Surge to Freedom

Surge to Freedom PDF Author: James F. Brown
Publisher: Duke University Press
ISBN: 9780822311454
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 356

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Book Description
In praise of Surge to Freedom: The End of Communist Rule in Eastern Europe: "Nobody has yet produced a more perceptive and inclusive work on the events of what is arguably the most important year of our lifetimes. This book is essential for anyone with an interest in Eastern Europe, radical social change, or post-bipolar global politics."--Joel M. Jenswold, Social Science Quarterly "Brown has been a close observer of the region for decades, and the breadth of his knowledge and the acuity of his judgments are evident throughout."--Michael Bernhard, Political Science Quarterly "There is no surer guide than Brown to an understanding of these events, and no one better qualified to describe the complex and daunting problems facing the new non-communist governments."--John C. Campbell, Foreign Affairs

Surge to Freedom

Surge to Freedom PDF Author: James F. Brown
Publisher: Duke University Press
ISBN: 9780822311454
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 356

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Book Description
In praise of Surge to Freedom: The End of Communist Rule in Eastern Europe: "Nobody has yet produced a more perceptive and inclusive work on the events of what is arguably the most important year of our lifetimes. This book is essential for anyone with an interest in Eastern Europe, radical social change, or post-bipolar global politics."--Joel M. Jenswold, Social Science Quarterly "Brown has been a close observer of the region for decades, and the breadth of his knowledge and the acuity of his judgments are evident throughout."--Michael Bernhard, Political Science Quarterly "There is no surer guide than Brown to an understanding of these events, and no one better qualified to describe the complex and daunting problems facing the new non-communist governments."--John C. Campbell, Foreign Affairs

Communism: A Very Short Introduction

Communism: A Very Short Introduction PDF Author: Leslie Holmes
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199551545
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 177

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Book Description
The collapse of communism was one of the most defining moments of the twentieth century. This Very Short Introduction examines the history behind the political, economic, and social structures of communism as an ideology.

Historical Legacies of Communism in Russia and Eastern Europe

Historical Legacies of Communism in Russia and Eastern Europe PDF Author: Mark Beissinger
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107054176
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 259

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Book Description
This book takes stock of arguments about the historical legacies of communism that have become common within the study of Russia and East Europe more than two decades after communism's demise and elaborates an empirical approach to the study of historical legacies revolving around relationships and mechanisms rather than correlation and outward similarities. Eleven essays by a distinguished group of scholars assess whether post-communist developments in specific areas continue to be shaped by the experience of communism or, alternatively, by fundamental divergences produced before or after communism. Chapters deal with the variable impact of the communist experience on post-communist societies in such areas as regime trajectories and democratic political values; patterns of regional and sectoral economic development; property ownership within the energy sector; the functioning of the executive branch of government, the police, and courts; the relationship of religion to the state; government language policies; and informal relationships and practices.

Communism in Eastern Europe

Communism in Eastern Europe PDF Author: Melissa Feinberg
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1000518337
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 251

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Book Description
Communism in Eastern Europe is a ground-breaking new survey of the history of Eastern Europe since 1945. It examines how Communist governments came to Eastern Europe, how they changed their societies and the legacies that persisted after their fall. Written from the perspective of the 21st century, this book shows how Eastern Europe’s trajectory since 1989 fits into the longer history of its Communist past. Rather than focusing on high politics, Communism in Eastern Europe concentrates on the politics of daily life, melding political history with social, cultural and gender history. It tells the history of this complicated era through the voices and experiences of ordinary people. By focusing on the complex interactions of everyday life, Communism in Eastern Europe illuminates the world Communism made in Eastern Europe, its politics and culture, values and dreams, successes and failures. This book is an engaging introduction to the history of Communist Eastern Europe for any reader. It is ideal for adoption in a wide array of undergraduate and graduate courses in 20th century European history.

The Collapse of Communism

The Collapse of Communism PDF Author: Lee Edwards
Publisher: Hoover Institution Press
ISBN: 0817998160
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 224

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Book Description
Experts continue to debate one of the most important political questions of the twentieth century—why did Communism collapse so suddenly? These essays suggest that a wide range of forces—political, economic, strategic, religious, add the indispensable role of the principled statesman and the brave dissident—brought about the collapse of communism.

The Helsinki Effect

The Helsinki Effect PDF Author: Daniel C. Thomas
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691187223
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 321

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Book Description
Human rights norms do matter. Those established by the Helsinki Final Act contributed directly to the demise of communism in the former East bloc, contends Daniel Thomas. This book counters those skeptics who doubt that such international norms substantially affect domestic political change, while explaining why, when, and how they matter most. Thomas argues that the Final Act, signed in 1975, transformed the agenda of East-West relations and provided a common platform around which opposition forces could mobilize. Without downplaying other factors, Thomas shows that the norms established at Helsinki undermined the viability of one-party Communist rule and thereby contributed significantly to the largely peaceful and democratic changes of 1989, as well as the end of the Cold War. Drawing on both governmental and nongovernmental sources, he offers a powerful Constructivist alternative to Realist theory's failure to anticipate or explain these crucial events. This study will fundamentally influence ongoing debates about the politics of international institutions, the socialization of states, the spread of democracy, and, not least, about the balance of factors that felled the Iron Curtain. It casts new light on Solidarity, Charter 77, and other democratic movements in Eastern Europe, the sources of Gorbachev's reforms, the evolution of the European Union, U.S. foreign policy, and East-West relations in the final decades of the Cold War. The Helsinki Effect will be essential reading for scholars and students of international relations, international law, European politics, human rights, and social movements.

The Establishment Of Communist Regimes In Eastern Europe, 1944-1949

The Establishment Of Communist Regimes In Eastern Europe, 1944-1949 PDF Author: Norman Naimark
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 0429976216
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 268

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Book Description
The collaborative effort of scholars from Russia and the United States, this book reevaluates the history of postwar Eastern Europe from 1944 to 1949, incorporating information gleaned from newly opened archives in Eastern Europe. For nearly five decades, the countries of Yugoslavia, Poland, Albania, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, and the Soviet zone of Germany were forced to live behind the ?iron curtain.? Though their experiences under communism differed in sometimes fundamental ways and lasted no longer than a single generation, these nations were characterized by systematic assaults on individual rights and social institutions that profoundly shaped the character of Eastern Europe today. The emergence of the former People's Democracies from behind the iron curtain has been a wrenching process, but, as this book demonstrates, the beginning of the communist era was equally as traumatic as its end.With the opening of the archives in Russia and Eastern Europe, the contributors have been able to get a much firmer grasp on Soviet policies in the region and on East European responses and initiatives, which in turn has yielded more satisfying answers to vexing questions about Soviet intentions in the region and the origins of the Cold War. Exploring these events from a new, better-informed perspective, the contributors have made a valuable contribution to the historiography of postwar Europe.

The Rise and Fall of the Brezhnev Doctrine in Soviet Foreign Policy

The Rise and Fall of the Brezhnev Doctrine in Soviet Foreign Policy PDF Author: Matthew J. Ouimet
Publisher: Univ of North Carolina Press
ISBN: 0807861359
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 332

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Book Description
Since the sudden collapse of the communist system in Eastern Europe in 1989, scholars have tried to explain why the Soviet Union stood by and watched as its empire crumbled. The recent release of extensive archival documentation in Moscow and the appearance of an increasing number of Soviet political memoirs now offer a greater perspective on this historic process and permit a much deeper look into its causes. The Rise and Fall of the Brezhnev Doctrine in Soviet Foreign Policy is a comprehensive study detailing the collapse of Soviet control in Eastern Europe between 1968 and 1989, focusing especially on the pivotal Solidarity uprisings in Poland. Based heavily on firsthand testimony and fresh archival findings, it constitutes a fundamental reassessment of Soviet foreign policy during this period. Perhaps most important, it offers a surprising account of how Soviet foreign policy initiatives in the late Brezhnev era defined the parameters of Mikhail Gorbachev's later position of laissez-faire toward Eastern Europe--a position that ultimately led to the downfall of socialist governments all over Europe.

The Walls Came Tumbling Down

The Walls Came Tumbling Down PDF Author: Gale Stokes
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199879192
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 542

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Book Description
Gale Stokes' The Walls Came Tumbling Down has been one of the standard interpretations of the East European revolutions of 1989 for many years. It offers a sweeping yet vivid narrative of the two decades of developments that led from the Prague Spring of 1968 to the collapse of communism in 1989. Highlights of that narrative include, among other things, discussions of Solidarity and civil society in Poland, Charter 77 and the Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia, and the bizarre regime of Romania's Nikolae Ceausescu and his violent downfall. In this second edition, now appropriately subtitled Collapse and Rebirth in Eastern Europe, Stokes not only has revised these portions of the book in the light of recent scholarship, but has added three new chapters covering the post-communist period, including analyses of the unification of Germany and the collapse of the Soviet Union, narratives of the admission of many of the countries of the region to the European Union, and discussion of the unfortunate outcomes of the Wars of Yugoslav Succession in the Western Balkans.

The Collectivization of Agriculture in Communist Eastern Europe

The Collectivization of Agriculture in Communist Eastern Europe PDF Author: Constantin Iordachi
Publisher: Central European University Press
ISBN: 615522563X
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 571

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Book Description
ÿThis book explores the interrelated campaigns of agricultural collectivization in the USSR and in the communist dictatorships established in Soviet-dominated Eastern Europe. Despite the profound, long-term societal impact of collectivization, the subject has remained relatively underresearched. The volume combines detailed studies of collectivization in individual Eastern European states with issueoriented comparative perspectives at regional level. Based on novel primary sources, it proposes a reappraisal of the theoretical underpinnings and research agenda of studies on collectivization in Eastern Europe.The contributions provide up-to-date overviews of recent research in the field and promote new approaches to the topic, combining historical comparisons with studies of transnational transfers and entanglements.