The Cold War resulted from many factors: most importantly the tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union; as Stalin said there was just a basic incompatibility between Soviet Communism and western democracy. The atomic bomb was another factor of the Cold War, which scared the Soviets and pushed them to militarize and to start production of their own nuclear weapons, so that they would not be weaker that the Americans. As the differences between this two countries augmented, the division of Europe became more definite. It was Churchill who termed the "Iron Curtain" that separated Europe and rooted the two super powers against each other. "Given the experience of World War Two itself, this division of Europe was perhaps inevitable. Both sides wanted their values and economic and political systems to prevail in areas which their soldiers had helped to liberate. If both sides had accepted these new spheres of influence, a cold war might never have occurred. But the nations of western Europe and the United States still had Hitler on their minds and they soon began to see Stalin as a similar threat" (The Origins of the Cold War).
The Cold War represented hostile conditions between the West and the East as they battled against different idealogoies. The West tended to overrate Soviet power and hostility which created hysteria. NATO was set up as a defense gesture by the Western Powers based on the fear of Russian aggression. In the States, President Truman initiated a document to stop the spread of Communism, thus starting the U.S. policy of containment.
Stalin used his influence to set up Communist governments in Eastern Europe as a way of protecting his borders. There actually exists here two different ideas, one of protection, thus the idea of buffer states, and the idea of the spread of Communism, thus satellite states. Stalin used these European countries to set up puppet-like regimes by which he could use their resources for the benefit of the Soviet Union. Three factors made the extension of Stalinism to Eastern Europe possible. The international power structure determined after the war left eastern and central European countries open to direct pressure from the Soviet Union. The idealogical factor of Communism stated that there could be no conflict of interest between the Communist states and the Soviet Union which was their center and their model. The efficiency of the Soviet Union's secret police also allowed Stalin to establish his absolute personal dictatorship. However, police and brutality methods could only superficially resolve problems in these satellite countries. (Fejto 252) The 'Stalinist' System had four main characteristics: the supremacy of a single party over the state, the personalization of power - each bloc member had a "little Stalin" at its head, the predominance of the police over all other sections of the party and state organizations, and the local government which was infiltrated by members of the ultra-secret police organization whose job was to enforce the Soviet party's and the government leadership's control over the party and state. (Fejto 341) The factors that caused the change in these countries were the tendency of the governments to be less repressive, the decline of monolithism (the Stalinist system), the workers' party or party of managers, and the nationalization of the parties (Fejto 346).
In May 1955, the Warsaw Pact was set up. This treaty was a general political agreement and military pact for the Soviet Union and all the satellites. The Soviet Union didn't desire to have countries that modelled it, what the Soviet Union wanted was satellite countries that would help and benefit the "mother land." Thus Stalin installed puppet-like governments in the People's Democracies to do his bidding and to help out Russia. Yugoslavia's method of trying to follow the Soviet model while doing things their own way, and not giving everything to the Soviet Union, was thus not acceptable to Stalin who had other visions. It was almost a paradoxical situation: Yugoslavia tried to install the Soviet Model before it was imposed on them and they tried to keep the West from intefering with Communism; but just when the Soviet model was being forced on the other Eastern European countries, Yugoslavia was expelled and had to find its own internal model.
Stalin's successors introduced a new principle in their dealing with the satellites: a policy of mutual respect and non-intervention in the internal affairs. This policy of non-intervantion led countries to believe that they were free to find their own ways to communism. In Febuary of 1956, Khrushchev made a speech denouncing Stalin, stating the crimes Stalin had committed over the years, and giving numerous examples of the terror that he induced. Khrushchev condemned Stalin's crimes, but a short while later, he was sending tanks to crush the Hungarian revolution. The policy of non-intervention caused different problems in the bloc. It allowed variations in the Bloc countries, which in turn made these countries wish for more freedom and nationalisme.
Khrushchev's policies allowed Bloc members to pursue their own roads to socialism. He sought to use the Warsaw Pact to promote integration and standardization throughout Eastern Europe. Khrushchev's problem though, was that he was incapable of creating a reasonable balance between the acceptable level of national diveristy in the satellites and the Communist notion of unity in the bloc. During the late 50's and 60's, there was a internal debate concerning the coservation of Communism as it was and the dreams for national and social identity of individual countries. The People's Democracies were of a great diversity of cultures and identities and the Stalinist Communist system did not let these differences manifest themselves. As student unrest spread throughout the 60's, Eastern European countries were experiencing deteriorating economies, sluggish growth, increasing debts, increasing interest rates and inflation. People were discontent because of the bleak outlook of the future and their incapability of changing things. In Poland, students wanted greater freedom and national autonomy. But during their demonstrations, they were beaten and arrested. In Czechoslovakia, students and intellectual's reforms were well-seen by Dubcek, but inacceptable to Moscow.
In 1985, Gorbachev took over control of the Soviet Union. His two slogans were perestoika (restructuring) and glasnost (openness). As Gorbachev introduced the Soviet Union to the modern world of democracy and the free market, the Eastern European people were suddenly discovering that they too, could find they own paths to the end of communism. "Outside the Soviet Union, perestroika and glasnost spread among people who were resentful of Soviet domnation and worried about economic collapse. In 1989 and 1990, these people showed their dislike of communist leaders and demanded what were clearly democratic reforms. Communist leaders across Eastern Europe either resigned their office or agreed to reform (1989: The Walls Came Tumbling Down).
For most of its history, Poland has been continuously invaded and partioned by Germans and Russians. Its borders are continously being changed as a result. These events have led to a great distrust of Germans and Russia. It was this distrust that caused Poland to resent the Stalinist System of Communism that was placed on them after the war. The Polish Communist Party was split between Stalinists and partisans, led by Gomulka, who was a Marxist, but like many Poles, very distrustful of the Soviet Union. In 1948, Stalin began the process of setting up his satellites throughout Eastern Europe. Gomulka was opposed to the setup of a 'people's democracy' that Stalin was opposing on Poland. As a result he was accused of Titoism and arrested in 1951 to be replaced by Bierut.
The Communist Party in Poland was weak, and believed if they deviated from the Soviet's plans, that they would be destroyed. After all, it was the Soviet Union who installed, protected and directed the Party leaders. This weakness however, helped the party as well: they were able to avoid Soviet intervention and to protect their disgraced leaders (whereas in many other bloc countries, these leaders were tried and executed.) In 1954, Gomulka was released from prison, and with his influence, an opposition to the Stalinist system was established. After Khrushchev's speech of Stalin's crimes, there was chaos in the Polish Party. Bierut died, and there was speculation of suicide. In June of 1956, there was a demonstation demanding "bread and freedom." The Polish government admitted that the demonstrators has justifiable grievances that the party would try to satisfy. Thus this was the start of Poland breaking out of the Soviet model: they were creating their version of national communism.
There were several reasons for the Polish revolt of June. After Khrushchev's speech, there was a process of de-Stalinization and a distrust of the secret police. The intelligentsia began discussion clubs and started debating the need for agricultural collectivization and the benefits of setting up worker's councils. There was much economic discontent, because the Soviet model wasn't working in Poland, and the Polish people also saw the benefits that Yugoslavia was enjoying on their personal path to Communism. As the situation progressed, the intellectuals and the workers banded together to create a large opposition force to the imposed Soviet system of Communism. The government split as well, for there were the die-hard Stalinists who didn't want change, and there were the reformists who understood the demands of the Polish people.
Throughout that summer of 56, there was continuing crisis in the government, and in October, Gomulka was restored to power. The reformists were content, because Gomulka understood their positions, but he still had a link with the Soviet Union. His restoration however, occured without Soviet approval, and on the 19th, Khrushchev came to Warsaw enraged. However, Gomulka assured him that Poland would remain Communist and a loyal member of the Warsaw Pact. Hence, Poland avoided direct Soviet intervention, and the people felt as if they had recovered independence. There was several reasons that Poland succeeded in avoiding Soviet intervention. Firstly, Gomulka was able to appease Russia by assuring him of their Communist intentions. The Communist Party in Poland was not threatened, the movement was nationalist; the reformers were willing to stay communist, they just wanted certain aspects to change to better suit their situation. Hence with these reforms, Poland was able to renew its system of private agriculture and the Catholic Church was allowed its position in the country as well.
The Hungarian situation showed the Poles that their independence was very limited by the Soviets. Gomulka soon became unpopular, as he wasn't really changing the people's situation as they hoped he would. In 1967-1968, the nationalist group launched a violent anti-intellectual, anti-Semitic campaign to overthrow Gomulka, and he launched a counter anti-Semitic attack, thus driving most of the Jews out of Poland. Throughout this period, the Polish economy was continuing to deteriorate, and none of Gomulka's reforms changed the situation. In December of 1970 shipyard demonstration led to riots, and Gomulka ordered riots to be suppressed by force. On a Central Committee Meeting on the 20th, Gomulka was dismissed and replaced by Gierek, a leader of a Communist faction who wanted to modernize the economy. In January, there were more stikes and Gierek and Jaruzelski talked them into ending them. The Polish working class learned that they held power over their weak government.
Gierek rushed to industrialize the country, and borrowed lots of money to put into the economy. However, his plans weren't very well planned and by 1976 the economy was again in deep trouble. During this economic crisis, the workers who striked were fired. At this time, the Commitee for the Defense of Worker's Rights (KOR) was formed by Walesa, Kuron and Michnik. After another economic crisis in 1980, Walesa ordered yet another shipyard strike which led the government to secede to the demand to allow free trade unions, and from there Solidarity was formed. Solidarity quickly evolved from a trade union to a political movement.
The government was now faced with the fear that reforms could sweep away the regime. However, Poland still deeply feared Soviet invasion. As Solidarity reforms and demands escalated, Jaruzelski soon rose as secretary general, prime minister and minister of defense. On December 12, 1981 he imposed a "state of war" and suppressed Solidarity and arrested 10,000 people, saying that the trade union had brought their country to a state of anarchy.
From 1981 to 1989, Jaruzelski's government remained in power through the support of the Soviet Union, for people were still afraid of Soviet intervention. He introduced several reform programs to try to restore the bad economy. In 1982, Walesa and others were released from prison. Jaruzelski had managed to restore order, but he failed to get the Polish people to realize the harsh economic facts. As the end of the 80's approached, Jaruzelski realized that the not only was the economic situation continually getting worse, but that he couldn't really count on the Soviet Union for protection any longer.
In August of 88, Jaruzelski invited Walesa and other Solidarity leaders to "round table" meetings to consider possible reforms. Solidarity demanded legalization. In Febuary of 1989, the official round table discussions began, and the government was basically forced to meet the opposition's requests. The Round Table agreement was finished on April 5. Solidarity was legalized, an independent students association was created, partially free parliamentary elections were set up, free elections were planned for 1994, the Communists's party "leading role" was abandoned and the presidency was to be established according to the French model.
The Poles were still suspicious of the government's concessions, but on June 4, 1989 the first round of elections were held and Solidarity experienced an amazing landslide. "Three things happened at once: the communists lost an election; Solidarity won; the communists acknowledged that Solidarity won. (...) First, and above all, the communists lost. They did not lose power. They still had the army, the police , the Party apparatus and the nomenklatura . By they had lost the vote. (...) In other words, more than half of those who turned out to vote took the trouble to cross out (...) the prime minister, the interior minister, and the defense minister, as well as other less prominent establishment figures. Secondly, Solidarity won not only against the Party, but also against many quite well-known, even distinguished counter-candidates. (...) The third thing that happened was, in its way, almost as remarkable. The Party told the truth. (Ash 29-31) The Communist Party was defeated and humiliated. The new parliament however, elected Jaruzelski as president, to ensure that the army, police and Moscow would remain satisfied with the changing situation. Solidarity faced many problems as it was rapidly being sucked into power; they had to quickly introduce economic reforms to make the transformation into a market economy.
"In just three months, Polish politics suddenly became normal instead
of 'normalized' (Ash 44). The disintegration of the party rapidly continued.
On January 28, 1990 the party voted itself out of existence "because of
the impossibility of the party regaining the public's confidence" (Brogan
73). The elections in May swept the communists out of their positions in
local governments, and then there was essentially nothing left of the Communist
party.
After World War II, the main Communist players in Hungary were Rajk, Kadar, Nagy and Rakosi. By the summer of 1948, the Communists were in control of everything and it was time, according to Stalin, to purge the Party, and thus Rajk was killed. In 1951, a second purge took place and Kadar was arrested, tortured and imprisoned. During this time in Hungary 40,000 people were tortured or executed. Rakosi was Eastern Europe's leading Stalinist and the system he had in Hungary was quite violent. However, when Stalin died, Rakosi's power began to fade as well. Later that year, Rakosi and Nagy were called to Moscow, where Rakosi was forced to resign and Nagy was to take over.
Nagy's governmental policy was to improve the standard of living. He started by giving the peasants their land back from the collective farms. His policies displeased Moscow and in 1955, Rakosi and Nagy were called back to Moscow; Nagy was expelled from the party and Rakosi was again placed in power. The Hungarian people were angry with the situation and blamed Rakosi. In July 1956, Rakosi was replaced by Gero (who was just as ruthless as Rakosi was) and Nagy demanded to be restored to the party. In October, the Central Committee restored his membership, and Nagy was set up as premier while Gero was first secretary.
On October 23, Hungarian students gathered to celebrate Polish victory and they felt that they should demand government reforms as well. Gero's response was too harsh and uncompromising and it caused the riots to turn into a revolution. The people were naive and believed that since the Soviets didn't interfere in Poland, that they too could call for reforms and get rid off Gero's harsh government and brutal use of his secret police. However, on October 24, 400 Soviet tanks were sent to Budapest, claiming they had been summoned by the Hungarian government. Moscow thought Gero was incapable of restoring order, and so Kader replaced him. Nagy was allowed to direct the government, while Kadar was the first secretary.
Nagy was put into a dire situation, he had to keep the Soviets and the remaining Hungarian Stalinists happy and he had to get control of the revolting nation. The party was split into several factions and the fighting within the party affected the revolution greatly: the situation was constantly changing as the opposition gained more and more power. By this point, the people were demanding that Hungary withdraw from the Warsaw Pact and that Communism be abandoned. Nagy was under immense pressure for revolutionary change, and all over Hungary party organizations and governments were collapsing: "Communism had been swept away in one sudden burst of energy and it was time to rebuild the country" (Brogan 130). Worker's councils were being set up, and these opposition groups started making demands to the government. To appease the public, Nagy abolished the secret police, and dismissed several communists from the government. A few days later, he would announce Hungary's plans to leave the Warsaw Pact.
Moscow decided to intervene at this point and on November 1, 3000 Soviet tanks started to surround Budapest. It was at this point that Hungary formally withdrew from the Warsaw Pact and Nagy tried to get help from the United Nations. However, the timing was all wrong, for the West was occupied with the Suez crisis. As this was the case, Khrushchev decided that he could do what he wanted and on the 4th the tanks entered Budapest. Kadar had switched to the Soviet's side, and the Soviets felt that they would be able to reinstall a proper puppet regime, with Kadar at the head. By that evening, Kadar was announcing that he'd be prime minister as well as party first secretary; the resistence was completely crushed. On the 22nd, Kadar tricked Nagy out of his refuge with promises of security, where he was arrested by Soviet troops. In the spring of 1958 Nagy and his colleagues were tried in secret, convicted and executed.
The Soviets had several excuses for their intervention in Hungary. They felt that there was the danger of a counter-revolution. They were afraid of what would happen if the Communist party was allowed to disintegrate, for Hungary was one of the important buffer states, and if the revolt spread, the whole Communist bloc could be threatened. The Soviets also felt that they had little control in the country, the regime's police weren't under their control and the Worker's Councils were a threat to Communism (Mainwaing). The Hungarian Revolution was a violent one that scared the other Eastern European countries into submission. This manoeuvre allowed the Soviets to again rule by terror throughout the bloc as Stalin had done.
Kadar ruled by terror for the first few years, forcing the people into submission and obedience. Then his policies relaxed: press censorship was loosened and economic policy was relaxed to improve the standard of living. His reforms brought prosperity to the country although they were quite in dept. The people were allowed a substantal amount of freedom without infringing on the party or loyalty to Moscow. The people no longer believed in Communism though; everyone except Kadar and his immediate colleagues thought Marxism was a failure. The one factor that kept the people from reacting was fear of another Soviet intervention. "The party leader's loss of faith in Communism was so complete that when their power was challenged, and the Soviet Union abandoned them, they gave up without a struggle" (Brogan 139).
During 1988-1889, the Hungarians started demanding greater liberties. In May of 1988 a party conference swept away all the old leadership and the party split between the moderate reformers and the radicals. In the spring of that year, the Committee for Historical Justice was established and that year they had a small service at Nagy's grave which was broken up by the police. However, the Party soon realized that in order to keep their credibilty they would have to re-evaluate what had taken place to Nagy in 1956. The government thus announced that Nagy could have a decent reburial, and thus the Committee of Historical Justice began to make plans for a reburial of Nagy. On June 16, 1989, in Heroes' Square, Nagy's ruburial took place.
At the funeral, many speeches were made. Viktor Orban, a Young Democrat
received great applause when he said: "If we can trust our souls and strength,
we can put an end to the Communist dictatorship; if we are determined enough
we can force the Party to submit itself to free elections; and if we do
not lost sight of the ideals of 1956, then we will be able to elect a government
that will start immediate negotiations for the swift withdrawal of Russian
troops" (Ash 51). At the time of the funeral, Hungary also followed Poland's
example with the "round table" discussions. On September 10, Hungary opened
its border with Austria and by the 19th the "round table" had agreed on
a schedule for reform, setting up of a fully free parliamentary election.
In October the party dissolved itself, reconsituting itself as the "Socialist
Party." On October 18th, the Hungarian consistution was changed to state:
"the Hungarian Republic is an independent, democratic state based on the
rule of law, in which the values of bourgeois democracy and democratic
socialism and equally recognized." In November free elections were set
up, and the presidential election was set up to follow the free general
election. Hunagary had thus managed the transition form Communism to a
democratic system peacefully and rapidly.
Before the World War, Czechoslovakia was a country that was always switching sides, they experienced sharp swings between being anti-Western or anti-German or anti-Russian. Often it was a matter of choosing the lesser of the two impending evils. Hence the Czechoslovakian people tended to lack a real sense of national identity. However before the war, Czechoslavakia was quite a Westernized country. After the 1946 elections in Czechoslovakia, communism was centered in the Czech lands while the Democratic party was in power in Slovakia. The Czechoslovakian population was educated, disciplined and ready to try the Socialist experiment, and intelligentia and workers alike were well represented in the Communist party. The Communist redistribution of power and resources benifited many people, and hence Communism was popular in the beginning.
After World War II, some of Czechoslovakian Communist leaders wanted to accept American aid, but Stalin told them to refuse. As Gottwald was extremely loyal to Stalin, they refused American aid. In Febuary of 1948, a Communist coup of the goverment took the government from the legal democratic regime, and the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia soon became a willing slave to the Soviet Union.
Eighteen months ater the coup, the Communist party started purging the members who they felt were not loyal Stalinists. It was the transformation of the republic into a complete replica of the Soviet system. Stalin was afraid of independence after the situation with Tito, and hence he demanded complete obedience from the satellites. These purgings of disobedieant factions led to show trials throughout the country. Convictions and executions were used as a way to install fear and to warn members what happened to disobediant members. Thus in this manner, the people were forced to accept Socialist realism, and they were to afraid to resist.
On Stalin's order, Slansky began these show trials in Prague. Many Communist officials were arrested, tortured and forced to confess to non-existent crimes. Many people were sentenced and executed as a way to purify the party by getting rid of anybody who was not compeltely loyal to Stalin. These trials were horrendous affairs, people were totured until they had no choice but to admit to crimes during these trials which were actually rehearsed. They served the purpose of installing complete fear in the people however. As a result, most of the Czechoslavakians became passive and apathetic.
Novotny was Party's first secretary and president of the republic during the fifties. The economic situation in the country was horrendous, but the people felt a revolt against the government would be hopeless. Novotny was extremely loyal to Moscow and signed a military alliance and five year trade treaty that placed Czechoslovakia in total dependence on the Soviet Union. The Czechoslovakians were prudent, and remained obedient until 1968. But beneath the surface, trouble was brewing: there was a steady decline in the legitimacy of the regime and underground discussions of the need for economic and political reforms.
During this time, there was two groups who were dissatisfied with the government, the intellectuals, who were unhappy with conformity and the Slovaks, who were treated with contempt by Novotny. The foundations of the government began to crumble away and Novotny was unable to deal with the impending crisis. By January of 68, Novotny was forced to resign as the Party's first secretary.
Dubcek, a Slovak leader, succeeded Novotny and introduced his plan of 'Communism with a human face.' At first, Dubcek moved cautiously, introducing mild reforms and repeatedly asserting that Czechoslavakia was to stay loyal to the Soviet Union and to the Warsaw Pact. In April, Dubcek introduced his Action Programme which called for sweeping reforms. Included in this programme was the right of the minority to maintain its views and to have legal guarantees of freedom of expression, an implementation and extension of economic reforms (including the set up of Worker's Councils), and a proposal for federalization. This programme allowed for a separation of the party and the government (Mainwaring). However throughout this, Dubcek continued to repeatedly assert the need for unity with the Soviet Union and the bloc and to assure Moscow that he was not tempted by the example of Tito. Dubcek said that his reforms were there to create a more democratic type of socialism while strengthening the Warsaw Treaty and Comecom and enhancing the influence of Czechoslavakia in making of common policies.
The Soviet Union felt that Dubcek's plans would weaken the Communist rule and undermine the bloc's military security and would loosen the unity of the Communist system. The Warsaw Pact allies were also against Dubcek's plan; the Czechoslavakians were demanding too much influence and the other Communist leaders felt that if they were allowed to continue in this manner, then all the bloc countries would expect the same, and this was entirely unacceptable. The government was caught in a hard situation, the people were pressing for more and more demands, and the Soviets were getting more and more wary of the reforms, and they were clearly afraid of having another country deflect as Yugoslavia had. Since Czechoslovakia was an important buffer state, it could not be allowed to deflect.
The Party under Dubcek abandoned press censorship and as the situation progressed during "Prague Spring", the reformers pushed Dubcek into accepting 'more and more reforms. The Warsaw Pact tried to get Dubcek under control, and he insured them of his loyalty to Socialism and alliance with Soviets. In August of 1968, the invasion of Czechoslovakia began, and on the 21st, Dubcek and his colleagues were arrested. He was forced to sign the "Moscow Protocol" approving the invasion, and he was returned to power to give the appearance of national independence.
The intervention of the Soviet Union was devastating to Czechoslavakians' attitutudes towards the Soviets. They experienced a wave of hostility and disillusionment. Both Dubcek and the people were eroded down until they gave up hope. Dubcek tried to preserve some of the reforms, but it was no use. In April of 1969, Dubcek was replaced by Husak, who started the policy of "consolidation" under the hopes to restore things to the way they were before the reforms of Dubcek. After this invasion, the Soviet Union made the Brezhnev Doctrine which stated that if a Communist government gets into trouble, other Communist states may come to the rescue. The presence of the Soviet troops in Czechoslovakia was a constant reminder of Moscow's hold on their country, and people knew they were "firmly and irrevocably sealed within the Eastern Communist Bloc" (Griffith 249).
Husak became president in 1975, as well as first secretary, and thus he established his personal monopoly of power. Then he began a purge of the party at all levels. His philosophy was that anybody who was not for him was against him and needed to be removed. Husak's government was completely subservient to the Soviet Union and the Czechoslovakian people were quite apathetic. Husak introduced the Central Committee Document entitled "The lessons Drawn from the Crisis Development" which endorsed the Soviet intervention and condemned Prague Spring as counter-revolutionary. Despite the image of Czechoslovakia as the perfect, obedient satellite, non Communists intellectuals under the influence of Vaclav Havel started Charter 77, which said that the government was infringing on their rights. This group was regarded as a political challenge to the regime and was thus repressed by Husak.
In 1987, Husak retired as party general secretary and Jakes replaced him. In August of 88, a small demonstation marking the anniversary of the invasion was repressed by the police. In 1989, when Poland voted out the Communist party, and Hungary reburied Nagy and prepared for free elections, the Czechoslovakia government remained strong. Their "revolution" would be quite rapid. As Timothy Ash said to Havel, "In Poland it took ten years, in Hungary ten months, in East Germany ten weeks, perhaps in Czechosloavakia it will take ten days! (78) The 23 days it took weren't far off.
On Novemeber 17, 1989 a demonstration of 25,000 students took place
in Prague to celebrate the fall of the Berlin Wall. Over the next few days
the demonstrations got larger and larger and on the 20th, 200,000 demonstrators
demanded the government's resignation. The headquarters for the opposition
was in the Magic Lantern theatre, where Havel and other dissedents formed
the Civic Forum. On the 22nd, Jakes and the Politburo resigned. On the
25th, Havel, Dubcek and Adamec (who was still prime minister) spoke at
a demonstartion rally. Throughout these busy days, the oppostion constantly
was making reforms, speeches and statements about the revolution taking
place. On the 26th, the economist Vaclav Klaus reads a document, "What
we want - Programmatic Principles of the Civic Forum" which proposed free
elections, a judiciary government, and a market economy. On the 27th, the
general strike that the opposition had been planning for occured, and the
people planned to call for the resignation of the prime minister if their
demands weren't met. The next few days were occupied by meetings and discussions
between the opposition and the government. The "Round Table" talks followed,
and on December 7, the government resigned. On Decemeber 10, Husak swore
in the new government and then resigned as well. Free elections were arranged
for spring of 1990 and Havel, leader of the Forum was the prime candidate
for prsedency. In 23 days, the Czechoslovakian revolution, called a Velvet
Revolution because nobody was killed, had successfully ridded the country
of Communism.
After World War II, the Yugoslavian Communist Party was already strong enough to start its own socialist revolution. At the Yalta Conference, Tito's government was recognized and by the end of 1945, after an election where the Front National received 90% of the votes, Tito had absolute control over Yugoslavia. His people believed in the Communist ideals and in Tito. Until his break with Stalin in 1948, Tito was one of Stalin's favorites. In fact when Cominform was first set up, its headquarters were in Belgrade. Tito immediately followed the Stalinist system: nationalizing all industry, banks and other businesses, collectiviizing the land, and setting up a ruthless and efficient secret police. He also set up a 'Five-Year Plan,' which called for massive industrialization so Yugoslavia could catch up with British levels of production.
On June 28, 1948 the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and its allies expelled Yugoslavia from Cominform. "The Stalin-Tito break revealed the grave conflict which existed even on the Communist level between the people's democracies and Soviet Russia. It foreshadowed the struggles for independence to come against the Soviet imperialism in the Communist-dominated nations" (Borsody 200). The reasons for this expulsion were mostly authoritive. Stalin wanted to be the absolute dictator in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, however Tito was a real power to be dealt with. Stalin felt that by expelling Tito from the Party, Tito would get scared and become as obedient as the other People Democracy leaders. However, Tito was unchallenged in the rule of Yugoslavia, and he was well-respected because he ruled his people with loyalty and affection. Stalin also hoped to exploit Yugoslavia as he was exploiting the other satellites, to help the Russian economy. Tito however, wanted to follow the Soviet model and industrialize Yugoslavia as well; he didn't want the country to just be a supplier of raw goods to the Soviet Union. Tito's foreign policy in the Balkans also angered Stalin. It was these disputes between Stalin and Tito that led to the expulsion.
The difference with Yugoslavia was that Tito had national roots. Many of the other satellite leaders were people that Stalin placed in charge, often these people had spent more time in Moscow than in the country in which they were now ruling. Yugoslavia was a threat to Russia, because it gave the other East European countries the idea that there was another way to communism, that they didn't necessarily have to follow the Soviet model.
Once on his own, Tito called a Party Conference so he could reaffirm the Yugoslavian Communist Party legitimacy. The Yugoslavians were quite patriotic and they weathered the break with the Soviet Union quite well. Despite Stalin's economic pressure and threats of invasion, Tito remained strong and supported by his people. By 1950 it was obvious that if Stalin wanted to suppress Tito, the only way he could do it was through a direct invasion, but it was essentially too late because the Yugoslavian defenses were already built back up.
Even after the break, Tito tried to be loyal to the Stalinist model of development, but by 1950 it was obvious that this wouldn't work to satisfy Yugoslavian needs and the general communist doctrine. The biggest dilemna of Communism in Yugoslavia was how they could still stay Communist and yet replace Stalinism. They had to abandon certain communist ideas, like agricultural collectivization while proving that despite these differences, they too were communist. The idea the Party came up with was the idea of Workers' Councils, thus was the birth of 'Djilasism.' This was a crucial step in the identity problem of Yugoslavia; it started the country on their own path. The name of the party was changed to the League of Communists, and Tito tried to return to Marx's ideas thus bypassing Stalin's interpretations. In 1953, Tito abandoned the collectivization of agriculture and the Yugoslavian economy began to improve. Tito had began his own path to Communism, the 'Yugoslav Way.'
Stalin's death helped improve the relationship between Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union. Throughout the 50's and 60's, Yugoslavia was more open and better place to live than anywhere in the nearby bloc. Throughout the 50's there was economic growth and an emphasis on heavy industry. In 1956, Yugoslavia gave approval for the invasion of Hungary, but later stated that it was a mistake. In 1968, Tito oppose the invasion of Czechoslavakia, he thought Dubcek idea's were following the 'Yugoslav Way.' These actions however, again disturbed the relationship between the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia.
Throughout the 70's, the 'Yugoslav Way' started to loss its appeal to the Yugoslavian people. There were several problems here: economic reforms let industry develop, and let technology people start making decision, thus a freer market was developping. This caused again the Communist dilemna: how could the country go back to Communist ideas, but still have the sucessful economic situation? During this time. the intellectuals were also demanding more freedom. They felt is was unjust that Tito praised Dubcek's idea of 'Communism with a human face' while the Czechoslavakians were now enjoying more freedom than they were. In May 1980 Tito died, leaving behind a weak central government with a rotating president. The factors that once held the country together were dissappearing.
Yugoslavia had major problems with the issues of minorities. While Tito was in power, these issues were never solved, because they were busy dealing with the immediate issue of keeping Communism and the "Yugoslav Way' alive. The people understood that they needed national unity to keep Moscow away. With Tito gone, and the Communist Party falling apart and thus the threat of Soviet invasion gone, these minority issues once again became important in everyone's minds. In 1988 these signs of dissolution were quite apparent; the Serbian party leader, Milosevic demanded that the Serbian role in the federation be strengthened. In March of 1989, a new government was established under the leadership of Markovic, the primie minister of Croatia. Yugoslavia was now experiencing the same type of reforms that were taking place all over Eastern Europe during this time. By December of 89, the Communist Parties in Croatia and Slovenia voted to hold free election in 1990, thus abandoning the leading role of the party. Yugoslavia, like the rest of Eastern Europe was on the path to democracy.
The difficulty with understanding the situations in Eastern Europe stems from the fact that is quite difficult to understand how people of a country can let themselves be controlled as they were. It's not an easy question to address. These countries were manipulated by Stalin and the Soviet leaders who followed him. The system of secret police that were installed in each of the East European allowed Moscow to keep a close rein over the people. Power was concentrated on one head figure, who was actually a puppet for the head of the Soviet Communist Party. This person used their power to dictate the whole country, and used brutal methods to keep their power absolute. People were hence scared into submission.
The show trials conducted immediately after the war are a perfect example of the the methods used to make the people submit. Innocent people were prosecuted as a warning to everyone else. People were beaten, tortured, and broken down until they were too apathetic to oppose their rulers. This was done both at the national level and at the bloc level, another example of the Soviets exerting their power and influence over the bloc countries.
As time passed, one could see changes in the different bloc countries. Sometimes it was within the parties themselves, who were discontent with the system opposed on them by the Soviet Union. Other times, it was the people who were dissatisfied with the system and with their local regimes as well. I believe that it was only with changing attitudes across all these levels that any real change came about. Even when the Eastern European countries were allowed their national movements, in 56 or 68, the same problems still existed. It wasn't until the whole system fell apart, with Gorbachev changing the Soviet Union, that these countries were allowed the real chance to set up governments that didn't rule with fear and brutality. With these aspects gone, Eastern Europe shedded itself of communism and started down the road to democracy.