Notes for Collapse of USSR in Central & Eastern Europe - IB | RevisionDojo
Collapse of USSR in Central & Eastern Europe Notes
The formal dissolution of the Soviet Union occurred on December 26, 1991. This event, which marked the official end of the USSR after 74 years, resulted in the independence of 15 Soviet republics.
Overview
Between 1989 and 1991, communist rule across Central and Eastern Europe unraveled.
Reform in the USSR removed the fear of a Soviet crackdown.
Mikhail Gorbachev's glasnost (openness)
Perestroika (restructuring).
End of the Brezhnev Doctrine
Economic crisis, growing national movements, and rising street protests pushed governments to negotiate, resign, or collapse.
By late 1989, Poland, Hungary, East Germany, Czechoslovakia, and Bulgaria had changed course
Romania fell violently in December.
In 1990–91, the Warsaw Pact dissolved, Germany reunified, and by December 1991 the USSR itself broke apart.
Causes
Soviet reform and restraint
Gorbachev’s glasnost and perestroika exposed failures and encouraged debate
The shift to a “Sinatra Doctrine” (countries free to choose their path) signaled no more Soviet tanks to save local regimes.
Chronic economic failure
Shortages, debt, and stagnation undermined legitimacy.
People saw Western prosperity on TV and compared it with empty shops at home.
National and civic mobilization
Trade unions (Solidarity in Poland), churches, student groups, and civic forums organized legal and street opposition
National movements (e.g., Baltic states) demanded sovereignty.
Information and example effects
Each breakthrough emboldened the next.
The Polish Round Table elections (June 1989) encouraged Hungary’s border opening and reform
Hungary’s moves fueled East German protests
East German change accelerated the Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia.
Loss of coercive unity
Security forces and party elites split or stood aside in key moments (e.g., Leipzig’s Monday demonstrations in the GDR), making repression less likely or ineffective.
International context
The Helsinki Accords (1975) and human-rights language gave dissidents useful tools
Western media and diplomacy sustained pressure without direct intervention.
Developments
Poland (1989)
Strikes led to Round Table Talks
Semi-free elections in June brought a non-communist PM
Hungary (1989)
The party rebranded, opened the Austrian border (May–Sept)
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What years mark the collapse of communist rule in Central and Eastern Europe?
