The Magic Lantern Flashcards
Poland (Socioeconomic)
Country suffered economic collapse
Poland (Old Regime)
Accepted election loss/President of the old regime (Jaruzelski) was a soft liner who resigned after the nations roundtable agreements
Poland (Opposition)
Strikes from the trade union ‘Solidarity’ party. Lead by Lech Walesa who later became President
Poland (Individual Actors)
Lech Walesa- radical opposition leader from the Solidarity movement who became the first democratically elected President of Poland
Poland (External Actors)
Desire to align with Western Europe/Tiananmen Square Massacre/Popes Visit
Hungary (Socioeconomic)
The country suffered from inflation and the NEM was proposed, but did not help the socioeconomic conditions of the country
Hungary (Old Regime)
Executed Imer Nagy; old regime was primarily soft liners who were willing to transition to a democratic government
Hungary (Opposition)
Hungary (Individual Actors)
Imre Nagy- Revolution leader who wanted a peaceful democratic transition
Hungary (External Actors)
Czechoslovakia (Socioeconomic)
Warsaw Pact devestated the country economically
Czechoslovakia (Old Regime)
Czechoslovakia (Opposition)
Students began a series of non-violent anti-communist opposition movements-> The Velvet Revolution (series of anti-communist movements that lead to Czechoslovakia transitioning to a Parliamentary Republic) and the Civic Forum (established during the Velvet Revolution). This exemplifies an extremely unified and active opposition.
Czechoslovakia (Individual Actors)
Vaclav Havel- ran the Magic Lantern Theater which acted as an operational headquarters for the opposition. Havel was elected as leader of Czechoslovakia, and later, the Czech Republic
Czechoslovakia (External Actors)
Removal of External Restraint- Gorbachev Effect, Snowballing- fall of Poland and Hungary
East Germany (Socioeconomic)
East Berlin was not as economically sufficient as their counterpart, West Berlin
East Germany (Old Regime)
Socialist United Party (SED) made poor economic decisions for the country, lead by Erich Honecker, who was a hard-liner.
East Germany (Opposition)
Lots of protests started throughout the city. However, Hungary opening its borders to Austria gave an out to many East Germans who fled to the West (lack of a unified opposition)
East Germany (Individual Actors)
Erich Honecker- hard liner against democracy, ended up stepping down shortly before the wall fell
East Germany (External Actors)
Snowballing- learning from other countries who had all ready went through a democratic transition, Gorbachev Effect- East Germany had the strongest ties with the Soviet Union
