Eastern Europe Since 1970: Decline of Socialism to Post-Communist Transition

by Bulent Gokay

Overview

From the hardening grip of Soviet domination under Brezhnev to the collapse of communism and its aftermath, Bulent Gokay provides the essential introduction to Eastern Europe in the last quarter of the twentieth century. The Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968 spelt the end of reformist communism and the tightening of Soviet control throughout Eastern Europe. In spite of this, several countries within the Soviet Bloc managed to retain varying degrees of independence over the next two decades. Focusing on the struggle towards economic and social modernisation in the region and the competing influences of East and West in a dangerous Cold War. Bulent Gokay shows how individual circumstances and diverse national characteristics made a uniform application of the Soviet model impossible, and charts the growing resistance to domination and the momentous events which finally toppled Soviet power in the region.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781317881322
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	12/22/2015
Series:	Seminar Studies
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	196
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Bulent Gokay

Table of Contents

Introduction to the Series Vll
Note on Referencing System Vlll
List of Figures and Tables viii
Acknowledgements ix
Maps x-xn
Chronology Xlll
1. INTRODUCTION: UNDERSTANDING THE CONTEXT
OF CHANGE 1
The Geopolitics of Eastern Europe 1
The Controversies over the Causes of Communism's Collapse in
Eastern Europe 6
Aims of this Book 9
PART ONE: BACKGROUND 11
2. EASTERN EUROPE AFTER STALIN, 1953-69 13
East-Central Europe 14
The Balkans 18
PART TWO: ANALYSIS 23
3. POLITICS 25
1970s: A Period of Normalisation and the 'Brezhnev Doctrine' 26
1980s: Hesitation at the Top and Revolt from Below 37
4. EAST EUROPEAN ECONOMIES 45
The Key Components of the Communist Economic System 46
Council of Mutual Economic Aid (COMECON) 48
1970s: Pressure for Reform 49
1980s: Crisis in the East European Economies 59
Reasons for Economic Failure 66
5. THE COLLAPSE 69
The Results of Economic Failure 69
Gorbachev and the Impact of Change in the Soviet Union 72
Political Challenge: The Snowball Effect, 1989-91 75
An Overview of the Collapse 84

Vl Contents
PART THREE: ASSESSMENT 87
6. POST-COMMUNIST TRANSITIONS: OLD PATTERNS,
NEW TRENDS 89
Dilemmas of Transition 90
The Tragedy of Yugoslavia 93
PART FOUR: DOCUMENTS 97
Glossary 138
Who's Who 143
Bibliography 149
Index