Central & Eastern: Evaluate the factors leading to the collapse of Soviet control in Central and Eastern Europe Flashcards
Intro/thesis
-Collapse of Soviet control in Central & Eastern Europe: 1989.
-The collapse of the Soviet bloc unfolded quickly in 1989 as one by one, these socialist governments surrendered to the winds of change.
-Key factor was Gorbachev’s policies (glasnost and perestroika) and how they exacerbated the existing political and economic discontent and unraveled power from the top
Paragraphs
-Long-term economic factors and dissatisfaction with the standard of living
-Political movements
-Gorbachev’s policies
Long-term economic factors + dissatisfaction- examples
-Enforced collectivization led to 15,000 East German farmers moving to the West and the process led to food shortages and heavy rationing. There was also a scarcity of consumer goods and a failure to increase housing.
-Similarly in Poland, poor living conditions contributed to the outbreak of the uprising in 1956. For example, there were food shortages among the working classes and the system of collectivization led to a collapse of Polish agricultural production after 1950, with a large-scale exodus of farmers. Farmers experienced shortages of fertilizers, machinery, and tools.
-The GDR was reliant on the USSR for oil imports and the standard of living in East Germany lagged far behind that of West Germany. East Germany’s economy was burdened by $26.5 billion of foreign debt.
Long-term economic factors + dissatisfaction- explanation
-These weak economies necessitated change, contributing to Gorbachev’s policy of perestroika, which aimed to better meet the needs of the citizens by adopting elements of liberal economics.
-These poor standards of living were also largely responsible for the protests of the decades preceding the end of communism in the Eastern bloc, as people felt they had very little to lose.
-Weakened by years of economic underperformance and stagnation, pro-Soviet governments in Eastern Europe were confronted with growing unionism, popular movements, and demands for reform.
Political movements- examples
-In Poland, the protests of 1956 and 1968 were crucial in building up the tension that led to the Solidarity movement. Political agitation had already taken place in Poland - in 1956 and in 1968. In both cases, the unrest had been stopped by the party without Soviet intervention. However, the underlying economic and social forces that had caused the unrest had not been addressed.
-Solidarnosc grew in popularity following years of political repression, food and goods shortages, and dire working conditions. By 1981, the movement had more than nine million members. Solidarity was made illegal in 1981 and martial law was imposed, but in mid-1988, Polish workers began a wave of strikes.
-The protests that had taken place in East Germany in 1953, Hungary in 1956, and Czechoslovakia in 1968, were also crucial to the end of Communism in these satellite states. Furthermore, the increased political repression that these protests resulted in contributed to built-up frustration toward the government. For example, in Czechosovakia, after the Prague Spring, those who spoke against the government or socialism were blacklisted or fired from their jobs.
Political movements- explanation & historiography
-Most protestors in these countries demanded political liberalization and economic reforms, at least on a par with those enacted in Gorbachev’s Russia. Without the backing of Moscow, the socialist governments in Soviet bloc countries had no option but to bow to public pressure.
-These protests led to the Polish government backing down in April 1989, allowing Solidarnosc to legally re-form and hold elections. By August 1989, Poland had a non-communist Prime Minister and in December 1990, Lech Walesa was elected as national president. Poland was the first of the eastern bloc countries to be free of communism, followed by Hungary.
-The increased political repression that these protests brought throughout the Eastern bloc amplified the significance of Gorbachev’s policies. For example, as news of glasnost rippled through Czechoslovakia, the people grew bolder in their words and actions, while Husak’s government became less inclined to suppress its critics.
-John Lewis Gaddis gives credit to ‘people power’: ‘What no one understood, at the beginning of 1989, was that the Soviet Union (…) was a sandpile ready to slide. All it took (…) were a few more grains of sand. The people who dropped them were (…) ordinary people.
Gorbachev’s policies- examples
-The policy of perestroika was significant in decreasing the hold that the Soviet elites and government had on society. Between 1987 and 1989, Gorbachev began decentralizing the decision-making process so that the Party could not interfere as much with the economy, transferring some powers from Moscow to the Republics. The reforms led to growing demands for more independence in the Republics and clashes between those who wanted to hold back reform and those who wanted to go faster.
-Gorbachev introduced the policy of ‘glasnost’ in 1986, which promoted open discussion of political and social issues. Glasnost permitted criticism of government officials and allowed the media more freedom of expression. For instance, there began to be editorials complaining of depressed conditions and of the government’s inability to correct them.
-Can also talk about Chernobyl here
Gorbachev’s policies- explanation & historiography
-Gorbachev’s policies of perestroika and glasnost put pressure on the leaders of the satellite states to follow suit in reforming the economic and political systems in their countries.
-However, leaders such as Honecker in East Germany and Ceaucescu in Romania were unwilling to relinquish any hold on their countries or to make any such concessions.
-But the threat of Soviet intervention was key to their control and power, and when Gorbachev made it clear that he was no longer prepared to send Soviet troops to prop up their regimes (at his address to the UN General Assembly in 1988), their positions were much less secure.
-Tony Judt: ‘By indicating that he would not intervene, he decisively undermined the only real source of political legitimacy available to the rulers of the satellite states: the promise (or threat) of military intervention from Moscow. Without the threat, the regimes were politically naked’.
-The historian Orlando Figes believes that glasnost relaxed censorship, so the Party lost its grip on the mass media, exposing social problems previously hidden by the government.
-Power unraveling from the top (combined with more power from the bottom through protests)
