The Collapse of
Communism
Eastern
Bloc
7 “Satellites”:
Bulgaria, Czech
Republic, East
Germany,
Hungary, Poland,
Romania, Slovakia
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
15 Republics: Armenia, Azerbaijan,
Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania,
Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan,
Turkmenistan, Ukraine,
Uzbekistan
The Collapse of
Communism
Decline of the “Old Guard”:
 U.S./Soviet relationship during Brezhnev era?
 Czechoslovakia 1968
 Brezhnev Doctrine
 Détente
 SALT
 Afghanistan: ends Détente
 Helsinki Accords
 Poland: Solidarity
 Reagan & the “Evil Empire”
 Conditions in the Soviet Union in the Brezhnev era?
 Repression, silencing of dissidents; rigidity & corruption
 Focus on military at expense of consumer goods continues, worsens
 Anti-Semitism
 How do these conditions affect the opinions of younger Soviets in the party
leadership?
The Collapse of
Communism
The Collapse of
Communism
The Collapse of
Communism
The Ascent of Mikhail Gorbachev:
 1985: Rise of the “New Guard”
 Initiates an era of reform:
 Perestroika: economic reform
 Glasnost: “openness,” greater
freedom of expression, criticism
 Democratization: allowing
elections among party members
 Renunciation of the Brezhnev
Doctrine (1989)
The Collapse of
Communism
The Collapse of
Communism
Gorbachev’s Goal? Survival of the USSR:
 Central planning/command economy
inefficient
 Little incentive to improve, significant
incentive to hide inefficiencies
 Socialist farm system inefficient
 Defense spending was unsustainable &
fed dissent
The Collapse of
Communism
1987: Ronald Reagan’s Speech Before the Brandenburg Gate:
“In the Communist world, we see failure, technological backwardness, declining
standards…Even today, the Soviet Union cannot feed itself. The inescapable conclusion is that
freedom is the victor. General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity
for the Soviet Union, if you seek liberalization: Come here to this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, open
this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!”
The Collapse of
Communism
1989, “Year of Revolutions, Pt. 2” – Beginning of the End…:
 Long-term economic decline
 Political stagnation
 Foreign relations disasters
 Change in Soviet leadership: Gorbachev
 Nationalism
The Collapse of
Communism
1989, “Year of Revolutions, Pt. 2” – Beginning of the End…:
 Poland & Solidarity – a little background….
 1978: Pope John Paul II (visits in 1979)
 1980 protests: occupation of Gdansk shipyards by
workers, led by Lech Walesa
• Solidarity union refuses to negotiate
• Government recognizes Solidarity, head of the
Polish Communist Party replaced, & a Catholic
mass broadcast on state-controlled radio
• Elections (among Communists) allowed
 1981: Martial law
• Solidarity leaders arrested
• 1983: Lech Walesa wins Nobel Peace Prize
The Collapse of
Communism
1989, “Year of Revolutions, Pt. 2” – Beginning of the End…:
 Poland & Solidarity redux…
 During 1980s, Solidarity prisoners released
 1988: new strikes by workers, union legalized, Lech
Walesa becomes intermediary
 Communist leadership promises free elections,
which Solidarity candidates win by a large margin in
1989
 1989: first non-Communist prime minister since
1945, & Gorbachev approves…
 In 1990, Lech Walesa would become the 1st freely
elected president…
The Collapse of
Communism
1989, “Year of Revolutions, Pt. 2” – Beginning of the End…:
 Hungary
 Early in the year, Hungary opens its borders with
Austria, breaching the “Iron Curtain”
 Leads to thousands of East Germans moving to
West Germany
 Head of Hungarian Communist Party Janos Kadar
(installed after 1956 uprising) removed
“Comrades, It’s Over!”
The Collapse of
Communism
1989, “Year of Revolutions, Pt. 2” – Beginning of the End…:
 Germany & Reunification: Wir sind ein Volk!
 West Germany: “Economic Miracle”
 East Germany: Stagnation
 Popular demonstrations in 1989, Gorby rejects force
 East German government resigns; new Communist
leaders last only weeks
 1989: the Berlin Wall is torn down, on order of the
East German government
 EEC accepts reunification, & by February 1990,
reunification begins
The Collapse of
Communism
The Collapse of
Communism
1989, “Year of Revolutions, Pt. 2” – Beginning of the End…:
 Not an easy reunion…
 Prosperous West Germans pay higher taxes to
finance rebuilding the east
 Unemployment increases as outdated factories in the
east are closed
 Global economic slowdown of the 1990s leads to
further economic problems
 Increase in neo-Nazism; immigrants blamed for
economic problems
The Collapse of
Communism
1989, “Year of Revolutions, Pt. 2” – Beginning of the End…:
 Czechoslovakia: the “Velvet Revolution”
 Václav Havel, a playwright, leads the charge
 Frequently imprisoned, since radio broadcasts
against 1968 Soviet intervention
 December 1989: Communist leadership, Soviet
Union acknowledge 1968 invasion wrong
 Alexander Dubcek (remember him?) becomes
chairman of Parliament
 December 29, 1989: Havel elected President of a
free Hungary
The Collapse of
Communism
1989, “Year of Revolutions, Pt. 2” – Beginning of the End…:
 Romania: Not everything was easy…
 President Nicolae Ceausescu resists
 Government fires on protesters, leading to full revolt
 Ceausescu & wife are captured, tried, & executed on Dec. 25
The Collapse of
Communism
Meanwhile, “back in the USSR”….:
 Why didn’t the Soviet Union intervene as their satellite nations imploded?
 Early 1990: Gorbachev proposes abandonment of one-party power
 Who challenges Gorbachev?
 “Conservative”: hard-line Communists clinging to old ways…
 “Radical Reformers”: believers in “shock therapy,” including their leader Boris Yeltsin
 At the same time, Soviet republics resists, especially Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania (remember
them?)
 Gorby uses military to suppress; what’s the difference?
 Unable to successfully negotiate new arrangements with the republics
 July 1990: Union Treaty – Gorby’s attempt to renegotiate arrangments…
The Collapse of
Communism
The Coup Attempt: August 1991
 Conservatives, including his own Cabinet members, initiate coup while Gorbachev on
vacation; house arrest in Crimean…
 Who comes to his aid?
The Collapse of
Communism
Dissolution
 December 1991: Gorbachev leaves office, humiliated, & Soviet Union ceases to exist…
The Collapse of
Communism
The Collapse of
Communism
The Collapse of the Soviet Union
and the End of the Cold War
John Paul II’s
CATHOLIC
CHURCH
East German
NATIONALISM
Lech Walesa's
SOLIDARITY
Gorbachev’s
REFORMS
Eastern
Bloc
Ronald Reagan’s
FOREIGN POLICY
Union of Soviet
Socialist Republics
Glasnost
Perestroika
EVIL EMPIRE
Speech
MILITARY
BUILDUP
No Brezhnev
Doctrine
Ordinary
MEN & WOMEN
ARMS RACE
COURAGE
WILL POWER
Reform
KGB
Reform
Comm Party
The Collapse of
Communism
Russia Under Boris Yeltsin
 Who opposes Yeltsin?
 What problems does he face?
 1993: Suspension of Parliament & a new Constitution
The Collapse of
Communism
The Collapse of
Communism
Russia Under Boris Yeltsin
 Privatization leads to rise of the oligarchs
 1994: Checnya revolt – wants to secede,
primarily Muslim; leads to war, terrorism
 High unemployment; no one to bail out
Russia (unlike East Germany)
 By 1998, the economy collapses
 1998: Yeltsin resigns, replaced by his
prime minister, Vladimir Putin
The Collapse of
Communism