Title Comrades no more : the seeds of political change in Eastern Europe / Renée de Nevers

Published Cambridge, MA : MIT Press, ©2003

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Description 1 online resource (x, 305 pages) : 1 map Series BCSIA studies in international security BCSIA studies in international security Contents Ch. 1 Legitimacy, the Demonstration Effect, and the Collapse of the Warsaw Pact -- Ch. 2 Gorbachev and Eastern Europe -- Ch. 3 Reform from Above and Below: Regime and Solidarity in Poland -- Ch. 4 Reform from Above: The Hungarian Gamble with Transformation -- Ch. 5 Reform from Below: Popular Protests and Regime Collapse in the German Democratic Republic and Czechoslovakia -- Ch. 6 Late Reform from Above: Bulgaria Switches Course -- Ch. 7 Late Reform: Mixed Signals in the Romanian Upheaval -- Ch. 8 Conclusion Summary In 1989, Soviet control over Eastern Europe ended when the communist regimes of the Warsaw Pact collapsed. These momentous and largely bloodless events set the stage for the end of the Cold War and ushered in a new era in international politics. Why did communism collapse relatively peacefully in Eastern Europe? Why did these changes occur in 1989, after more than four decades of communist rule? Why did this upheaval happen almost simultaneously in most of the Warsaw Pact? In Comrades No More, Renee de Nevers examines how internal and external factors interacted in the collapse of East European communism. She argues that Gorbachev's reforms in the Soviet Union were necessary to start the process of political change in Eastern Europe, but domestic factors in each communist state determined when and how each country abandoned communism. A "demonstration effect" emerged as Hungary and Poland introduced reforms and showed that Moscow would not intervene to prevent political and economic changes. De Nevers analyzes the process of change in Hungary, Poland, Bulgaria, the German Democratic Republic, Czechoslovakia, and Romania. She traces the pattern of reform in each country and shows how these patterns influenced their postcommunist political evolution Analysis SOCIAL SCIENCES/Political Science/International Relations & Security SOCIAL SCIENCES/Political Science/General Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index Notes Print version record Subject POLITICAL SCIENCE -- Political Process -- General. Politics and government SUBJECT Europe, Eastern -- Politics and government -- 1989- http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh90000580 Europe, Eastern -- Politics and government -- 1945-1989. http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh90000579 Soviet Union -- Politics and government -- 1985-1991. http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh86004555 Subject Eastern Europe Soviet Union Form Electronic book ISBN 9780262271349 0262271346 0585481784 9780585481784

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