization Economic disasters Eastern Bloc Foreign relations of the Soviet Union 1989 in international relations1980s in Europe 1990s in Europe 1989 in politics

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