The Collapse of Communism, 1989-1991
- Poland had a history of liberation movements
- Lech Walesa had formed the solidarity movement of trade unions in 1980
- 1981 the gov't cracked down with martial law under General Jaruzelski
- 1989 elections were held in Poland the solidarity movement won 92% of the vote and 160/161 seats
- The solidarity leader, Tadeusz Mazowiecki became Prime Minister although Jaruzelski remained President
- Dec. 1990 Lech Walesa became President of Poland
- Hungary had ruled by Janos Kadar since the 1956 Hungarian uprising
- After watching events in Poland they allowed free elections in March 1990
- The Democratic Forum won the Jozsef Natal as the Prime Minister
The Collapse of Communism 1989-1991 Con't
- Czechoslovakia protested during the " velvet revolution" Nov. 1989
- After a nationwide strike the Communist party resigned in favour of Vaclev Havel
- In 1992 the Czechs and Slovaks decided to separate into two independent countries
- Romania had been ruled by Nicolae Ceausescu since 1965
- He ordered protesters shot in Dec. 1989, after two days the army refused orders and executed Ceausescu and his wife
- Bulgaria had its first free elections in June, 1990
- Albania became democratic in 1992
- Yugoslavia disintegrated into civil war in 1991
The Fall of the Soviet Union, 1991
- Gorbachev made a couple of major changes in 1990
- First was he introduced 'rule of law'
- He felt that socialism could be achieved within a democratic state
- Second was the '500 day plan' dealing with the deficit
- Finally, the Union Treaty giving the republics more autonomy
The Breakup of the USSR, 1991
- An attempted coup d'etat takes place in Aug. 1991
- He is saved by Boris Yeltsin who became the effective leader of the country
- Gorbachev became a lame duck leader and Yeltsin made the final step to outlaw the Communist party in the Russian Republic
- Dec. 1, 1991 an independence vote is held in the Ukraine which voted in favour of independence
- This led to the formation of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and the end of the USSR