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The Collapse of the Soviet Union• 1990 Lithuania declared its independence• Russia declared its laws superseded the laws of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 CorsicaGreat Britain- Scotland and WalesItaly- Sardinia and TyrolSpain - Basque and Catalonia

Ethnic Conflicts

• 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