How one-party rule began
In 1945 the Soviet army had pushed the German army out of eastern Europe and stayed. Between 1946 and 1949 local communist parties, helped by Moscow, took power in Albania, Bulgaria, Poland, Romania, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, and in the Soviet zone of Germany (East Germany, 1949). Methods included pressure, arrests of rivals and elections that were not free. These countries were called "people's democracies", but only one party could govern. Yugoslavia, led by Tito, was communist but broke with Moscow in 1948. In 1955 the Soviet-led countries joined the Warsaw Pact military alliance.
Life under a planned economy
The state owned most factories and farms. A central plan set what to make, how much and at what price. This built heavy industry fast, but many goods people wanted were scarce, so there were queues. One party controlled newspapers, radio, courts and schools. A secret police watched for critics. Many people lived quietly; some kept hope in churches, books and small groups.
Uprisings and Solidarity
- Hungary 1956: students and workers demanded freedom and a new government. Soviet troops put the uprising down.
- Czechoslovakia 1968 (Prague Spring): leaders tried "socialism with a human face", with more free speech. Warsaw Pact armies entered in August and ended it.
- Poland 1980: after strikes in the Gdansk shipyard, workers formed Solidarity, a free trade union, which grew to about ten million members. It was banned under martial law in December 1981, but it survived underground and was made legal again in 1989.
The revolutions of 1989
In the USSR, Gorbachev's reforms (glasnost, perestroika) and his refusal to use troops changed everything. In 1989 Poland held round-table talks and free elections for part of its parliament; Hungary opened its border to the West; East Germans left and the Berlin Wall opened on 9 November; Czechoslovakia's peaceful Velvet Revolution followed; Romania's change was violent in December. Albania changed by 1991. Germany was united in 1990.
After 1989: new states, markets and alliances
The region moved to market economies and free elections. The change brought freedom and new goods, but also job losses, price rises and inequality at first. Czechoslovakia split peacefully into Czechia and Slovakia in 1993. Yugoslavia broke apart in the 1990s with several wars. Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic joined NATO in 1999; eight central and eastern European countries (plus Cyprus and Malta) joined the EU in 2004.
Key formulas and definitions
- One-party rule: about 1946–49 to 1989–91
- Uprisings: Hungary 1956, Czechoslovakia 1968, Poland 1980
- Berlin Wall opened 9 November 1989; Germany united 1990
- NATO 1999 (Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic); EU 2004 (eight central and eastern countries)
Worked examples
1. Why did the uprisings of 1956 and 1968 fail but the changes of 1989 succeed?
In 1956 and 1968 the USSR sent troops to keep communist governments in power. By 1989 the USSR under Gorbachev would not use force, and its own economy was weak, so the one-party governments fell quickly.
2. How did people in a planned economy experience shortages?
The state plan set production by quantity targets, not by what people wanted. Many consumer goods were made in small numbers, so shops ran out and people queued.
3. What was Solidarity and why was it special?
Solidarity was a free trade union formed in Poland in 1980. It was special because workers formed an organisation that the party did not control, and it grew to about ten million members. It helped bring the 1989 talks.
Common mistakes
- Thinking all of eastern Europe was part of the USSR. They were separate countries under strong Soviet influence.
- Saying the Berlin Wall fell in 1991. It opened in 1989 (the USSR broke up in 1991).
- Mixing up the Prague Spring (Czechoslovakia, 1968) with the 1956 uprising (Hungary).
- Saying all changes after 1989 were violent. Most were peaceful; the main exception was Romania, and the wars of the 1990s in Yugoslavia.