Warm Up:
Why would the Soviet Union focus
so heavily on maintaining its control
over the nations of Eastern
Europe?
Chapter 30
Collapse of the Communist Bloc
Tensions
Berlin Wall
• Life was so grim in communist East
Germany that many fled to the West,
• which led the Soviets to construct the
Berlin Wall
Tensions
Hungary
• Failed attempts at liberalization by Imre
Nagy in 1956
Czechoslovakia
• Prague Spring
• Liberalization movement led by Alexander
Dubcek crushed by Soviets
Tensions
• Brezhnev Doctrine – Soviet Union would
support with all means at its disposal any
communist nation in Eastern Europe
facing internal strife
Tensions
Poland
• Polish Cardinal, Karol Wojtyla, elected Pope
John Paul II in 1978
• Lech Walesa, an electrician, led a massive
strike demanding the right to form an
independent trade union
Solidarity Movement
• Martial law declared, union outlawed
• Union went underground with aid of the Catholic
Church
Tensions
Poland
• By 1989, Polish economy in shambles
• Government forced to negotiate with
Walesa and Solidarity
• Government promised multiparty elections
• All communist candidates defeated
Collapse of the Soviet Bloc
• Mikhail Gorbachev came to power in Moscow
in 1985
Reform minded:
• Glasnost
- openness in debate
• Perestroika
- economic restructuring of the state
- Focus more on consumer goods
- Ultimately unsuccessfully
• Opposed the Brezhnev doctrine
Collapse of the Soviet Bloc
1989
• Communist regimes peacefully collapsed in
Hungary, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Albania,
and East Germany
• In 1990, the Berlin Wall was torn down, and East
and West Germany were unified.
• In Romania, dictator Nicolea Ceausescu
violently tried to hold onto power
• His government collapsed, he and his wife were
executed on Christmas day, 1989
The Collapse of the Soviet Union
Dissatisfaction in the USSR
• Failed invasion of Afghanistan 1979-1988
• Nuclear disaster in Chernobyl 1989
The Collapse of the Soviet Union
• In the Soviet Union nationalist movements
gained strength after the dissolution of the
Soviet Bloc
• In 1990, non-communist parties were
allowed to participate in government
The Collapse of the Soviet Union
• 1990 Lithuania declared its independence
• Russia declared its laws superseded the laws of
the USSR
• In 1991, hard line Communist staged a coup
while Gorbachev was on vacation, arresting him
in his Crimean home
• Boris Yeltsin, chairman of the Russian
Parliament defied the coup
The Collapse of the Soviet Union
• One by one the Soviet Republics declared
independence and left the USSR
• In 1991 the USSR was dissolved soon
after, Gorbachev resigned
Collapse of the Soviet Union
Russian Republic
• In 1991, Yeltsin was elected president of
the Russian Federation with 57% of vote
• Moved economy toward free-market
capitalism
• Created economic turmoil
- Hyperinflation
- Corruption
- Organized crime
- Oligarchs
Russian Republic
Transformation to political democracy
• Conflict over economic policy led
parliament to impeach Yeltsin - 1993
• Yeltsin responded by ordering tanks shell
Parliament
• Parliament dissolved
• new Constitution with increased powers of
president
• new legislative body, the Duma
Russian Republic
• In 1999, Vladimir Putin chosen Prime
Minister
- Former KGB agent
• Won presidential election of 2000
• Beslan Massacre - Terrorist attack by
Chechen separatist 2004
• Used as an excuse to end practice of
popular elections for governors
• Took increasing control over state media
Russian Republic
• Putin’s popularity grew as oil prices rose
• Provided a huge boost to Russian
economy
• Won reelection in 2004
• Increased spending on military spending
• Sought to dominate region
• In 2008, supported Russian separatist in
South Ossetia, Georgia
Russian Republic
• Replaced as President by Dimitri
Medvedev in 2008
• Seen as a puppet to Putin
• Putin became Prime Minister
Ethnic Warfare in Yugoslavia
• After the death of Tito in 1980, Slovenia and
Croatia broke away from Yugoslavia and formed
their own states
• Bosnia declared independence in 1992
- Majority Muslim and Croats
• Serb minority, with help of Yugoslavian president
Slobodan Milosevic carried out “ethnic cleansing”
• Forced removal, genocidal murder of Muslins and
ethnic Croats
• Serbs shelled the capital, Sarajevo on market days
• American brokered peace, the Dayton Accords in
1995
Ethnic Warfare in Yugoslavia
• Yugoslavia province of Kosovo began to seek
greater autonomy
• Mostly ethnic Albanians, province was important
to Serbian nationalist identity
• Milosevic ordered assault on Kosovo in 1998
• NATO in 1999 began a aerial bombardment of
Serbia
• After 3 months, Serbs withdrew
• First offensive action taken by NATO
Ethnic Warfare in Yugoslavia
• In 2000 Milosevic lost elections
• In 2001was turned over to the War Crimes
Tribunal for “Crimes Against Humanity”
• Died of heart attack during trial in 2006
Nationalist Movements
France
- Brittany and Corsica
Great Britain
- Scotland and Wales
Italy
- Sardinia and Tyrol
Spain
- Basque and Catalonia
Ethnic Conflicts
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Armenia and Azerbaijan
Georgia and South Ossetia
Georgia and Abkhazia
Moldova
North Ireland
Iraq
Israel-Palestine
Kurdish-Turkish-Iraqi
Chechnya
Break Up of Czechoslovakia
Velvet Divorce 1993
• Peaceful separation of Czech Republic
and Slovakia