The Fall of Communism in the History of Central and Eastern Europe - Essay Example

Running Head: Central and Eastern Europe Name Course Instructor Date The year 1989 marked the beginning of an event that was well known as the fall of communism or the revolutions of Eastern Europe and the Autumn of Nations which began in Poland and spread to Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, East Germany and Romania, overthrowing the communist regimes in various Central and Eastern European countries (Berend, 2003). Throughout these occurrences, the most common feature was that, they were using extensive campaigns of civil resistance which was a clear indication of opposition to one party rule and pushed them towards change (Kornai, 2005). Through the continuation of this revolution, Romania managed to overthrow its communist regime violently recording the only country to do so in the Eastern Bloc. Among these occurrences, the most famous anti Communist revolutions was the fall of the Berlin Wall which served as the highway to the 1990 German reunification. By the end of 1991, the Soviet Union was dissolved and many countries, to be precise 15 of them, declared their independence from the Soviet Union, including Russia. Between 199o and 1992, communism was abandoned in Yugoslavia and Albania. It is worth noting that, the collapse of communism is the one that lead to the declaration of the end of cold war (Berend, 2003). In Czechoslovakia, there was the velvet revolution which was a non violent revolution which led to the ousting of the communist government. In November 17th, 1989, the riot police dispersed a peaceful student demonstration in Plaque and this followed a chain of popular demonstrations. When the communist governments collapsed, the communist party of Czechoslovakia announced that it was going to destroy the single party state as well as relinquish power. In December 1989, the then president of this country appointed a large non communist government and resigned. In 1990, Czechoslovakia held its first democratic elections since 1946 successfully (Kornai, 2005). Compared to Bulgaria pluralist politics in Bulgaria, the pluralist politics were beneficial in escalating ethic tensions during democratic transitions. It is a matter of fact that, any violence that was directed to Muslim minorities during the interwar years and communist rule, the application of ethno pluralism in the post communist period was productive in establishing a break with uneasy past. Most importantly, democratic ethno pluralist methods such as political negotiation and compromise between various political and social groups were and are very influential in putting at bay any arising ethnic tension and these increased the national identity (Swenden, 2002). On the other hand, Yugoslavia perused its own version of communism for it was not part of the Warsaw Pact with the leadership of Josip Tito. This state was a multi ethnic state and therefore, tension was high between ethnicities with the famous Croatians Spring which was defeated in 1974 after the constitutional changes which lead to the devolution of the federal powers to the constituents of republics and provinces. However, when Tito died in 1980s, ethnic tension escalated from Albanian majority Kosovo (Kornai, 2005). When the disputes arose, the extraordinary Congress of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia was convened to avert it. The Slovenian Communists were outnumbered and they therefore left the congress which lead to the end of Yugoslavia Communist Party. Thereafter, the Slovenian Communists followed and then the Croatians ones. Both parties of the two western republics agreed to have a free multi party election with their own opposition movements (Berend, 2001). The democratic and anti Yugoslavia DEMOS coalition won in Slovenia while the nationalists won in Croatian elections. The escalating and national tensions led to Yugoslavia wars and the independence of the federal units. Conclusively, in 10th November 1989 just a day before Berlin wall was breached, Bulgaria’s long serving leader Todor Zhivkov was ousted by Politburo. This on the other hand led to the formation of non communist parties and the right to gather freely was given (Berend, 2001). The central and Eastern Europe strived towards catching up with the west in 19th century, however, romanticism brought about western ideas which on the other hand lead to a struggle for national independence and modernization. However, the failures that were experienced lead to desperate revolts. Authoritarian, fascist and communist regimes looked for short cuts to finish nation building and industrialization and this only increased revolts against them. In 19th century permanent states were established, Christianity spread, private institutions and feudal institutions were established and agriculture were established just to mention but a few (Letki, 2002). In the Baltic area, experienced a delay and the region remained a frontier even in the thirteen to the fifteenth century (Berend, 2001). In other words, this area remained open to Asian and African incursions and long term Mongol and Ottoman occupations. Between fifteenth and nineteenth century, they could not follow the modern, merchant and other features that were common from the western capitalists, with its homogenizing absolute state. Instead, it became the raw material and food supply periphery, re-feudalized in the capitalist world system (Berend, 2001). In connection with the collapse of the communism, Central and Eastern Europe have undergone a stiff period of economic and political transition as well as the rise of ethno nationalism and issues of national identity and exclusion of minorities like in the case of Yugoslavia. Proponents of cultural nationalism have attempted the assimilation of national minority low culture into the dominant national high culture. Moreover, civic nationalism has enforced people’s capacities to in Eastern Europe states towards the common goal of democratization and protection of human rights (Navaro-Yashin, 2002). This being the case, it is worth noting that, economic and political changes have a great influence to the cultural development in coherent and consistent ways. This is also supported by the fact that human development has significant implications for religiosity. This therefore means that, the revolution had some impact to the secularism of these nations. It is worth noting that, these regions have grown nationally. For instance, there has been tremendous transition towards democracy which continued in the Baltic States but not in the other parts of the former Soviet Union. Successfully, there have been the emergence of democracy which, regardless of the difficulties experienced; they can meet the Copenhagen criterion which implies that, they are managed democracies and at worst persistently authoritarian states. Currently, the bulk of formally communist Europe is now on the shoulders of the European Union and this therefore means that, the economies and the political regimes are now respectable to satisfy the accession criteria (Letki, 2003). Secularism is evident after the revolution. This is due to the fact that, it aligns it self under cultural conflicts, dividing line emerging between progress and reaction and also between the enlightenment and Christian ethos (Asad, 2003). The enlighten and new scientific insights gave rise to a link of Christian dogmas which were closely linked to marginalization of aristocratic and clerical authority in favour of a new bourgeoisie and its demands for political power which in other words referred to as popular sovereignty. The process of was accompanied by an increasing individualization in the society (Letki, 2003). In the old days, most parts of Europe has a smooth ride for only Christianity was present on the continent, apart from some Jewish minorities and thus their main task was to manage relation between the state and the church. It is worth noting that, during the communist dictatorship, the church was viewed as a positive sign of contradiction; a refuge for human dignity offended by the regime, however, in the long term, the church leaders have adopted a tone of aggressive insistence thereby creating a climate of ideological compulsion towards those who do not share their positions. This was connected to the western idea of secularization which found its ground on Max Weber Sociology of religion. In this case, Weber viewed secularization as part of a sweeping process of modernization that included both state and society (Neef, 2002). It is also worth noting that, there were no room to have religion, democracy and nationalism in the communist rule except during the era of Gorbachev. So as to establish the soviet identity, there was a need to introduce soviet nationality policy. This policy was divided into four periods starting with the Leninist era which was an era of tolerance of national differences where considerable freedoms were given to republics so as they can develop their national identity and culture. The second era was the era of Stalin’s consolidation of power. This stopped the Leninist accommodation of ethnic differences and brought about an era of forced assimilation. There were centralized political control and a crackdown on national deviances. The third stage was the post Stalinist period of rapprochement (Navaro-Yashin, 2002). This was the coexistence of different nationalities. And finally the Gorbachev which meant the absence of violence which almost brought independent; the spirit of belonging together and resistance to soviet domination was a clear indication of a strong attachment to religious ties and the traditional culture and could be considered a strong sense of nationalism. Since the strengthening of religion, neo-islamization and neo evangelization, a much stronger influence of religion and opposition to secularization can not be separated from nationalism (Navaro-Yashin, 2002). The different versions of Islam and Christianity are the mainstream in these areas to de secularization and de-atheization of these communities for it is a matter of fact that, people search for faith, meaning, solace as well as support so as they can cope with their broken lives and realities. It is clear that, there is much effort towards moving the society forward and the stronger communities that have developed have done so as to restore the religion (Marsh, 2000). However, in a country like Yugoslavia secularism was an ideology, rather than a legal, theoretical or even an academic matter, which was understood one sided as a plain justification to remove all elements of religious life out of the public sphere. It is the legal expression, the principle separation of State and church which was implemented as a constitutional rule shaping religious freedom issues in the country. However, it was interpreted as division of the two parties. Due to this, hostility and animosities were directed to the religious communities and their believers. It was even considered dangerous to the society (Brack & Pilet, 2010). It is also worth noting that, throughout the revolution, and mostly in the 1980s, togetherness or rather solidarity only existed as an underground organization and was supported by the Catholics. Most importantly, despite Bulgaria’ political- economic domination by the Ottoman Empire and Greek cultural a linguistic influence, its nationality existed prior to the rise of nationalism and the formation of an independent nation state. Moreover, the spread of education and the popularization of the Bulgarian language and history by church figures have in a very big way strengthened the people’s sense of belonging to a nation (Deschouwer, 2006). Unlike the Central and Eastern Europe blocs, Bulgaria introduced the ethno pluralist methods for accommodating minority concerns, where constructive components for removing ethnic tensions during democratic transition were a clear evidence of nationalism. The civic nationalism has given chance to a stable political unit which define the territory and let democracy take its way, unlike the Central and Eastern Europe where this was not present (Swenden, 2006). Conclusively, the most common form of nationalism in a state is often influenced by political, economic and social realities. The Western perception of central and Eastern Europe has been directed by a romantic vision of the peaceful revolution of 1989 and much later by the by the admirable picture of the national and ethnic conflict in Yugoslavia. By 1990, the situation became more stable giving way to a routine of mutual contacts based on a profound asymmetry between member states and the candidate states. After the cold war, these countries have decided to forge forward despite the challenges they face ranging from political to economic. References Asad, T. 2003 Formations of the Secular, Palo Alto: Stanford University Press. Berend, Ivan T. (2003) History Derailed: Central and Eastern Europe in the ‘Long’ Nineteenth Century. Berkeley: University of California Press. Brack, N., Pilet, J.B. (2010). ‘One country, two party systems : The 2009 Belgian regional elections.’ Regional and Federal studies, 20 (4-5) : 549-559 Deschouwer, K. (2006) And the Peace Goes On? Consociational Democracy and Belgian Politics in the Twenty-First Century. West European Politics 29(5): 895-911. Marsh, Christopher (2000) Making Russian democracy work. Social capital, economic development and democratization, Studies in Russian History, Vol. 4, Lewiston: Th e Edwin Mellen Press. Neef, Rainer (2002) Aspects of the informal economy in a transforming country: the case of Romania, International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Vol. 26(2), pp.299–322. Navaro-Yashin, Yael (2002) Faces of the state: secularism and public life in Turkey, Princeton: Princeton University Press. Kornai, J. 2005. ‘The Great Transformation of Central Eastern Europe: Success and Disappointment.’ Economics of Transition 14: 207–244. Letki, Natalia (2003) Explaining political participation in East Central Europe. Social capital, democracy and the communist past, Nuffi eld College Policy Working Paper, 2003 W2, University of Oxford. Letki, Natalia (2002) Lustration and Democratisation in East-Central Europe, Europe-Asia Studies, Vol. 54(4), pp.529–552. Swenden, W. (2002), ‘Asymmetric federalism and coalition-making in Belgium’, Publius: The journal of federalism, 32 (3): 67-87 Swenden, W.(2006). Federalism and regionalism in Western Europe. Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan. Read More