HST 112 Lecture Notes - Lecture 23: Clement Attlee, Stasi, Consumerism
Document Summary
Why did communism fail in eastern europe: based on force/violence, corrupt (nomenklatura, scarcity of consumer goods, stagnant/failing economies. Nikita khrushchev (1955-64: xx party congress: secret speech , relations with usa, economic policy. Resistance to soviet rule: east germany (1953, hungarian uprising (1956) Crack in the bloc: poland: economic crisis and strikes (1970s, shipyard strike (1980) lech walesa. Solidarity: 10 million members: martial law (1981) Crisis of the soviet system (1980s: lost legitimacy of the communist party, economic stagnation, lack of consumer goods, declining belief in socialism, chernobyl disaster (april 26, 1986) Gorbachev and the fall of communism: perestroika ( restructuring", glasnost ( openness", foreign policy. Revolutions of 1989: hungary, poland: solidarity, germany. Dissolution of the ussr, 1990-91: august 1991 attempted coup. The welfare state, the economic miracle, and the origins of the european union: In the period after 1945, most west european states adopted welfare state policies.
