Eastern Europe Pulls Away

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Eastern Europe Pulls Away

Causes

  • Gorbachev decided to abandon the Brezhnev Doctrine, he stated that the USSR would no longer use force to uphold communism in its satellite states, and in 1988, he announced the withdrawal of Soviet troops, tanks and aircraft from Eastern Europe
  • Gorbachev's 'New Thinking' Policies
  • May 1989, Hungary opened its border with non-communist Austria.
  • Between August and September 1989, thousands left East Germany for West Germany
  • October 1989- there were mass protests against the communist regime
  • Free elections were held in Poland in 1989
  • October 1990- communist East Germany and democratic West Germany rejoined to form a single state again

Effects

  • The USSR lost control of its satellite states, as it was fear of Soviet military intervention that had kept opposition movements under control within the USSR's satellite states.  So without it, they had a chance to act
  • Encouraged reformist movements within Eastern Europe.  Also caused splits in the Soviet Communist Party, making control of Eastern European countries from Moscow more difficult
  • East Germans could travel through Hungary to Austria, then into West Germany
  • The East German government was unable to control the situation and received no help from the USSR
  • The East German government finally agreed to open the border between East and West Berlin in November 1989.  Free elections were promised and the wall was torn down.  The fall of the Berlin wall showed that the relationship between East and West was transforming, and that the USSR was losing its grip over communist territory.
  • In 1990, a new non-communist government came to power and the USSR didn't intervene.  In December 1989, communist governments collapsed in Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria and Romania and Hungary's Communist Party suffered a large defeat in free elections in March 1990
  • For many people, this was a powerful symbol that the communist experiment was over

Overall summary

Gorbachev's 'New Thinking' policies intended to modernise communism, but it actually sparked its decline

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