Civilia 2015, 6(1):127-135 | DOI: 10.5507/civ.2015.007

25 years ago: The (almost) non-violent end of the totalitarian systems in Central Europe

Stefan Winckler
Historian and free-lance publicist, Holzgasse 3, 63825 Schöllkrippen, Deutschland

In 1989/90 the totalitarian political systems in Middle Europe changed almost simultaneously, but in different ways. In Hungary, the ruling communist party (Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party) transformed the system. In Poland, the communist Polish United Workers' Party negotiate transformation with the Catholic opposition (especially represented by the trade union "Solidarity"). In the GDR, the freedom movement changed into a movement for the unity of the two German states. In Czechoslovakia the political system imploded within a few days, the people had triumphed. All this was done by an unexpected European revolutionary movement, favored by the changed foreign policy doctrine of the Soviet Union during the Gorbachev era.

Keywords: 25 years ago, 1989, bankrupt of «real existing socialism», system change, peaceful revolution, Poland, GDR, Hungary, Czechoslovakia

Published: June 15, 2015  Show citation

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Winckler, S. (2015). 25 years ago: The (almost) non-violent end of the totalitarian systems in Central Europe. Civilia6(1), 127-135. doi: 10.5507/civ.2015.007
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References

  1. SCHAUER, H. Zentralinstitut für Jugendforschung (ZIJ): Parlamentsstudie 80 - Teilbericht 5 - Einstellungen zum Marxismus-Leninismus, zu Atheismus und Religion. Leipzig, 1980. Online: http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0168-ssoar-375626

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