The Collapse of the Eastern Bloc, 1989-1990 (Edexcel GCSE History)

What Caused the Collapse of the Eastern Bloc? - Timeline & Summary

The end of Communism in Hungary

• The first Eastern Bloc country to break away from the Soviet Union was Hungary

• Change in the communist government of Hungary began in 1988

  • The repressive János Kádár retired on 22nd May 1988

  • In 1988, the government introduced a 'democracy package' 

    • The package legalised trade unions, reduced censorship and gave Hungarians the freedom to vote and assemble

  • The government allowed a ceremony on the 31st anniversary of the assassination of Imre Nagy

    • The Hungarian government admitted that the Soviet Union illegally executed Nagy 

    • Hungarians held a public funeral for Nagy

    • Over 100,000 people attended the ceremony

• Significantly, the government removed the electrified fence between Hungary and Austria in May 1988

  • The open border allowed Hungarians to access Austria for Western goods

  • The Soviet Union did not react to the opening of the Hungarian-Austrian border

    • The lack of response from the Soviet government encouraged more countries to pursue reform

• In October 1989, the Hungarian government agreed to hold multi-party elections

  • The elections took place in May 1990

  • The Hungarian Socialist Party, the former Communist Party, won only 33 seats

Solidarity and Poland

• In 1980, Lech Wałęsa created an independent trade union in Poland called Solidarity

  • Solidarity caused problems for the communist government in Poland

    • The leader of Poland, Wojciech Jaruzelski, made Solidarity illegal and arrested its leaders on 13th December 1981

    • Due to civil unrest, the Communist Party placed Poland under martial law

• Solidarity grew in strength through the 1980s

  • Solidarity became an underground organisation

• The group disrupted the Polish government

  • It was very organised 

  • It had support from workers across a range of industries

    • Roughly 80% of the workers were members of Solidarity

  • It never used violence. Instead, Solidarity organised widespread strikes

• By April 1989, the government recognised the need to work with Solidarity

  • The government legalised Solidarity

  • Both Solidarity and the Communist Party agreed to free elections

• In the elections of June 1989, Solidarity won a landslide victory

  • Solidarity gained 99 out of the 100 seats of the Polish Senate

The 'Velvet Revolution' of Czechoslovakia

• Reforms in Hungary impacted the Czechoslovakian government

  • Czechoslovakians and East Germans were escaping to the West through the open border between Hungary and Austria

  • To prevent too many people from leaving, East Germany closed their border with Czechoslovakia in October 1989

• Protests caused the overthrow of the communist government, which is known as the 'Velvet Revolution'

  • On 17th November, the government violently suppressed a peaceful student protest

    • By 20th November, there were 500,000 protestors in Prague

  • On 10th December, President Gustáv Husák resigned

    • The anti-communist Václav Havel became leader of Czechoslovakia on 29th December 1989

December 1989-90: The end of Communism in Eastern Europe

• From December 1989 to December 1990, countries in Eastern Europe removed their communist governments

Romania

• After Husák's resignation, Romanian president Ceaușescu was the last repressive communist leader in Eastern Europe

• On 21st December 1989, protests against the communist government began in Romania

  • The government had lost the support of the army by 22nd December

• On Christmas Day 1989, Ceaușescu and his family were executed

  • An interim government took control and announced free elections in April 1990

Bulgaria

• After the fall of the Berlin Wall on 10th November 1989, Petar Mladenov became the leader of Bulgaria

  • Mladenov repealed the freedom of speech and assembly

    • On 17th November, the communist government was facing mass protests

  • Mladenov resigned live on national television on 11th December 1989

    • Mladenov promised multi-party elections in 1990

Yugoslavia

• The Yugoslavian leader Tito died in 1980

  • His death resulted in more freedom for the different nationalities within Yugoslavia

    • The government allowed Slovenia to introduce reforms 

• By the late 1980s, Yugoslavia experienced an increased pressure to reform

  •  By early 1989, numerous anti-communist political parties appeared

• In 1990, Slovenia voted to break away from Yugoslavia

  • Between June 1991 and April 1992, Yugoslavia split into seven separate states. These were:

    • Serbia

    • Croatia

    • Bosnia and Herzegovina

    • Macedonia

    • Slovenia

    • Montenegro

    • Kosovo

The sequence of the end of communism in Eastern Europe

An illustration showing the order in which the Eastern Bloc collapsed

The end of the Warsaw Pact

• The collapse of the Eastern Bloc resulted in the end of the Warsaw Pact

  • The Soviet Union no longer had influence over Eastern Europe. By early 1990, the Soviet Union had to stop its military cooperation with Eastern Europe

    • The Soviet Union ended the Warsaw Pact in July 1991

• The end of the Warsaw Pact had a significant impact on Cold War tensions

  • There no longer existed two rival military alliances

    • By 1991, the Soviet Union did not pose a significant military threat to the USA or Europe

  • It increased collaboration between East and West