POST-WWII TO PRESENT DAY

THE SOVIET UNION AND EASTERN EUROPE

• Ruled by Stalin from 1927-1953– Used Five Year Plans – set economic goals for five

year periods – and collectivization– Extremely ruthless, kills many more people than

Hitler• After the death of Stalin Khrushchev comes to power– De-Stalinization = process of eliminating some of

Stalin’s more ruthless policies– After economic and foreign policy failures, he is

forced into retirement in 1964• Brezhnev Doctrine = the Soviets will invade any country

in which Communism is threatened to restore the Communist gov’t

• Soviet Bloc = areas controlled by Soviet military forces– Bloc = a group of nations with a common purpose– This includes most of Eastern Europe, with the

exceptions being Yugoslavia and Albania (chose to be Communist on their own)

• Revolts against Communist rule in Eastern Europe– Poland (1956) gov’t starts a series of reforms, but

fearful of an armed Soviet response• Compromises by remaining loyal to the Warsaw

Pact– Hungary (1956) – new leader, Imre Nagy, declares

Hungary a free nation• Promises free elections

• The Soviet army invades 3 days later, reestablishes control, and executes Nagy

– Czechoslovakia (1968) – leader Alexander Dubcek introduces reform• Known as the “Prague Spring”• Soviets invade and take Dubcek out of power

• Mikhail Gorbachev becomes the new Soviet leader in 1985, wants reform– Proposes two radical concepts• Glasnost = “openness” to discuss the Soviet

Union’s problems• Perestroika = “restructuring” of the Soviet

economic and political system

– Allows private property, willing to change Soviet foreign policy, makes a treaty with the U.S. to slow down the arms race

– Political reforms – allows other political parties to form, holds elections to a new Soviet parliament

– States he will not enforce the Brezhnev Doctrine and will not give military support to Communist gov’ts in Eastern Europe• Opens the door for the overthrow of Communist

regimes– Becomes the first, and last, Soviet President in 1990– 1989 calls for independence of the many different

Soviet republics start

• Soviet Union made up of 92 nationalities with 112 languages• Lithuania is the first to declare independence,

Soviet troops at first occupy, then let them go–Ultra-conservatives in the Communist party try

to overthrow Gorbachev and fail• Dec. 1991 it is announced that the Soviet Union

has ceased to exist– Today Russia is dealing with the problem of

Chechnya, a republic that is considered part of Russia that wants to break away

• 1989 Revolutions in Eastern Europe– New revolutions break out when Gorbachev makes it

clear the Soviets won’t interfere • Mass demonstrations and revolts in Nov. and Dec.,

lead to the overthrow of Communist gov’ts– Poland – workers demand change, led by Lech

Walesa• Walesa has founded the trade union Solidarity• Elected president in 1990

– Czechoslovakia – Communist gov’t collapses in Dec. 1989• Called the “Velvet Revolution”, Vaclav Havel made

president• In 1993 splits into Czech Republic and Slovakia

– Romania – only one with bloodshed• Brutal dictator Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife are

supported by military forces, kill thousands of people demonstrating peacefully• Gov’t collapses Dec. 1991, Ceausescu executed

– East Germans overthrow their Communist gov’t• Nov. 9, 1989 the Communist gov’t opens entire

border to the west• Hundreds of thousands go across the border and

people on both sides tear down the Wall– Reunification of Germany made official on Oct. 3,

1990

• Yugoslavia – made up of six republics and two provinces– In 1990 the republics of Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia, and

Macedonia begin to lobby for independence– Slobodan Milosevic, the leader of Serbia, rejects

these efforts• Serbia and ethnic Serbs living in other republics try

to prevent the breakup of Yugoslavia• Any area with Serbs belongs to Serbia• 1991 invades Croatia when they try to leave

– 1992 War in Bosnia when the Bosnians declare independence• By 1993 have captured 70% of Bosnian territory

• Serbs follow a policy of ethnic cleansing = killing or forcibly removing an ethnic group from the land–250,000 Bosnians killed, over 2 million

homeless–NATO gets involved

• Dayton Accords – formal peace treaty signed in 1995

– 1998 war starts again, this time in Kosovo• Massacre of ethnic Albanians• 1999 NATO bombing campaign forces Milosevic to

withdraw• Milosevic brought to trial in 2000 for crimes

against humanity– 2002 Yugoslavia ceases to exist