Revolution+in+Eastern+Europe+1989

Good times fdeon those oppressed satalite states.

I can tell everyone right noww this will be sucky sucky as it's so late on Sunday night already... and Jesse issss helping. Maybe I'll make it like really good later though? Probably not. This whole thing's a flop. Anyway... on to the revolutions.

**Poland**
quite a while brewing -- September 1989 -The support for the solidarity (which should have already been discussed in another one of these pages...) was growing so so strong that the Polish Goverment under Communist leader Wojciech Jaruzelski was forced to release Solidarity leaders from jail and open up discussions with them. On March 9 1989, both sides agreed to a "bicameral legislature" to be called the National Assembly. In this new system the senate would now be elected by the people. On June 4 the first elctions were held and basically, the Solidarity won EVERYTHNIG, bar one seat, which was won by an independant MP. The communists won nothing. So there we have it! New Government, Commies out - Revolution number one!

**Hungary**
Although Hungary ha achieved a number of ecomomic and Political reforms in the early '80s, large scare reform did not occur untill 1989. Following the replacement of János Kádár as General Secretary of the Communist Party in 1988 parliament brought in a "democracy package", which included trade-union pluralism; freedom of association, assembly, and the press; a new electoral law; and a radical revision of the constitutiin among many other things. In October 1989, the Communist Party convened its last congress and became the Hungarian Socialist Party. From October 16 to October 20, the parliament adopted legislation providing for multi-party parliamentary elections and a direct presidential election. More reforms folowed resulting in more freedom, better adherence to human rights etc. etc. Revolution number two!

**Fall of the Berlin Wall**
After the Hungarian border was opened following thier revolution a growing number of East Germans began emigrating to West Germany via Hungary's border with Austria. By the end of September 1989, more than 30,000 East Germans had escaped to the West. Following this disaster for the East (Which they had halted by closinng the East Germany-Hungary border) there were huge protests, with hundereds of thousands demanding political reform, particularly in Leipzig (where my au pairs came from! they were there! wow!). Folowing //this//, Gorbachev, the Soviet leader visited East Germany on the 6&7 of October, and, remarkably urged the East German leadership to accept reform. Eventually through more protesting, upheavals and even this presure from the Soviet high comand, the Berlin wall was taken down, and people were alowed to move freely once more between East and West. :D Revolution number three!

**Czechoslovakia (The velvet Revolution)**
A simple revolution that just grew on increased protests by Czecholsovakians and presure from the other newly reformed Soviet states. Sparked by a non-violent student protest in Prauge in November 1989, a large number of other similar protests eventually led to so much presure on the Communist government that on November 28 announced it would officially dismatle its single-party state and despose of itself, and then hold free elctions, which occured the next year. Borders were opened up, freedom of speech was reintroduced and people were happy (for a little while anyway). Revolution number four!

**Bulgaria**
In November 1989 demonstrations on ecological issues were staged in Bugaria's capitial Sofia, and these soon broadened into a general campaign for political reform, after growing news of other recent reforms in the Satilite states. The Communists reacted by deposing their ill-favoured leader Zhivkov and replacing him with a new leader but this made little difference with the public. In February 1990 the Communist Party voluntarily gave up its power and in June 1990 the first free elections were held, won by the moderate wing of the Communist Party, renamed the Bulgarian Socialist Party. Yay! Revlolution number five!

**Romania**
Romania, unlike all other satilite states had never undergone even limited de-Stalinization. In November 1989 the Communist leader Ceauşescu was re-elected for another five years as leader of the Romanian Communist Party and it appeared that he simply intended to ride out the anti-Communist uprisings sweeping through the rest of Eastern Europe. While Ceauşescu was away on a state visit to Iran,the arrest and exile of a local Hungarian-speaking Calvinist minister, László Tőkés, on 16 December occured for sermons offending the regime. This arrest lead to a large up raor by the Romainan peoples. Returning from Iran, Ceauşescu ordered a mass rally in his support outside Communist Party headquarters in Bucharest. However unfotunately for him, the crowd booed as he spoke. After learning about the arrest of this minister and the great revolutions in all other Eastern European states, years of anger boiled to the surface throughout the populace and even among factions of Ceauşescu's own government, and snti-communist/Ceauşescu demonstrations spread throughout the country. Initially the communitsts ordered the army to supress the the protests, but after a few days the army mutinied, and joined the anti-government team.More and more of his own men were turning on him, and eventually Ceauşescu fled vby way of a helicopter, he was however captured shortly after and executed on Chirstmas day that year. An interim government took over called the National Salvation Front Council and evetually free elections were held on MAy 20 1990. Revolution six! Everybody's free!