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UNIT 6 (Hungarian Uprising (Hungary had been a “Satellite State” of the…
UNIT 6
Hungarian Uprising
Hungary had been a “Satellite State” of the USSR since after WWII. The USSR was using Hungary for it’s own benefit and this made the Hungarian upset. The USSR also banned the Catholic Church, used the secret police and controlled the education system in Hungary.
The Hungarians protested by demanding many things like, a new leader, withdraw of the “Red Army”, and leaving the Warsaw Pact.
The New leader of the USSR, Nikita Khrushchev responded with bringing in the army and in two weeks 3,000 Hungarians were killed and 200,00 fled to Austria. The leaders of the uprising were imprisoned and the new president, Imre Nagy, was executed.
Prague Spring
After WWII the USSR had taken control of Czechoslovakia. By 1968 the Czechs in the Capital, Prague, were tired of the lower standard of living, lack of Freedoms, and the One-Party system.
The Czech government allowed more political parties to exist and relaxed the ban on some freedoms like censorship of the press. Even though the leader, Alexander Dubcek, promised to stay in the Warsaw Pact, the USSR still invaded his country to avoid the spreading of these ideas into Eastern Europe.
This moment of change in Czechoslovakia was called the Prague Spring. It showed the world that USSR was bound to use force to keep control of its satellite states in Eastern Europe.
Poland Solid
In 1980, the people of Poland were very unhappy living under a Communist government. They were unhappy because Poland’s economy was doing very poorly and they did not have all the freedoms that others had in non-communist countries. The people of Poland decided to join a workers union named ‘Solidarity’ to protest the USSR’s control of their country. This union held strikes and criticized the Communist government.
‘Solidarity’ also made demands like increased freedoms (speech/religion) and changes to the economy to help average Poles. Unlike the protests of Hungary, Czechoslovakia, and East Germany, the Poles were very organized and had a leader that broadcast their demands to the world.
Because of this, the USSR reacted differently by only threatening force, banning the union, and making some arrests. ‘Solidarity’ did not give in to these attempts to stop their movement and eventually won their independence from the USSR without the bloody violence that other Communist countries had to live through.
Berlin Wall
Many Germans were unhappy with the USSR running their country, due to the low standard of living and lack of basic freedoms. Some of these Germans used the capitalist side of Berlin as an escape route.
Leader of the USSR, Leonid Brezhnev, decided to put a wall around the capitalist city of Berlin to stop the Germans from leaving, although he claimed it was to stop capitalist spies from entering his territory. The Wall remained in place for 28 years and did decrease the number of Germans fleeing the communist controlled country.
Even so, it was a sore spot for many Germans who were cut-off from families and friends. The Berlin Wall also became a symbol for the Cold War but eventually it was made useless in 1989 when the Germans refused to be held back by it.
USSR Collapse
During the 1980’s the USSR was having economic problems due to a lack of growth and over spending on the military and life for the average citizen in the USSR was decreasing in quality (corruption, low standard of living). Because of these things, Mikhail Gorbachev decided to make some changes to the Communist system.
One of these changes was called Glasnost,or “Openness”, this allowed more freedom of speech for the press and transparency in government. Another change was called Perestroika, or “Restructuring”, this allowed some elements of Capitalism into the USSR’s economy. Gorbachev also decreased the amount of money the government was spending on the military.
He even brought back the Red Army from Eastern Europe and told the Communist countries there that they could do as they pleased. All the countries under control of the USSR eventually turned away from Communism. On Dec. 25th 1991, after the election of Boris Yeltsin, Gorbachev declared the USSR to be dead.