ÿþ<html> <head> <title>WHKMLA : Timelines - Collapse of Communism </title> <!-- copyright Alexander Ganse, 2003 --> </head> <body bgcolor="grey" text="black" link="blue" vlink="red" alink="brown"> <style> <!-- A{ font-weight: bold; font-size: 10pt; font-face: arial; } --> </style> <DIV align ="center"> <TABLE border = "0" cellspace="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"> <TR> <TD align = "center" valign = "center"> <A HREF = "../../index.html"> <img src = "../../whkmla2.jpg" border = "0"> </a></TD></TR></TABLE> <TABLE border = "0" cellspace="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"> <TR> <TD align = "center" valign = "center"> <img src = "../../meh.jpg" border = "0"> </a></TD></TR></TABLE> <TABLE border = "0" cellspace="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"> <TR> <TD width = "100" height = "36" align = "center" valign = "center"> <font size = "2" face = "arial"><B> Late Cold War </b></font></TD> <TD width = "36" height = "36" align = "center" valign = "center"> <A HREF = "tllcw.html"> <img src = "../../region/arrowleft.gif" width = "36" height = "36" border = "0"> </a></TD> <TD align = "center" valign = "center"> <A HREF = "xtimelines.html"> <img src = "../timelines.jpg" border = "0"> </TD> <TD width = "36" height = "36" align = "center" valign = "center"> <A HREF = "tlrecent.html"> <img src = "../../region/arrowright.gif" width = "36" height = "36" border = "0"> </a></TD> <TD width = "100" height = "36" align = "center" valign = "center"> <font size = "2" face = "arial"><B> Recent Developments </b></font></TD></TR></TABLE> <font size = "3" face = "arial"><B><i>First posted on March 29th 2003, last revised on September 8th 2004 </i></b></font><BR><BR><BR><BR> <TABLE border = "0" cellspace="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"> <TR> <TD align = "center" valign = "center" width = "900"> <font face = "Times Roman" size = "5"><B> Timeline Collapse of Communism </B></font> <BR> <font face = "Times Roman" size = "2"><i> http://www.zum.de/whkmla/timelines/meh/tlcolcom.html </i></font></B> </TD></TR></TABLE> <BR><BR> <TABLE border = "0" cellspace="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"> <TR> <TD align = "left" valign = "center" width = "110"> <font face = "Times Roman" size = "2"> 1985 III 11 <BR><BR> 1986 IV 26 <BR><BR> 1986 X 11 <BR> 1987 VI 9 <BR><BR><BR> 1987 VI 12 <BR> 1988 <BR><BR> 1989 IV 18 <BR><BR> 1989 V 6 <BR><BR> 1989 VI <BR><BR> 1989 VI 4 <BR><BR> 1989 VI 6 <BR><BR> 1989 VIII 19 <BR><BR> 1989 IX 11 <BR><BR><BR> 1989 X 1 <BR><BR><BR> 1989 X 10 <BR> 1989 X <BR> 1989 XI 9 <BR><BR><BR><BR> 1989 XI 19 <BR> 1989 XII 2-3 <BR> 1989 XII 17 <BR><BR> 1989 XII 25 <BR><BR><BR> 1989 XII 29 <BR><BR> 1989 XII <BR> 1989 <BR><BR> 1990 II 3 <BR> 1990 III 11 <BR><BR> 1990 III 18 <BR><BR> 1990 V 2 <BR> 1990 VII 1 <BR> 1990 VII <BR> 1990 IX 9 <BR> 1990 IX 12 <BR> 1990 X 3 <BR> 1990 XII <BR><BR> 1990 XII 23 <BR> 1991 VI 12 <BR> 1991 VI 25 <BR> 1991 VIII 19 <BR><BR><BR> 1991 VIII 21 <BR> 1991 VIII 24 <BR> 1991 XII 8 <BR><BR> 1991 XII 25 <BR><BR> 1992 III 31 <BR><BR> 1993 I 1 <BR> </font></TD> <BR><TD align = "left" valign = "center" width = "600"> <font face = "Times Roman" size = "2"> <A HREF = "../../region/russia/xussr.html">USSR</A> : Mikhail Gorbachev elected Secretary General of the Central Committee <BR> of the Communist Party <BR> USSR : two of 4 reactors at Chernobyl nuclear power station experience meltdown, <BR> leak radiation; worst accident of nuclear energy history <BR> Reykjavik, <A HREF = "../../region/scandinavia/xiceland.html">ISL</A> : Summit Gorbachev-Reagan <BR> Berlin West : The Eurythmics, a rock band, stage an open air concert not too far from the wall. <BR> <A HREF = "../../region/germany/xgermanyneu.html">GDR</A> fans gather at the eastern side of the wall; when police demands them to retreat, they <BR> shout in Chorus : "Die Mauer muss weg !" (The wall has to be removed) <BR> Berlin West : US President Ronald Reagan calls on <A HREF = "../../region/russia/xussr.html">USSR</A> head of state Gorbachev to <BR> "tear down this wall" <BR> <A HREF = "../../region/germany/xgermanyneu.html">GDR</A> : Soviet magazine "Sputnik" placed on index (banned); ban lifted 1989 X 20 <BR> Begin of Round Table Conferences in <A HREF = "../../region/eceurope/xpoland.html">Poland</A>; begin of transition to democracy <BR> <A HREF = "../../region/germany/xgermanyneu.html">GDR</A> - Local election results were manipulated (98.85 % yes votes); immediately <BR> demonstrations against election manipulations held <BR> Free elections held in <A HREF = "../../region/eceurope/xpoland.html">Poland</A>; Solidarnosc wins overwhelming victory; Tadeusz Mazowiecki <BR> appointed prime minister <BR> Beijing, China : demonstrants' camp on Tienanmen square destroyed, demonstrants arrested, <BR> many injured or killed <BR> <A HREF = "../../region/germany/xgermanyneu.html">GDR</A> : officially the GDR media describe the events in China as reestablishment of <BR> law and order <BR> <A HREF = "../../region/eceurope/xhungary.html">H</A> : Sopron Picnic : Hungarian officials cut a symbolic hole into the Iron Curtain; <BR> several hundred East Germans manage to flee to Austria <BR> <A HREF = "../../region/eceurope/xhungary.html">Hungary</A> permits 10,000s of <A HREF = "../../region/germany/xgermanyneu.html">GDR</A> citizens who had entered the country as vacationers to cross <BR> Iron Curtain, they transit Austria for FRG <BR> <A HREF = "../../region/germany/xgermanyneu.html">GDR</A> permits East Germans who took refuge at FRG embassies in Prague, Warsaw to <BR> travel to FRG on condition that they transit GDR; a second such exodus, via direct route, <BR> took place Oct. 4th <BR> <A HREF = "../../region/germany/xgermanyneu.html">GDR</A> celebrates 40th anniversary; head of state Erich Honecker stubbornly holds on to party <BR> line; Guest Mikhail Gorbachev criticizes inflexible approach; while leaving for his plane, <BR> many scan "Gorby, Gorby". <BR> Erich Honecker (<A HREF = "../../region/germany/xgermanyneu.html">GDR</A>) : The Berlin Wall will stand another 100 Years <BR> Leipzig (<A HREF = "../../region/germany/xgermanyneu.html">GDR</A>) : 70,000 demonstrate for the abolition of travel restrictions; troops, ordered to <BR> clamp down on the demonstrants, refuse to do so; Erich Honecker steps down; border crossings <BR>in Berlin opened, 10,000s of East Berliners stroll the streets of West Berlin. The Berlin Wall is <BR> destroyed within the next three weeks. <BR> Prague, <A HREF = "../../region/eceurope/xczechoslovakia.html">CSR</A> : opposition groups found Civic Forum <BR> <A HREF = "../../region/italy/xmalta.html">Malta</A> : Gorbachev-Bush Summit <BR> Timisoara, <A HREF = "../../region/balkans/xromania.html">ROM</A> : Army units charged with suppressing pro democracy demonstrations defect to <BR> the demonstrators <BR> <A HREF = "../../region/balkans/xromania.html">Romania</A> : Nicolae Ceaucescu, fearing to lose control over mass he addressed in speech, fled <BR> in helicopter; <A HREF = "../../region/russia/xussr.html">USSR</A> refused entry, Ceaucescu and wife Elena arrested after landing, <BR> tried by military tribunal, executed <BR> Francois Mitterand, President of <A HREF = "../../region/france/xfrance.html">France</A>, on state visit in <A HREF = "../../region/germany/xgermanyneu.html">GDR</A>, states the GDR should <BR> continue to exist <BR> Prague, <A HREF = "../../region/eceurope/xczechoslovakia.html">CSFR</A> : Vaclav Havel inaugurated as first non-communist president since 1948 <BR> <A HREF = "../../region/balkans/xbulgaria.html">BG</A> : Todor Zhivkov, BG Secretary General of Communist Party, repeats 1963 offer of BG <BR> to become <A HREF = "../../region/russia/xussr.html">USSR</A>'s 16th republic; Gorbachev declines <BR> <A HREF = "../../region/balkans/xbulgaria.html">BG</A> : A.K. Lukanov inaugurated as first non-communist premier since 1947 <BR> <A HREF = "../../region/eceurope/xlithuania.html">Lithuania</A> unilaterally proclaimed independence from <A HREF = "../../region/russia/xussr.html">USSR</A>; <A HREF = "../../region/eceurope/xlatvia.html">Latvia</A> (Aug. 21) and <BR> <A HREF = "../../region/eceurope/xestonia.html">Estonia</A> follow soon after <BR> Free Elections held in <A HREF = "../../region/germany/xgermanyneu.html">GDR</A>; PdS (successor to GDR state party SED) gains 18 % of votes; <BR> East-CDU dominates new government <BR> <A HREF = "../../region/eceurope/xhungary.html">Hungary</A> : Arpad G&ouml;ncz first non-communist head of state since 1948 <BR> FRG Mark introduced as currency in <A HREF = "../../region/germany/xgermanyneu.html">GDR</A>; East German Mark exchanged at rate 2:1. <BR> <A HREF = "../../region/russia/xussr.html">USSR</A> : Boris Yeltsin leaves Communist Party <BR> Helsinki, <A HREF = "../../region/scandinavia/xfinland.html">SF</A> : Gorbachev-Bush Summit <BR> Treaty on German Reunification (2+4 Treaty) signed in Moscow <BR> <A HREF = "../../region/germany/xgermanyneu.html">Germany</A> celebrates reunification <BR> Lech Walesa succeeds Wojciech Jaruzelski as President of <A HREF = "../../region/eceurope/xpoland.html">Poland</A>; transition to democracy <BR> completed <BR> Ljubljana : <A HREF = "../../region/germany/xslovenia.html">Slovenia</A>, in a plebiscite, opts for independence from Yugoslavia <BR> <A HREF = "../../region/russia/xussr.html">Russia</A> : Boris Yeltsin elected Russian president in first free elections <BR> Zagreb : <A HREF = "../../region/balkans/xcroatia.html">Croatia</A> unilaterally declares independence from Yugoslavia <BR> <A HREF = "../../region/russia/xussr.html">USSR</A> : Hardline Communists stage coup d'etat; Gorbachev, while on summer vacation, <BR> placed under house arrest. <A HREF = "../../region/russia/xussr.html">Russia</A> President Yeltsin condemns coup, calls in loyal troops, has <BR> govt building surrounded, holds speech while standing on tank <BR> <A HREF = "../../region/russia/xussr.html">USSR</A> : Communist coup collapses; Gorbachev resumes government <BR> <A HREF = "../../region/russia/xussr.html">USSR</A> : Russ. Pres. Boris Yeltsin declares Communist Party an illegal organization <BR> <A HREF = "../../region/russia/xussr.html">Russia</A>, <A HREF = "../../region/russia/xbelarus.html">Belarus</A>, <A HREF = "../../region/russia/xukraine.html">Ukraine</A> found CIS; on May 15 1992, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan join <BR> Moscow : Mikhail Gorbachev resigns; <A HREF = "../../region/russia/xussr.html">USSR</A> disintegrates, member republics formally <BR> become independent <BR> Moscow : Federation treaty signed by <A HREF = "../../region/russia/xussr.html">Russian Republic</A>, autonomous republics within <BR> (except Chechnya, Tatarstan) <BR> Break-up of <A HREF = "../../region/eceurope/xczechoslovakia.html">Czechoslovakia</A>; <A HREF = "../../region/germany/xbohemia.html">Czech Republic</A> and <A HREF = "../../region/eceurope/xslovakia.html">Slovakia</A> independent states <BR> </font></TD> </TR></TABLE><BR><BR> <TABLE border = "0" cellspace="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"> <TR> <TD align = "left" valign = "center" width = "500"> <font face = "Times Roman" size = "2"> History by Period : Late Cold War, <A HREF = "../../region/europe/collapse.html"> http://www.zum.de/whkmla/region/europe/collapse.html</A> <BR><BR> <A NAME = "bib">Bibliography</A> <BR><BR> Mark Galeotti, <A HREF = "http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0312164823/103-1018733-4659013"><B> Gorbachev and his Revolution</B></A>, NY : St. Martin's, 1997, 142 pp., KMLA Lib.Sign. <B>947.085 G 153g</B> <BR><BR> Der Fischer Weltalmanach, Sonderband DDR (Fischer World Almanach, Special Edition : GDR), Frankfurt : Ficher 1990, 383 pp., in German [G] <BR> </font></TD> </TR></TABLE><BR><BR> <TABLE border = "0" cellspace="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"> <TR> <TD align = "left" valign = "center" width = "500"> <font face = "Times Roman" size = "2"> IMPORTANT EXPRESSIONS, PHRASES <BR><BR> Glasnost, Perestroika, Solidarnosc, Goulash Communism, Sopron Picnic, Monday Demonstrations, Tienanmen Demonstrations, Chinese Solution, 2+4 Treaty, German Reunification, Break-up of USSR, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, CIS </font></TD> </TR></TABLE><BR><BR> <TABLE border = "0" cellspace="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"> <TR> <TD align = "left" valign = "center" width = "500"> <font face = "Times Roman" size = "2"> IMPORTANT PERSONS <BR><BR> Mikhail Gorbachev, Edward Shevardnadse, Wojciech Jaruzelski, Lech Walesa, Tadeusz Mazowiecki, Vaclav Havel, Nicolae Ceaucescu, Todor Zhivkov, Erich Honecker, Egon Krenz, Lothar de Maiziere, Helmut Kohl, Hans Dietrich Genscher, Ronald Reagan </font></TD> </TR></TABLE><BR><BR><BR><BR> </DIV> </DIV> <DIV align="center"> <A href="mailto:aganse@hotmail.com"> <IMG src="../../email.gif" border="0"></a><BR> </DIV><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR> <!-- Start of Count-o-Rama Code --> <a href="http://62.132.145.75/index.html" target="_blank"> <img src="http://62.132.145.75/cgi-bin/hidden.pl?12950" border="0"></a> <!-- End of Count-o-Rama Code --> <!-- Start of CH Counter --> <script type="text/javascript"> //<!-- // chCounter v2.0.0 // settings: cstatus = "active"; visible = "0"; path_to_counterfile = "http://www.zum.de/whkmla/counter/counter.php"; urlhp = "http://www.zum.de"; //////////////// url = unescape(location.href); file = url.substring(url.lastIndexOf(urlhp) + urlhp.length, url.length); file = (file.charAt(0) != "/") ? 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