End of the Cold War

-May; Hungary

-State funeral to rebury Nagy - 200 000 Hungarians attend

 HUNGARIANS begin dismantling of barbed wire fence between Hungary and non-communist Austria - 

September : Hungary becomes independen

t1990 –– Com party renames as ‘socialist party’, approves reforms and changed policies, allowed free elections

June – POLAND – free democratic elections via solidarity held for first time since 1945. Solidarity won a massive victory- 99% of seats-  and Lech Walesa became leader of a non-communist Poland - first non-com leader in E Europe since WW2. The Soviet Union stood back, and did nothing to stop it.

June : Poland becomes independent

Sept – east germans in hungary in czechslovakia – refuse to go home – escape through Austria to west germany

Oct – enormous demonstrations in East Gemran cities during Gorbachev’s state visit in which the people demanded 'glasnost' and 'perestroika' in their own country. 

 Gorbachev told Erich Honecker, the East German dictator, that he must reform his country, and under no circumstances would the Soviet Union help to keep his government in power.

 Honecker ignores and instead orders troops to fire on demonstrators –they refuse; mutiny; – loss of control and power -  beginning of the end of communism in East Germany.

Nov – East Germans march to checkpoints at Berlin Wall. Further mutiny – guards throw down weapons and join crowds - collapse of Berlin Wall in Nov 1989 – symbol of division of germany and superpowers via ideologies =

East German government announced that East Germans could visit West Germany.

1991 – East and West Berlin reunited; East and West Germany became single country

 -Gorbachev even allowed Germany to become part of NATO

Nov – BULGARIA - anti-com demonstrations - Com leader resigns - free elections held in 1990

CZECHSLOVAKIA – Czech gov opens borders with west - formation with other parties – Dubcek as Chairman of new national assembly and dissident and playwright havel President-  free elections held it 1990

Dec – ROMANIA – short bloody revolution – ends with execution of communist dictator Ceausescu on Christmas Day

Dec 1989- Bush and Gorbachev annouced the cold war was over 

March 1990 – LATIVIA leads Baltic republics in declaring independence from Soviet Union; Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia

June 1991 - Yugoslavia declares independance

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