Eastern Europe and the Cold War 1948-1989

1. Eastern Europe and the Cold War 1948-1989 • Take out your notes about Solidarity that you completed for homework. Then,go to the front of the room to grab the following paper: • If you are completely done with the notes, grab a green slip. • If you are almost done, grab a yellow slip. • If you have less than ½ a page of completed notes, grab a red slip.

2. Woo hoo! You made it to the last day of lecture! Please pick up a notes packet and something to write with.

3. Objectives • You will investigate: • What was the significance of "Solidarity" in Poland for the decline of Soviet influence in Eastern Europe? • How far was Gorbachev personally responsible for the collapse of Soviet control over eastern Europe?

4. ESSENTIAL QUESTION What makes revolutionary change possible?

5. INTRODUCTION In 1980 a remarkable new development took place in Eastern Europe: Since the Communist take-over in the 1940s Moscow had not allowed any real political opposition to communism in the countries of Eastern Europe. In Poland in 1980 this changed. A powerful non-communist organization called Solidarity challenged the government and set off a chain reaction that would lead to the downfall of the Soviet Union.

6. Where we left off… Focus Question: What part did Solidarity play in the decline of Soviet power? SOLIDARITY

7. Why is Poland a big deal? • Poland presented unique challenge: • long standing resentment of USSR (wars, massacres, challenge to faith and nationalism) • had more power than other communist countries • largest country in Eastern Europe (35 million people) • Had many important industries

8. Why is Poland a big deal? • The Polish people were growing increasingly frustrated with poor living standards and were expressing it.

9. What happened in Poland? • Lech Walesa leads new union called Solidarity • NOT controlled by communists • soon had 9 million members • wanted political and religious freedom “We hold our heads high, despite the price we have paid, because freedom is priceless.” – Lech Walesa

10. Communist Reaction: Send in the Tanks? • The situation for • Polish Communist Leaders • At first, try to negotiate. • Judges in Polish Supreme Court declare union was legal. • But then, had to “clamp down” on Solidarity • Influence of the Soviet Union • USSR considered sending troops to impose Soviet power as they had done in other places… • Decided against it but told Communist leaders in Poland to get rid of Solidarity before it got out of control Why?

11. COMMUNIST REACTION • New Prime Minister appointed: Jaruzelski (Communist and army general) • He was in a tough spot… so what did he do? • First…Tried to negotiate – didn’t work • Second… In December of 1981, took advice from Moscow & instituted Martial Law • Everyone arrested and held without trial • Meetings and demonstrations forbidden • Members lost their jobs • Violence against anti-communists shocked • Result? • Attempt to destroy Solidarity DIDN’T WORK • Violence against anti-communists shocked people • Walesa imprisoned but becomes hero! Upon his release, gets Nobel Prize! • Communist party members left party in huge numbers

12. Long-Term Impact of Communist Efforts • People no longer trust communist leaders. • They no longer felt they represented the MAJORITY of the people. • Realized that the only way they were maintaining power was through force. • However, it would take a few more years and a new Soviet leader before Solidarity and their leader, Lech Walesa, would accomplish all that they wanted to…

13. Where we left off: 1983-84 Pope visits people and offers support. Then, Priest who supported the union was beaten to death by secret police. 1980-81 USSR considers sending troops. Instead urged Polish communists to destroy it before it got out of control. 1982 Walesa released from prison. Seen as a hero. Wins Nobel Peace Prize next year. 1989 First free elections since 1940. Result = disaster for communists. Solidarity wins most seats. Coalition government formed. 1981 Jaruzelski, after failed negotiations, declares martial law. End 1989 Solidary take-over was complete when remaining communists resigned. 1985 New Soviet leader Gorbachev comes to power.

14. Gorbachev and the fall of the Soviet Union

15. Cold War in the 1970s • In the 1970s, USA & USSR had entered a period called “Détente” (relaxation of tension) • The USA & USSR briefly began to get along better than in the past and discuss limiting nuclear weapons • USA & China began better communication • This relaxation was “short-lived”

16. Cold War freezes up again? • 1981: President Reagan ends détente & encouraged confrontation • Harsh policy against the USSR & increased tension = Second Cold War • Initiates new arms race w/ the USSR (one they couldn’t keep up with!) • USSR began diverting huge proportion of national income to defense (lowering living standards even more)

17. The Setting: The Standard of Living • Economy in crisis • Gap between communist & capitalist economies growing • Unable to compete with West in new industries or production • workforce was inefficient and unmotivated • Spending way too much on arms race • Locked in a costly and unwinnable war in Afghanistan ($8 billion a year!) • No new thinking about how to run the Soviet economy since the days of Stalin Problem: Each leader followed the same policies and ignored the warning signs that things were going wrong. Even with rich land at its disposal, could not produce enough food to feed own people! Proof of inefficiency: 20% of workforce in farming (compared with 3% in the USA). On average, US farmer produced 7 times more food than each Soviet farmer USSR was having to import millions of tons of grain from USA! Proof is in the pudding... or grain?

18. Corruption and Decline of Communism • Leadership under Brezhnev = very corrupt. • “Ordinary people” lost respect for communism. Why? • Soviet system had guaranteed a job and a home – but it gave them no incentive to work harder or better. • In the days of Stalin, they had worked out loyalty or fear. Those days were gone and were replaced with cynicism (no loyalty to the government, did not believe what the government said, and worse, they did not care).

19. Corruption and Decline of Communism Because leading communists lived in luxurious country houses, a USSR joke circulated at the time that Brezhnev showed his own mother around a new luxury house that he had just had built; his mother comments “It’s wonderful, Leonid. But what happens if the communists come back to power?”

20. Enter Gorbachev... • Became leader of the Soviet Union in ’85 • Different than other leaders before him: University graduate, personable, imaginative, and committed to reforms to benefit the people

21. Gorbachev's Challenges • Alcoholism • Decline of life expectancy and decline in Soviet industry • Work ethic of the people and poor Soviet goods • Complained that despite Space Race victories, Russian refrigerators shoddy! • Failing economy but communist leaders stuck in their ways • Population with NO trust in their leaders • Rising discontent throughout eastern European countries

22. Gorbachev’s first moves • Address social needs: shut down production and sale of vodka • Removed Soviet troops from Afghanistan • Launched an anti-corruption campaign in 1986 • New policy on eastern Europe: promised to stop interfering in affairs of other communist countries “ The time is ripe for abandoning views on foreign policy which are influenced by an imperial standpoint. Neither the Soviet Union nor the USA is able to force its will on others. It is possible to suppress, compel, bribe, break or blast, but only for a certain period. From the point of view of long term big time politics, no one will be able to subordinate others. That is why only one thing – relations of equality – remains. All of us must realize this… This obliges us to respect one another and everybody.” – Gorbachev

23. End of the Brezhnev Doctrine • Announces to United Nations huge cuts in Soviet armed forces. • Cut spending on defense. • Brezhnev Doctrine was completely abandoned. “ Force or the threat of force neither can nor should be instruments of foreign policy. The principle of the freedom of choice is mandatory. Refusal to recognize this principle will have serious consequences for world peace. To deny a nation the choice, regardless of any excuse, is to upset the unstable balance that has been achieved. Freedom of choice is a universal principle. It knows no exception.”” – Gorbachev

24. Gorbachev tries to fix the economy • Wants to reform (not replace) communist system w/ perestroika (restructuring) • GOAL: revive economy by adopting some free-market practices • RATIONALE: Proven that people are motivated by profit. For the first time in 60 years, no longer illegal to buy and sell for profit. • STEPS: • Allowed private ownership of agriculture • Farmers and individuals could now lease land/housing from govt • Private enterprises were allowed (e.g., retail, small restaurants) • Owners could pay their workers and seek their own resources

25. Rest of Gorbachev’s Agenda “America must be the teacher of democracy, not the advertiser of the consumer society. It is unrealistic for the rest of the world to reach the American living standard.” – Gorbachev • Introduces glasnost (openness) • GOAL: introduce free speech & other civil liberties • RATIONALE: Encourages open political discussion and demonstrations • STEPS: • allowing freedom of press, criticisms of government, religious freedom, free elections • Decreasing power of Secret Police • Encouraging enterprises to begin establish trade relations with foreign partners

26. So what happened? Jokes circulating around the USSR at the end of the 1980s There are three kinds of person in the Soviet Union: The optimists – they believe what Gorbachev says The pessimists – they are learning English and planning to emigrate The realists – they are taking rifle lessons and getting ready for civil war There are two ways of resolving the crisis of the Soviet Union: The realistic way – aliens from outer space will land and straighten out the mess. The fantastic way – the Soviet people will sort it out for themselves.

27. So what happened? Gorbachev in Uncharted Territory • Gorbachev was popular but... • policies were not successful (or not in the way he intended) • economy could not be modernized as quickly as people wanted • By 1989, seemed Gorbachev had no real idea which way to go • BUT…Couldn’t turn back. Reforms had released a pent-up longing for freedom all across the Communist world. • Leaders of other countries in the communist bloc looked on in confusion.

28. 1989: Year of Revolution • Extraordinary chain of events led to collapse of Communism in eastern Europe. • Throughout Europe there was no popular support for communism, and without the threat of Soviet tanks, communism fell apart. • It begins... • March: Gap in the iron curtain opens up: Hungarians dismantle barbed-wire fence between Hungary and non-Communist Austria • June: free elections in Poland • September: Thousands of East Germans "on holiday" in Hungary and Czechoslovakia refuse to go home. Escape to West Germany. (Made nonsense of the Berlin Wall) • October: Enormous demonstrations when Gorbi visits East Germany. Tells East German leaders he will not move in to restore order and that they, too, should reform.

29. 1989: Year of Revolution Continued • November: East Germans march in thousands to the checkpoints of the Berlin Wall. Guards throw down their weapons and join the crowds. Berlin Wall is dismantled. • November: Demonstrations in Czechoslovakia lead the govt to open its borders and allow formation of other parties. Collapse of communism. • December: In Romania a bloody revolution begins and they execute the dictator. • In 1990 the two halves of Germany were re-united.

30. “For most west Europeans now alive, the world has always ended at the East German border and the Wall; beyond lay darkness… The opening of the frontiers declares that the world has no edge any more. Europe is becoming once more round and whole.” – The Independent, November ‘89 Picture taken from Helen Walford

31. Collapse of the USSR • Communism being rejected by Eastern Europe & inside USSR • 250,000 people demonstrated in Moscow on Feb 4, 1990 • Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia demand independence. • 2 mil people made human chain across all three states! (on the 50th anniversary of Nazi-Soviet Pact)

32. Click to edit Master title style Click to edit Master text styles Second level Third level Fourth level Fifth level 27

33. Gorbachev Panics • Gorbachev responded by drawing back from reform & making alliances with old style communists • he was losing control of events & losing many long-standing supporters

34. Fall of Gorbachev 1991 • The USSR was disintegrating: • Boris Yeltsin: elected as President - Russian Republic. • Didn't want future with Soviet Union • Argued that all should become independent states. Others followed. • Hard-line communists tried to seize power: • held Gorbachev prisoner • declared state of emergency (sent tanks and troops on the streets of Moscow). • Huge crowds gathered to oppose the military coup. Was unsuccessful. • Gorbachev returned to Moscow – admitted the USSR was finished and he with it. • The Warsaw Pact collapsed. • Announced the end of the Soviet Union in a televised speech on 25 December 1991.

35. “ A sense of failure and regret came through his Christmas Day abdication speech – especially in his sorrow over his people ‘ceasing to be citizens of a great power’. Certainly, if man-in-the-street interviews can be believed, the formers Soviet peoples consider him a failure. History will be kinder. The Nobel Peace Prize he received for ending the Cold War was well deserved. Every man, woman and child in this country should be eternally grateful. His statue should stand in the centre of every east European capital; for it was Gorbachev who allowed them their independence. The same is true for the newly independent countries further east and in Central Asia. No Russian has done more to free his people from bondage since Alexander II who freed the serfs.” – US Newspaper reporting on Gorbachev’s speech

36. The Cold War had been won by the USA, and it was now the world’s ONLY superpower Made By Helen Walford

37. Review http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/history/mwh/ir2/endact.shtml