The states of western Europe
France:-
-
Politically weak.
-
Governments were weak because the new
constitution gave the president very little power.
-
5 major parties formed coalitions governments
which were constantly changing;
-
This caused number of disasters.
o French
defeat in Indo-China(1954)
o Failure
in suez( 1956)
o Rebellion
in Algeria.
-
General de Gaulle came out of retirement to lead the country; he
introduced a new constitution giving the president more power.
-
He gave Algeria independence.
-
Governments started being stable;
-
Dominant issues in 1990’s- recession,
unemployment, doubts about france role in the European community, uneasiness
about the reunified Germany.
the German Federal Republic( west Germany):-
-
Set up in 1949
-
Enjoyed a remarkable recovery- an economic
miracle under the conservative government of chancellor Adenauer
-
Marshall plan- by a high rate of investment in
new plant and equipment, Ploughing back of profits into industry rather than
distributing them as higher dividends or higher wages .
-
Industrial recovery was completed by 1960 –
west Germany was producing 50% more steel than the united germany in 1938.
-
New constitution encouraged two party system
to enable better chance of strong government.
o Christian
Democrats
o Social
democrats.
-
After the prosperous 1970’s , west Germany
began to suffer increasingly from the world recession.
-
By 1982, unemployment had shot up to 2
million.
-
Kohl become the first president to reunified
Germany in 1990.
-
Reunification brought enormous problems for Germany- the cost of modernizing the east
and bringing its economy up to western standards placed a big stain on the
country.
-
Billions of Deutschemarks were poured in and
the process of privatizing state industries was begun.
-
By 1996, with welfare costs running high and
unemployment at almost 10%, there were doubts as to whether even Germany could
meet the requirements of a single European currency ( budget deficit of less
than 3% of GDP).
Italy:-
-
New republic of Italy began with a period of
prosperity and stable government under de Gasperi;
-
But after that, there was a series of weak
coalition governments, which failed to solve the problems of inflation and
unemployment.
-
Successful politician was the socialist
Bettino Craxi( 1983-87) ; inflation and unemployment were reduced.
-
Basic problems during 1990’s were:
o There
was a north- south divide:- north- modern, competitive industry, relatively
prosperous; south – backward, lower standard of living and higher unemployment.
o The
mafia was still a powerful force.
o Politics
seemed to be riddled with corruption.
o There
was a huge government debt and a weak currency.
The growth of Unity in western Europe:-
a)
Reasons for wanting more unity:-
-
Western Europe there were people who wanted
more unity.
-
Some simply wanted the nations to co- operate
more closely; other wanted to go the whole hog and have a federal system of
government like USA.
-
The reasoning behind this thinking was.
o The
best way for Europe to recover from the ravages of war by pooling their resources ;
o Individual
states were too small and economically weak to be economically and militarily
viable separately in a world now dominated by the super –powers, the USA and
USSR.
o The
less chance would be of war breaking
o Enable
western Europe more effectively to resist the spread of communism from the
USSR;
o Germans
were especially keen on the idea because they thought it would help them to
gain acceptance as a responsible nation more quickly than after the first world
war.
-
Winston Churchill was on of the strongest
advocates of a united Europe.
-
He suggested that France and West Germany
should take the lead in setting up a kind of United States of Europe.
b)
First steps in co-operation:-
1)
The Organization for European Economic
Co-operation (OEEC):-
a.
Setup officially in 1948; first initiative
towards economic unity.
b.
Took the lead in organizing 16 European
nations to draw up a plan for the best use off American Marshall Aid. This was
known as the European recovery Programme (ERP).
c.
Its first function, successfully achieved
over the next four years, was to apportion American aid among its members,
after which it went on, again with great success, to encourage trade among its
members by reducing restrictions; it was helped by UN’s GATT and European
Payments Union (EPU);
d.
When US and Canada joined in 1961 it
became the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development(OECD).
Later Australia and Japan joined.
2)
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization(
NATO ):
a.
Established in 1949; as a mutual defence
in case of an attack on one of the member states.
b.
It also included the USA and Canada.
c.
The Korean war caused the USA to press
successfully for the integration of NATO forces under a centralized command : A
Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE).
d.
The forces available for the defence of western
Europe had been increased fourfold.
e.
But problems soon arose:
i.
French were not happy about the dominant
American a=role;
ii.
France withdrew from NATO; so that French
forces and French nuclear policy would not be controlled by a foreigner.
iii.
Now NATO was weak compared with Warsaw pact.
3)
The council of Europe:
a.
Setup in 1949
b.
First
attempt at some sort of political unity.
c.
By 1971 all states of western Europe,
turkey, malta and Cyprus, joined.
d.
Based a Strasbourg, it consisted of the
Foreign Ministers of the member states, and an assembly of representatives
chosen by the parliaments of the states.
e.
Had no powers, since, several states
including britian , refused to join any organization which threatened their own
sovereignty.
f.
It could debate pressing issues and make
recommendations , and it achieved useful work sponsoring human rights
agreements but disappointment to the federalist.
The early days of the European Community
-
Known as European Economic Community (EEC) or
the Common Market.
-
Officially setup under the Treaty of
Rome(1957).
-
Members- France, west Germany, Italy,
Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg.
The EEC:-
-
The six countries would gradually remove all
customs duties and quotas so that there would be free competition and a common
market.
-
Tariffs would be kept against non- members,
but even these were reduced.
-
With in five years it was the world’s biggest
exporter and biggest buyer of raw materials and was second only to the USA in
steel production. However, Britain had decided not to join.
The machinery
of the European community:-
-
European commission-
o Ran
the day to day work of the community
o Based
in Brussels
o Took
important policy decisions.
o It
had strong powers so that it would be able to stand up against possible
criticism and opposition from the governments of the members. But its decisions
had to be approved by the council of ministers consisted of government
representatives from each of the member states.
o Their
job was to exchange information about their government’s economic policies and
coordinate them and keep them running on similar lines.
-
European parliament
o Consists
of representatives chosen by the parliaments of the member states. They could
discuss issues and make recommendations, but no control over the commission or
the council.
o They
were to be directly elected by the people of the community.
-
European court of justice
o Deal
with any problems which might arise out of the interpretation an operation of
the Treaty of Rome.
o People
could appeal if their government was thought to be infringing the rules of the
community.
-
Also associated with the EEC was EURATOM, and
organization in which the six nations pooled their efforts towards the development
of atomic energy.
-
1967, the EEC, the ECSC and EURATOM formally
merged and , dropping the word economic, became simply the European Community
(EC).
Why did the British refuse to join and change their
minds later?
Although Churchill had been one
of the strongest supporters of the idea of a unified Europe, when he became PM
again in1951, he seemed to have lost any enthusiasm for british membership.
a)
Reasons for Britain’s refusal to join:
a.
The European commission in Brussels would
be able to make vital decisions affecting Britain’s internal economic affairs.
b.
There was a problem about the British
Commonwealth; the commonwealth relations would be ruined if Britain was no
longer able to give preference to commonwealth goods such as New Zealand lamb
and butter- more promising market than the EEC.
c.
If the british became involved too deeply
in economic integration with Europe, it might damage their special relationship
with the americans.
d.
Economic unity would lead to the
political unity of Europe- British sovereignty should be preserved.
-
European states outside the EEC were worried
about being excluded from selling their goods to EEC members because of the
high duties on imports from outside the community.
-
Consequently in 1959britain took the lead in
organizing a rival group, the European free Trade Association( EFTA). Britain ,
Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Austria and Portugal agreed gradually to
abolish tariffs between themselves.
-
There is no question of common economic
policies and no commission to interfere with the internal affairs of the
states.
b)
Why did the British change their minds?
-
1961, conservative PM Harold Macmillan
announced that Britain wished to join the EEC.
-
Reasons
o It
was obvious that the EEC was an outstanding success- without Britain; French
production had risen by 75% while German production had increased by Almost
90%.
o Britain’s
economy was much less successful; production rise by only 30%; in 1960, there
was a balance of payments deficit of some 270 million pounds.
o Although
EFTA had succeeded in increasing trade among its members, it was nothing like
as successful as the EEC.
o The
commonwealth, in spite of its huge population, had nothing like the same
purchasing power as the EEC.
o There
were signs that the EEC was prepared to make special arrangements to allow
commonwealth countries and some other former European colonies to became
associate members. EFTA partners might be able to join as well.
o Britain
was in competition from other EEC members would stimulate British industry to
greater effort and efficiency.
c)
Why did the French oppose British entry
into the EEC?
a.
De Gaulle claimed that Britain had too
many economic problems and would only would only weaken the EEC; any concession
being made for the commonwealth would be a drain on Europe’s resources.
b.
The british believed that de Gaulle’s
real motive was his desire to continue dominating the Community.
c.
De Gaulle was not happy about Britain’s
American connection ; Britain membership would allow the USA to dominate
European affair.
i.
He was probably annoyed that Britain,
without consulting france, had just agreed to receive Polaris missiles from
America.
ii.
He was certainly furious with president
Kennedy for not having made the same offer to France.
iii.
He was determined to prove that France
was a great power and had no need of American help.
iv.
It was this friction between France and
the USA which eventually led de Gaulle to withdraw France from NATO(1966).
d.
Finally there was the problem of French
agriculture: EEV protected its farmers with high tariffs so that prices were
much higher than in Britain.
i.
Britain’s agriculture was highly
efficient and subsidized to keep prices relatively low.
ii.
British entry would make the French
smaller farmers be exposed to competition from Britain and perhaps from the commonwealth.
e.
Britain request for entry was again
vetoed by France in 1967.
d)
Britain enters the Community(1973):-
a.
Britain, along with Eire and Denmark, was
able to enter the EEC.
b.
Britain entry was made possible by two
main factors.
i.
President de Gaulle had resigned in 1969
and his successor , Georges Pompidou, was more friendly toward Britain.
ii.
Britain’s Conservative PM , Edward Heath
, was in a good position to press Britain’s claims strongly.
The European community since Britain entry
a)
The Lome convention:-
o From
the beginning EC was criticized for being self centered and inward looking and
have no interest in helping the world’s poorer nations.
o This
agreement came to do something to offset criticism.
o It
allowed goods produced in over forty countries in Africa and the Caribbean and
former European colonies, to be brought into the EEC free of duties
o It
also promise economic aid,
o Other
poor third world countries were added to the list later.
b)
Direct elections to the European
parliament(1979):-
o One
reason for introducing elections was to try to arouse more interest and bring
ordinary people into closer contact with the affairs of the community.
o 410
euro-MPs were chosen.
o Britain
, France, Italy and west Germany were allowed 81 each; Britain has the lowest
voter turnout.
o Overall
in the new European parliament, the
right wing and center parties had a comfortable majority over the left and
continued .
c)
The introduction of the Exchange Rate
Mechanism (ERM):-
o This
was introduced to link the currencies of the member states in order to limit
the extent to which individual currencies could change in value against the
currencies of other members.
o It
was hoped that linking the currencies would help to control inflation and lead
eventually to a single currency for the whole of the EC.
o Britain
decided not to take the pound sterling into the ERM; she made the mistake of
joining in 1990 when the exchange rate was relatively high.
d)
Community membership grows:-
o Greece,
Portugal and Spain arrival in1986 cause new problems;
o They
were among the poorer countries of Europe and their presence increased the
influence within the community of the less industrialized nations.
o There
would be increased pressured from these countries for more action to help the
less developed states and so improve the economic balance between rich and poor
nations.
o 1995-
Austria, Finland and Sweden joined.
e)
Britain and the EC budget:-
o During
the early days many british people were disappointed that Britain did not seen
to be gaining any obvious benefit from the EC.
o Her
imports from the community increased far more than her exports; Britain was not
producing enough goods for export at the right prices.
o Britain
was one of the least efficient nations in the EC, while Denmark and west
Germany were top of the league.
o A
major crisis erupted in 1980 when Britain discovered that her budget
contribution for that year was to be 1209 million pounds far much than others.
o Britain
protested that her contributions was ridiculously high, given the general state
of her economy.
o Actually
the contributions were based on the non EC imports that a country receive;
unfortunately Britain had the highest no EC imports.
o Compromise
was reached: Britain’s contribution was reduced to a total; of 1346 million
over the next year.
f)
The 1986 changes:-
o A
move to completely free and common market by 1992.
o More
EC control over health, safety, protection of the environment and protection
for consumers;
o More
encouragement for scientific research and technology;
o More
help for backward region;
o Introduction
of majority voting on many issues in the council of ministers rather than veto
by which a single state can stop entire the process.
o More
powers for the European parliament so that measures could be passed with less
delay.
o This
meant that domestic parliament of the member states were gradually losing some
control over their own internal affairs.
o Opposition
on this by Britain and Denmark; they stirred up the old controversy about
national sovereignty.
g)
Common agricultural policy:-
o In
order to help farmers and encourage them to stay in business, so that the
community could continue to produce much of its own food.
o It
was decided to pay them subsidies which would keep prices at reasonable levels
for the consumers.
o Britain,
the Netherlands and west Germany pressed for a limit to be placed on subsidies,
nut the French government was reluctant to agree to this because it did not
want to upset French farmers, who were doing very well out of the subsidies.
o In
1984 maximum production quotas were introduced for the first time, but this did
not solve the problem; by 1987 the stockpiling of produce had reached ludicrous
proportions.
o Efforts
to get rid of the surplus included selling it off cheaply to the USSR, India,
Pakistan and Bangladesh , distributing butter free of charge to the poor within
the community and using it to make animal feed.
o All
this helped to cause a massive budget crisis in 1989:
o The
EC introduced a harsh programme of production curbs and a price freeze to put a
general squeeze on Europe’s farmers.
h)
Greater integration: the Maastricht
treaty:-
And agreement was drawn up for
a new stage in the process of creating an even close union among the peoples of
Europe. Some of the points agreed were:
o More
powers for the European parliament;
o Greater
economic and monetary union- common currecy.
o A
common foreign and security policy;
o A
detailed timetable was drawn up of the stages by which all this would be
achieved.
o Britain
objected very strongly to the ideas of a federal Europe and monetary union, and
whole section of the treaty known as the social chapter.
§ Britain
argued that these would increase production costs and therefore cause
unemployment .
§ It
was later dropped.
o French,
dutch and Belgian governments supported treaty strongly because Germany can be
contained and controlled within the community.
o By
the mid 1990s after almost forty years of existence, the European community had
been a great success economically and had fostered good relations between the
member states, but there were vital issues to be faced:
§ First,
How much closer could economic and political co-operation become? The goal of
European Monetary Union (EMU) and a single currency caused problems for all the
member states.
§ The
requirement for joining the single currency was that a country’s budget deficit
must be less than 3% of its GDP.
§ 1992
crisis caused both Britain and Italy to withdraw from the ERM.
§ By
the end of 1996, governments were reducing spending and cutting welfare
benefits in the struggle the keep their deficits low, and this provoked criticism
and ill-feeling.
§ Second,
what should the Union’s attitude to the states of eastern Europe be? There was
some talk that they might be able to join the Union soon after the year 2000.
§ 1994,
Poland and Hungary formally applied fro membership.
Communist unity in eastern Europe:
the main difference between eastern unity and western
unity was that the countries of east were forced into it by the USSR, Whereas
the members of the EC joined voluntarily.
a)
Organization of the communist bloc:-
o USSR
wanted the same political , economical and educational systems in their
satellites.
o All
had to carry out the bulk of their trade with Russia and their foreign policies
and armed forces were controlled from Moscow.
a.
The Molotov plan:-
i.
Idea of economically united Europe.
ii.
Response to the American offer of
Marshall aid.
iii.
A set of trade agreements between the
USSR and its satellites .
iv.
Designed to boost the traded of eastern
Europe.
b.
The Communist Information Bureau:
i.
All communist states had to become
members and its aim was political;
ii.
To make sure that all the governments
followed the same line as the government of the USSR.
iii.
To be communist was not enough; it had to
be Russian style .
c.
The council for Mutual Economic
Assistance ( COMENCON )
i.
To help plan the economies of the individual
states.
ii.
All industry was nationalized ;
agriculture was collectivized;
iii.
Nikita Khrushchev tried to use COMECON to
organize the communist bloc into a single integrated economy;
iv.
He wanted east Germany and Czechoslovakia
to develop as the main industrial areas, and Hungary and Romania to concentrate
on agriculture; after severe protests from the states, he had to change his
plans.
v.
The eastern bloc enjoyed some success
economically , with steadily increasing production, but as not so as the west.
vi.
Albania, Most backward country in the
country in Europe.
vii.
In the 1980s the economies of the Eastern
bloc states experienced difficulties , with shortages, inflation and a fall in
the standard of living.
viii.
Even so the communist bloc had a good
record in social services.
d.
The Warsaw pact (1955):-
i.
Signed by all eastern European countries
except yugoslavia.
ii.
They promised to defend each other
against any attack from outside;
iii.
The armies of the member states came
under overall Russian control form Moscow.
iv.
Ironically, Warsaw pact troops took part
in joint action against one of their own members- Czechoslovakia.
b)
Tensions in the eastern bloc:-
Although there were problems in
EC like the common agricultural policy and the sovereignty of the individual
states, these were not as serious as the tensions which occurred between the
USSR and some of her satellite states.
In the early lines of Cominform,
Moscow felt that it had to clamp sown of any leader or movement which seemed to
threaten the solidarity of the communist bloc.
a.
Yugoslavia was the first state to stand
up against Moscow:-
i.
Martial Tito, had the popularity among
the people, was legally elected as leader of the new Yugoslav republic and so
he did not owe his position to the Russians.
ii.
He was determined to follow his own brand
of communism, not stalin’s.
iii.
He was against over centralization.
iv.
He wanted to be free to trade with the
west as well as with the USSR.
v.
Stalin therefore expelled Yugoslavia from
the Cominform and cut off economic aid, expecting that the country would soon
be ruined economically and that Tito would be forced to resign.
vi.
Tito was much too popular to be toppled
by outside pressures,and so stalin decided it would be too risky to invade
Yugoslavia.
vii.
Tito continued to operate his own way of communism which included
full contact and trade with the west and acceptance of aid from the
international monetary Fund ( IMF ).
viii.
The Yugoslavs began to reverse the
process of centralization; industries were denationalized, and instead of being
state- owned, they became public property, managed by workers representatives
through councils and assemblies.
ix.
The same applied in agriculture ; the
communes were most important unit in the state with 5000, 100000.
x.
Elected commune assembly organized
matters to do with the economy, education, health, culture and welfare.
xi.
Weaknesses:
1.
Workers unwillingness to sack colleagues;
2.
A tendency to pay themselves too much.
xii.
This led to over employment and high
costs and prices. Nevertheless with its capitalist elements this was an
alternative Marxist system which many developing African states, especially
Tanzania, found attractive.
xiii.
Khrushchev decided to improve relations
with Tito; apologized for stalin’s actions.
xiv.
Breach was fully healed the following
year when Khrushchev gave his formal approval to Tito’s successful brand of
communism.
b.
Stalin acts against other leaders:-
As rift with Yugoslavia widened, Stalin arranged for the arrest of any
communist leaders in the other states who attempted to follow independent
policies ( hungary , Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Albania.
c.
Khrushchev: ‘different roads to
socialism’
i.
After stalin’s death, 1953, there were
signs that the satellite states might be given more freedom.
ii.
Khrushchev criticized many of stalin’s
policies and seemed prepared to concede that there were different roads to
socialism.
iii.
He soon healed the rift with Yugoslavia
and abolished cominform.
iv.
However, it was not long before events in
Poland and hungary showed that there were sharp limits.
Crisis in Poland:
i.
General strike and a massive anti-government
and anti – soviet demonstrations; banners demanded ‘ bread and freedom and the
workers were protesting against poor living standards, wage reductions and high
taxes.
ii.
Russian tanks surrounded warsaw; in the
end the Russians decided to compromise : Gomulka , who had earlier been
imprisoned on stalin’s orders, was allowed to be reappointed as first secretary
of the communist party.
iii.
It was accepted that the polish
communism.
iv.
They introduced the collectivization of
agriculture only very slowly, and probably only about 10 % . Poland also traded
with countries outside the communist block.
The Hungarian revolution ( 1956):-
·
Different from the one in Poland.
·
Resentment on pro-stalin leader, Rakosi steadily built up against the government
until it exploded in a full scale rising
·
Causes:-
o Repressive
regime- thousands of people were executed and imprisoned.
o Living
standards of ordinary people were getting worse
o Intense
anti- Russian feeling;
o Khrushchev’s
‘different roads to socialism ‘ theory and Gomulka’s return to power in Poland encouraged the Hungarians to
resist their government.
·
Rakosi was overthrown, Nagy became prime
minister; he went too far and announced plans for a government including
members of other political parties and talked of withdrawing hungary from the
warsaw pact.
·
USSR feared that it would encourage people in
other eastern bloc states to do the same.
·
Russian tanks moved in and surrounded
Budapest; people resisted bravely and fighting resulted in death of 20000
people.
·
Nagy was executed ; 2 lakh people fled the
country and went to the west.
The crisis in Czechoslovakia (1968):-
-
The Russians did not interfere so directly
anywhere until 1968 when they felt that the Czechs were straying too far from
the accepted communist line.
-
In the mid 1960’s government was run by the
pro- Moscow communist, Antonin Novotny; opposition gradually escalated because:
o Czechs
were industrially and culturally the most advanced of the eastern bloc people,
and they objected to the over centralized Russian control of their economy.
o They
resented all the restrictions on personal liberty; news papers, books and
magazines were heavily censored, no freedom of speech; anybody who criticized
the government could be arrested;
o When
people tried to hold the protests, police used very violent and brutal.
-
1968, novotny was forced to resign and
Alexander Dubcek became first secretary of communist party; he had a completely
new programme.
o No
longer dictate policy;
o Industry
would be de- centralized; factories would be run by works
o Farms
become independent co-operatives.
o Wider
powers for trades unions.
o More
trade with the west and freedom to travel abroad; the frontier with west
Germany immediately thrown open;
o Freedom
of speech and freedom for the press; criticism of the government was
encouraged; he believed that the government should earn the right to be in
power by responding to people’s wishes. He called I ‘socialism with a human
face’.
o Careful
to assure the Russians that he would stay in the warsaw pact and remained a reliable
ally.
-
Russians became worried about it ; a massive
invasion of Czechoslovakia took place by eastern bloc member’s troops;
-
Czech government decided to resist passively
to avoid blood shed; at the end the government was forced to abandon its new
programme.
-
Dubcek was replaced by Gustav Husak.
-
Russians intervened because the allowing of
freedom of speech and freedom for the press that lead to similar demand
throughout the soviet bloc.
-
Her came the Brezhnev doctrine, who ordered
the invasion- this said that intervention in the internal affairs of any
communist country was justified if socialism was threatened.
e)
The communist bloc moves towards
collapse:-
-
Resentment against Moscow’s hard line started
simmering in poland and Czechoslovakia.
o Poland-
§ New
government in1980 was forced to allow ( because – industrial unrest, food
shortages and strikes) the formation of an independent trade union movement
known as Solidarity,
§ The
Russians moved troops but no invasion took place; perhaps they are busy with
Afghanistan invasion.
o Helsinki
agreement(1975)-
§ Caused
problems in the communist bloc.
§ Signed
by every nation in Europe except Albania and Andorra.
§ Promised
to work for increased co-operation in economic affairs and peacekeeping and to
protect human rights.
§ USSR
and other communist states were accusing their government of failing to allow
basic human rights.
o Czechoslovakia-
a human rights group calling itself Charter 77 was formed ; became more
outspoken in its criticisms of the Husak government.
o By
this time all the communist states were suffering serious economic problems
much worse than those in the EC.
Why and how did communism collapse in Eastern
Europe?
-
1988 to 1991 communism in eastern Europe
swept away. Poland was the first to reject communism followed by Hungary and
East Germany and the rest.
-
By 1991, even Russia had ceased to be
communist after 74 years.
-
Why did dramatic collapse take place?
1.Economic failure:
-
Communism did not produce the standard of
living which should have been possible, given the vast resources available.
-
The economic systems were inefficient, over
centralized and subject to too many restrictions; ex- all states were expected
to do most of their trading within the communist bloc.
-
The communist record on health, education,
housing, and a range of other social service has been atrocious.
-
Increasing contact with the west in the 1980s
suggested that their living standards werer falling even further.
-
It showed that it must be their own leaders
and the communist system which were the cause of all their problems.
2. Mikhail Gorbachev:
-
Became leader in 1985
-
Recognized the failings of the system and he
admitted that it was ‘ an absurd situation’ that the USSR, the world’s biggest
producer of steel, fuel and energy, should be suffering shortages because of
waste and inefficiency.
-
He hoped to save communism by revitalizing
and modernizing it.
-
He introduced new policies of glasnost (
openness ) and perestroika (economic and social reform) .
-
Criticism of the system was encouraged in the
drive for improvement, provided nobody criticized the communist party.
-
He also helped to overthrew the old
fashioned, hard-line communist leaders in Czechoslovakia, east Germany ,
Romania, Bulgaria; his hope was that more progressive leaders would increase
the chance of saving communism in Russia’s satellite states.
-
Unfortunately for Gorbachev, once the process
of reform began, it proved impossible to control it.
-
The most dangerous time for any repressive
regime is when it begins to try to reform itself by making concessions.
-
These are never enough to satisfy the
critics, and in Russia, criticism inevitably turned against the communist party
itself and demanded more.
-
Public opinion even turned against Gorbachev
because many people felt he was not moving fast enough.
-
The same happened in the satellite states;
the critics became more daring as they realized that Gorbachev would not send
soviet troops in to fire on them.
3. Poland leads the way:
-
General Jaruzelski, became leader in 1981,
suppressed the solidarity movement.
-
But all attempts to improve the economy
failed.
-
In 1988, when Jaruzelski tried to economize
by cutting government subsidies, protest strikes broke out because the changes
sent food prices up; this time he decided not to risk using the force as there
would be no backing from Moscow.
-
He realized that he needed opposition support
to deal with the economic crisis. Talks opened between Communist government ,
and solidarity and other opposition groups.
-
By 1989, sensational changes in the
constitution had been agreed:
o solidarity
was allowed to become a political party.
o There
were to be two houses of parliament, a lower house and a senate;
o In
the lower house, 65% of the seats had to be communist;
o The
senate was to be freely elected- no guaranteed communist seats.
o The
two houses voting together would elect a president, who would then choose a
prime minister.
-
In the elections, a compromise deal was
worked out when it came to forming a government:
o Jaruzelski
became president
o Mazowiecki(
solidarity) became PM, who was the first non communist leader in the eastern
bloc.
o After
the collapse of communism in the other east European states, further changes in
Poland removed the guaranteed communist seats.
o Lech
Walesa, the solidarity leader, was elected president.
o The
peaceful revolution in Poland was complete.
4. the peaceful revolution spreads to Hungary:-
-
The rest of Europe tried to follow the
Poland.
-
Hungary, Kadar himself admitted in 1985 that
living standards had fallen, poor management , poor organization , outdated machinery
in state sector industry.
-
He announce new measures of decentralization.
-
Two large opposition parties became
increasingly active.
-
They stood for the interests of farmers and
peasants.
-
The Hungarian communist leadership, decided
to go peacefully; free elections were held in 1990.
-
Communists suffered a crushing defeat; the
election was won by the Democratic Forum, whose leader, Jozsef Antall, became
Prime Minister.
5. Germany reunited:-
-
In east Germany, Erich Honecker wanted to
keep communism in place.
-
However, honecker was soon overtaken by
events:
o Gorbachev,
paid a visit to chancellor Kohl in Bonn, and promised to help bring an end to
the divided Europe, in return for German economic aid, in effect he was
secretly promising freedom for East Germany.
o 1989,
thousands of East German began to escape to the west via Poland, Czechoslovakia
and Hungary, when Hungary opened its frontier with Austria.
o Protestant
church backed opposition party called New Forum which campaigned to bring an
end to the repressive and atheistic communist regime.
o Honecker
was dropped and Egon Krenz made concessions, the Berlin wall was opened and
free elections promised.
o Chancellor
Kohl staged an election tour, and the East German version of his party( CDU)
won an overwhelming victory.
o He
was hoping for gradual moves towards reunification, every body in East Germany
seemed to want immediate union.
o USSR
and USA agreed that reunification could take place; France and Britain were
less about German reunification.
o Germany
was formally reunited at midnight in1990.
o In
elections for the whole of Germany the conservative CDU alliance, together with
their liberal FDP supporters, won a comfortable majority over the socialist
SPD.
o Helmut
Kohl became the first Chancellor of all Germany since the second world war.
6. Czechoslovakia:-
-
One of the most successful economies of
Eastern Europe in early days; they traded extensively with the west and her
industry and commerce remained buoyant throughout the 1970s.
-
Early 1980s the economy ran into trouble
because they made little attempt to modernize industry.
-
Milos jakes, did not have a reputation as a
reformer; here started the Velvet revolution.
-
Charter 77, organized further opposition
conducted a public rally for the first time since 1968, a national strike was
strike was declared.
-
This was enough to topple the communist
regime; jakes resigned and Havel was elected president.
7. the rest of Eastern Europe:-
a. Romania:-
·
Communist regime was the most brutal and
repressive anywhere in the world.
·
revolution came in support of a popular
priest who was being harassed by the securitate.
·
Army was ordered to open fire on crowd; but
it refused to fire on innocent people.
·
Government had lost control. Leaders were
arrested and tried by a military tribunal and shot.
·
Committee calling itself the National
Salvation Front was formed and admitted that they were communists who wanted
reform.
·
They won the elections for a new parliament
1990.
b. Bulgaria:-
·
Communist leader Todor Zhivkov refused all
reforms.
·
Progressive communists decided to get rid of
him.
·
The politburo voted to remove him and in 1990
free elections were held.
·
Communists won a comfortable victory over the
main opposition party.
c.Albania:-
·
Russians were not responsible for
introduction of communism in Albania; they were admired by the stalin and
copied his system faithfully.
·
Albania was still the poorest and most
backward country in Europe.
·
Student demonstrations were breaking out
against the government incapability,and statues of communist leaders were
overturned.
·
Eventually free elections were allowed; 1992,
first non-communist president, Sali berisla was elected.
d.Yugoslavia:-
clearly discussed in
the next topic.
8. After communism:-
-
Eastern Europe face broadly similar problems:
o Change
from command economy to a free economy.
o Old
fashioned industry should have been privatized and uncompetitive; so nobody
wanted to buy shares in ti.
o Price
of consumer goods soared
o Standard
of living was even lower than under the final years of communism.
o Little
help was forthcoming from the west.
-
The east germans were the most fortunate,
having wealth of the former west Germany to help them.
o But
many west germans resented to this ; even east germans also disappointed with
west people who are capturing their jobs.
-
Poland – suffered with poor progress in the first four years.
o By
1994 there were clear signs of recovery.
-
Czechoslovakia- sloakia, the eastern half of
the country, demanded the independence
o A
peaceful settlement was worked out and the country split into two- the Czech
republic and Slovakia.
-
Predictably, the slowest economic progress
was made in Romania, Bulgaria and Albania.
Civil war in Yugoslavia:-
-
Formed after the first world war.
-
It included people of many different
nationalities and the state was organized on federal lines.
-
It consisted of six republics- Serbia,
Croatia, Montenegro, Slovenia, Bosnia- Herzegovina and Macedonia and also two
provinces- Vojvodina and Kosovo which were associate with Serbia.
-
Under the leadership of Tito nationalist feelings
of the different peoples were strictly under control; people were encouraged to
think of themselves primarily as Yugoslavs.
-
Tito left careful plans for the country to be
ruled by a collective presidency after his death.
-
This would consist of one representative from
each of the six republics and one from each of the two provinces; a different
president of this council would be elected each year.
a. Things
begin to go wrong:-
Collective leadership worked
well at first, but in the mid-1980s things began to go wrong.
i.
The economy was in trouble- with
inflation ,unemployment;
ii.
There were differences between areas: ex-
Slovenia was reasonably prosperous while parts of Serbia were poverty- sticken.
iii.
Slobodan Milosevic, became president of
Serbia in 1988. Bears much of the responsibility for the tragedy which
followed.
1.
He stirred up the Serbian nationalist
feelings to increase his own popularity, using the situation in Kosovo.
2.
He claimed that the Serbian minority in
Kosovo were being terrorized by the Albanian majority.
3.
He successfully convinced the voters that
he was now a nationalist intended that Serbia should be the dominant republic;
first free elections held in Serbia.
iv.
By the end of the 1990, free elections
had also been held in the other republics, and new non-communist governments
had taken over.
v.
Franjo Tudjman, new president of Croatia
stirred up Croatian nationalism and wanted and independent state of Croatia.
vi.
Slovenia also wanted to become
independent, and so the future looked bleak for the united Yugoslavia.
vii.
The situation was complicated because
each republic had ethnic minorities; and the government which wanted the
independence were not giving any guarantees to the ethnic minorities.
b.
The move to war: the serb—Croat war:-
i.
1991, Slovenia and Croatia declared
themselves independent, against the wishes of Serbia.
ii.
Yugoslav federal army was ordered to
station in those regions.
iii.
Civil war was avoided in Slovenia mainly
because there were very few serbs living there; the EC was able to act as
mediator, and secured the withdrawal of Yugoslav troops from Slovenia.
iv.
But in Croatia , with its large Serbian
minority, had been invaded the eastern area of Croatia where many serbs lived.
v.
UN force was sent to police it .
vi.
This time the international community had
recognized the independence of Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia- Heregovina.
c.
The war in Bosnia- Herzegovina:-
i.
Bosnia, contained a mixed population of
serbs, croats and muslims( majority).
ii.
Bosnia declared itself independent and
the EC recognized its independence, but it failed to make sure that the new
government guaranteed fair treatment for its minorities.
iii.
Bosnian serbs rejected the new
constitution and objected to a muslim president .
iv.
Fighting soon broke out between Bosnian
Serbs, who received help and encouragement from Serbia, and Bosnian Muslims ;
Serbia hoped that it could get a large strip of land of eastern Bosnia.
v.
Meanwhile, Croatia attacked and occupied
areas in the north of Bosnia where most of the Bosnian Croats lived.
vi.
Atrocities were committed by all sides, ethnic
cleansing happened, which meant driving out the muslim civilian population from
serb majority areas.
vii.
The UN force did its best to distribute
aid, but its job was very difficult because it had no supporting artillery or
aircraft.
viii.
The EC also reluctant to send any troops
and American s felt that Eutope should be able to sort its own problems out.
ix.
However, they all agree d to put economic
sanctions on Serbia to force them to stop helping the Bosnian serbs.
x.
1995, serb behavior eventually proved too
much for the international community.
xi.
After this things moved quickly.
1.
Croats and Muslims agreed to fight
together against the serbs.
2.
Americans agreed to use NATO airstrikes
and to deploy a Rapid Reaction Force against the Bosnian serbs if they
continued their aggression;
3.
The Bosnian serbs ignore this and
continued to shell Sarajevo; NATO bombing of Bosnian serb positions, which
continued until they agreed to move their weapons away from Sarajevo
4.
More UN troops were sent; Bosnian serb
leaders had been indicted by the European court for war crimes.
5.
Americans now taking the lead, a
cease-fire was arranged, and ageed to co-operate on peace arrangements; a peace
conference met in the USA.
Ø Bosnia
was to remain one state, with a single elected parliament and president , and a
unified Sarajevo as its capital;
Ø State
would consists of two sections- the Bosnian Muslims/ croat federation and the
Bosnian Serb republic.
Ø All
indicted war criminals wer banned from public life;
Ø All
Bosnian refugees. Over 2 million had the right to return.
Ø 60000
NATO troops were to police the settlement;
Ø It
was understood that the UN would lift the economic sanctions on Serbia.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thank you for your comments