Collapse of Communism and the Soviet Union (997–1001)

HMW 997 to 1001

Berlin Wall

The symbolic structure destroyed in November 1989, marking the end of Communist rule in East Germany.

Velvet revolution

The phrase used to describe the nonviolent revolution in East Germany.

Václav Havel

The leader of the peaceful revolution who became provisional president of Czechoslovakia in 1989.

Charter '77

A dissident organization in Czechoslovakia that demanded human rights following the Helsinki Accords.

Alexander Dubček

The hero of the 1968 Prague Spring who returned to public life in 1989.

Czechoslovakia

The country that peacefully split into two in January 1993, becoming the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

Romanian revolution

Characterized by violence and bloodshed, unlike other revolutions in Eastern Europe.

Nicolae Ceaușescu

The dictator of Romania who was overthrown and executed in 1989.

Timișoara

The city that was the starting point for the Romanian uprising in 1989.

National Salvation Front

A transitional government formed in Romania after Ceaușescu's fall.

Gorbachev's reforms

One of the two elements that fueled the revolutions of 1989 in Eastern Europe.

Refusal to use Soviet troops

Gorbachev's critical policy change that enabled Eastern Bloc revolutions.

East German exodus

Resulted in mass migration to West Germany and the collapse of the East German regime.

Soviet war in Afghanistan

What Gorbachev called a 'bleeding wound.'

George H. W. Bush

The U.S. president who signed a strategic arms treaty with Gorbachev in 1991.

Czechoslovakia

The Eastern European country that had the strongest interwar democratic tradition.

Germany reunification

Occurred in the year 1990.

Helmut Kohl

The West German chancellor who led reunification.

Creeping coup d'état

The term used for Gorbachev's slow slide away from reform in 1990.

500-Day Plan

The 1990 economic plan that Gorbachev abandoned.

Eduard Shevardnadze

Gorbachev's foreign minister who resigned in protest in 1991.

Lithuania

The Baltic republic attacked by Soviet troops in early 1991.

Glasnost

The term that refers to Gorbachev's policy of openness.

Perestroika

The term that refers to Gorbachev's policy of restructuring the economy.

Soviet Union (USSR)

The major geopolitical entity that dissolved in 1991.

Russia

The republic that reemerged as the dominant successor to the USSR.

Disillusionment with Gorbachev

Caused by his seeming blockage of real economic reform and empowerment of old-guard conservatives.

Romania under Ceaușescu

The most repressive dictatorship in the Eastern Bloc before its fall.

Bulgaria

The Eastern Bloc country that had a 'palace revolution' in 1989.

Warsaw Pact

The major Cold War military alliance that the Eastern Bloc countries belonged to.