Mikhail Gorbachev

Gorbachev was born in 1931, studied law at Moscow University in the 1950s, became a persuasive speaker. Worked as a local Communist Party official. By 1978 he was member of he central Committee of he party in charge of agriculture. In 1980 he joined the Poliburo. In 1985 he became leader of the USSR. In 1990 he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

Gorbachev change eastern Europe in 1985 when he became leader of he USSR. People was thanked because they were free after 45 years of suppression and authoritarian rule under Communism. Europeans, from children to adults, said he made fairy tales come true. Mostly, people admire him because he want peace in Eastern Europe, so not only Soviets were thankful, also Europeans, Americans and Africans who want peace and not another war.

When he became leader of the USSR it was in crisis. However, Gorbachev was different, he want to make Soviets work and stop spending money on the arms race. He granted people total freedom to practise their faith, a work and a home. He removed the Berlin Wall. He destroy a big part of nuclear weapons. He got an idea of openness and restructuring eastern Europe, he allowed market forces to be introduced into the Soviet economy. He gave a lot of speeches talking about international trust and cooperation as the way forward for the USSR. He introduced a policy where neither USA nor the Soviet Union were able to force its will on others. 

Gorbachev and Reagan(leader of US) singing the policy

Berlin Wall

Berlin was an important battleground of the Cold War. In 1961 it was an objective to maintain control of east European satellites. The Hungarian opposition leave the message that it was impossible to fight the Communists. This make people think that the only way of escaping was to leave altogether. The Standard living in eastern Europe fell further behind the West, that attract people to live in he West.
This contrast was very seen in Berlin, people describe west Berlin as an island of freedom in a Communist sea, they had shop full of goods, freedom, wealth and variety.

East Supermarket vs West Supermarket

In the 1950s East Germans were still able to trave into West Berlin, thousands leave and never come back. The majority that were leaving were highly skilled workers, the communists couldn´t let those leave. In 1961 Kenedy was he new USA President, Khrushchev thought that Kennedy would withdraw his troops from Berlin but he refused.
So, Sunday 13 August 1961, East German soldiers erected a barbed-wire along he fronier between East and West Berlin. This ended people crossing from East to West. It was replaced by a concrete wall. Some families were divided, some were unable to go to work or school. People trying to cross were shoot. Soviets said that they build the wall because Germans use East Berlin as a center of subversive activity and espionage centers. Kennedy replied to this "There are some who say, in Europe and elsewhere, we can work with he Communis. Let them come to Berlin"

The berlin wall created a crisis in all the world, Allies were able to cross to East Berlin since 1945, in October 1961 US troops tried to cross and Soviet tanks appeared, they face fully armed for 18 hours and then both retired. Khrushchev order Berlin lider to avoid any tension. The wall is bad but is better than a war.

Solidarity

In july 1980, the polish government was facing an economic crisis. Ordinary people faced extreme poverty. Strikes spread almost at once across the country. 

On August 1980, workers at the Lenin Shipyard went on strike, angry at the recently announced price rises and the dismissal of several workers who had complained about poor conditions. Strikers were led by Lech Walesa, they demanded the right to form a trade union.  On 31 August an agreement was signed meeting some of the demands. Crucially it gave workers the right to form unions independent from government control. Two weeks later a nationwide independent trade union called Solidarity was established. On 13 December 1981 the government declared a state of war and suspended Solidarity.

Czechoslovakia

Czechoslovakia posed a similar challenge as the one in Hungary 1956. Khrushchev was ousted and the new leader was: Leonid Brezhnev.

Why was there opposition in Czechoslovakia? 

People realized the magnitude of the restrictions and prohibitions and did not feel comfortable. In 1967, Alexander Dubcek became leader of the Czechs Communist Party after the Stalinists previous leader went. 

Dubcek proposed a policy of “socialism with a human face”. He believed Communism didn’t have to be as tight as before: 

• Less censorship
• More freedom of speech
• Reduction in the activities of the secret police
• He had NO plans to remove its membership from the Warsaw Pact
• Czechs opposition was led by intellectuals who assured Communists had failed to lead the country forward. As censorship was eased, opponents were able to launch attacks towards the government, its corruption and uselessness. Ministers were “grilled” on live TV and radios. 

This period became known as the Prague spring as new ideas flourish everywhere.  

Moreover, even more radical ideas went on: allowing another political party, the Social Democratic Party, as a rival of the Communist Party. 

How did the Soviet Union response? 

Czechoslovakia was one of the most important countries in the Warsaw Pact. It was centrally placed and got the strongest industry.

Soviets were worried that the new ideas in Czechoslovakia might spread to other Communist countries.  Brezhnev received demands of the East German leader: Walter Ulbricht and the Polish leader: Gomulka to solve the affair.

Methods: 

• Slow Dubcek down
• Soviet, Polish and East German troops performed at the Czechs border
• Impose economic sanctions (not done, worries about Czechoslovakia asking the West for aid).

July: USSR had a summit conference with the Czechs. Dubcek agreed not to allow another Party in Czechoslovakia (No Social Democratic Party). He insisted in keeping its reforms...

August: A conference between the members of the Warsaw Pact was held, countries called on Czechoslovakia  to maintain political stability. 

Albania resigned from the Warsaw Pact because it thought that the Soviet Union itself had become too liberal! (Brezhnev didn’t consider it as an important country though)

Finally: 20 August 1968, Soviet tanks went into Czechoslovakia

Little violent resistance. Dubcek was removed from power. Its policy of socialism with a human face was unacceptable for other Communist countries. 

Dubcek always expressed its loyalty to Communism and the Warsaw Pact though Brezhnev was worried that the new ideas coming out of Czechoslovakia spread. Leaders fear that their own people would demand the same freedom Dubcek allowed. 

Dubcek was not executed, but was downgraded. He was sent to be Turkey’s Ambassador but then he was expelled from the Communist Party.  

Alexander Dubcek

Czechoslovakia : a country that had been pro-Soviet was now resentful of the Soviet connection.

Hungary 1956

In 1956 Khrushchev was put to the test because of he Hungarians opposition, this was mainly because they lost their freedom of speech, they lived in fair of the secret police, they resented the presence of thousands of Soviet troops and some areas of Hungary had Russian sings, schools, etc. And they had to paid to soviet forces for being in Hungary. All these regulations were set by their leader Mátyás Rákosi.
People in Hungary were mad because the government lied at them, in 1953 people already noticed that living standards were declining, but the state lied a them saying they were never been so good. The reality was that they were spending their money in armaments.

In June 1956 a group of the Communist Party opposed Rákosi. This flag represent them:

At first, Rákosi wanted to arrest them in Moscow, but Moscow would not back him. After this, Rákosi was obliged to retire and the new leader, Erno Gero, was no more acceptable to the Hungarian people. 

In October 23, students give a huge demonstration, when Stalin was pulled down, and the USSR allowed a new government to be formed under Imre Nagy. Soviets troops stationed in Hungary. 

Nagy`s government make plans of his new government, free elections, impartial courts, restore farmland to private ownerships, leave Warsaw Pact and declare Hungary a neutral in the Cold War.

Khrushchev was reay to accept some of these reforms, except from Hungary leaving the Warsaw Pact. So Khrushchev refused all the reforms and in November thousands of Soviet troops move into Hungary. Hungarians fight for two weeks, 3000 Hungarians and 8000 Russian were killed apart from the 200000 Hungarians that cross the border to escape Soviet army. Imre Nagy was executed.

People in Hungary was impacted because of children who were carrying arms, from 11 to 15 years. Some other people report that they have seen how Hungarians disarmed soldiers and used their arms. However there were not enough arms and they were crushed in two weeks. Finally 35000 anti-Communist were arrested and 300 executed, however some reforms that Hungarians wanted were introduced, except the central issue, leave the Warsaw Pact.

Warsaw Pact

The Warsaw Pact:

One aspect of Stalin’s policy didn't change, his aim in eastern Europe was to create a buffer against attack from the West. Nikita continued with this policy and therefore, created this pact. 

It was a military alliance similar to the NATO, members would defend each other if one was attacked. It included all Communist countries except Yugoslavia (however it was dominated by the Soviet Union)

Nikita Khrushchev

Nikita Khrushchev was born 1894, son of coal miner, fought in the Red Army during the Civil War. Worked for the communist Party in Moscow. In 1949 run Soviet agriculture. In 1955 he succeed Stalin, in 1964 was forced into retirment and in 1971 he died.

Stalin died in 1953, there were a lot of questions of who would succeed Stalin. In 1955 Nikita khrushchev emerged, he was very different from Stalin, he ended the feuds with China and Yugoslavia. He talked of peaceful co-existance with the west. He made plans to reduce expenditure on arms. He attended the first post war summit between the USSR, the USA, France and Britian in July 1955.  Wanted to improve living standars. He closed down Cominform, he gave much independence to the Eastern Europe countries.

This cartoon represents how Khrushchev was drilling trough the cold war, published in 1959.

In 1956 Khrushchev made attacks on Stalin, he denounced him as a wicked tryant enemy of people and kept all power to him self. So he made "De-Stalinisation" in Rusia; He realased more political prisoners, he closed down Cominform as part of his policy of reconcilation with Yugoslavia, he invited Marshal Tito to Moscow and he dismissed Stalin`s minister, Molotov.