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THE COLLAPSE OF COMMUNISM SOVIET REFORMS The “Brezhnev Doctrine” (Leonid Brezhnev) Soviet Union has an obligation to intervene in the affairs of Eastern European states 1972 = Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT) 1979 = SALT II Nuclear and foreign policy détente SOVIET REFORMS 1980s = increasingly combative rhetoric Ronald Reagan’s role Soviet Union was an “evil empire” 1983 = Strategic Defense Initiative (“Star Wars”) Reagan Doctrine = not just containment, but actively working to subvert leftist governments Kirkpatrick Principle = right-wing dictators are always preferable to left-wing elected governments Iran-Contra Affair Spent enormous amounts of money on defense “Mr. Gorbachev – tear down this wall!” SOVIET REFORMS Mikhail Gorbachev’s role Policy of “glasnost” = emphasis on transparency in government Policy of “perestroika” = wanted to restructure the economy, allow some liberalization “democratization of our society at all levels” Rejected “Brezhnev Doctrine” A FREE EASTERN EUROPE? Poland’s Solidarity Movement Solidarity = trade union led by Lech Walesa 1980 = massive, nation-wide strike; demanded economic and political reform 1981 = Solidarity outlawed; Walesa imprisoned 1989 = Polish Communist Party allowed semi-free elections Solidarity won big; Walesa became President of Poland A FREE EASTERN EUROPE? The “Velvet Revolutions” September 1989 = Hungary opens border with Austria November-December 1989 = Czechoslovakia sheds its Communist government December 1989 = Romanians revolt against Ceausescu GERMAN (RE)UNIFICATION By 1989, things are clearly going downhill 9 November 1989 = deconstruction begins on Berlin Wall March 1990 = first free elections in East Germany Big win for the Christian Democratic Union 3 October 1990 = Germany is reunified March 1991 = is granted full sovereignty THE SOVIET UNION IMPLODES 1988 = new “Congress of People’s Deputies” March 1989 = semi-free elections; over 300 independents elected Gorbachev works to control media, but backfires June 1991 = Boris Yeltsin elected President of the Russian soviet; big critic of perestroika August 1991 = coup attempt on Gorbachev Estonia and Latvia declare independence Coup attempt condemned by Yeltsin Gorbachev released after two days, bans Communist Party THE SOVIET UNION IMPLODES September 1991 = Gorbachev gives power to an emergency State Council 12 December 1991 = Russia, Ukraine, Belarus declare independence 21 December = everyone else declares independence 25 December = Gorbachev resigns December 1993 = Yeltsin’s new Russia adopts a constitution 1996 = Yeltsin easily wins re-election POST-COLD WAR ETHNIC VIOLENCE - CHECHNYA 1991 = Chechnya wants independence from Russia POST-COLD WAR ETHNIC VIOLENCE - CHECHNYA 1991 = Chechnya wants independence from Russia December 1994 = Russia invades Chechnya 1996 = Russia signs cease fire 1999 = terrorists bomb Russian apartment buildings October 1999 = Russia invades Chechnya again April 2009 = Russia pulls out of Chechnya August 2009 = Chechens call for an end to terrorism POST-COLD WAR ETHNIC VIOLENCE - YUGOSLAVIA Yugoslavia = Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Macedonia, Montenegro, Slovenia POST-COLD WAR ETHNIC VIOLENCE - YUGOSLAVIA Yugoslavia = Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Macedonia, Montenegro, Slovenia 1990 = Slovenians & Croats walk out of Parliament June 1991 = Slovenia and Croatia secede from Yugoslavia 1991 = Serbia invades Bosnia & Herzegovina Josip Tito’s death in 1980 1992 = war breaks out between Serbs and the Croats/Bosnian Muslims April 1992 = Yugoslavia dissolves into a two-state nation (Serbia and Montenegro) 1995 = NATO bombs Serbian militants; Dayton Peace Accords ends war 2006 = Montenegro ends union with Serbia POST-COLD WAR ETHNIC VIOLENCE - KOSOVO POST-COLD WAR ETHNIC VIOLENCE - KOSOVO Serbs wanted to expel Albanians from Kosovo January 1999 = Serbs massacre Kosovo civilians; spark international outrage March-June 1999 = NATO bombs Yugoslavia United Nations prosecutes some Serbian officers for “crimes against humanity” Slobodan Milosevic = former President of Yugoslavia 2008 = Kosovo declared independence July 2011 = border clashes between Kosovo and Serbia
