In this book twelve outstanding authorities present their thoroughgoing assessments of the East European revolution of 1989—the definite collapse of communism as an ideology, a political movement, and a system of power in eight countries. All but two of the contributors focus on the revolution in an individual region or country—Poland, Hungary, the German Democratic Republic, Czechoslovakia, Romania, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, and Albania—and each of them addresses the theme of regime transition. In Eastern Europe, of course, the transition from communism to.... has been as complex and varied as the political geography of the notorious "fracture zone" itself, and individual authors thus concentrate on different sets of problems; they tell different kinds of stories. Pointing to the enormous difficulties of systematic transformation, they measure the dangers of nationality conflict and the potential for new authoritarianism. Ivo Banac has assembled a cast with impressive credentials. Without imposing an artificial unity on a chaotic subject, their book maps out the events of 1989-90 and sets the background for figuring out where the region may be headed.

Throughout Eastern Europe, the unexpected and irrevocable fall of communism that began in the late 1980s presented enormous challenges in the spheres of politics and society, as well as at the level of individual experience. Excitement, uncertainty, and fear predicated the shaping of a new order, the outcome of which was anything but predetermined. Recent studies have focused on the ambivalent impact of capitalism. Yet, at the time, parliamentary democracy had equally few traditions to return to, and membership in the European Union was a distant dream at best. Nowadays, as new threats arise, Europe’s current political crises prompt us to reconsider how liberal democracy in Eastern Europe came about in the first place. This book undertakes an analysis of the year 1990 in several countries throughout Europe to consider the role of uncertainty and change in shaping political nations.

This comprehensive reference, an expanded edition of Revolutions in Eastern Europe, provides a general introduction and broad historical background of Eastern and Central European countries from the First World War onwards, focusing on the development of independent countries and the establishment of Soviet-backed dictatorships, as well as their subsequent experience of political pluralism and external relations and alignments in post 1989 Europe. Each country is covered in an individual chapter, giving a factual account of their revolutions and upheavals and an assessment of their underlying causes.

Analyzes the fall of communism in Eastern Europe, country by country, during 1989 and 1990. Includes photographs, time lines, maps, and cartoons.

A comprehensive analysis of the progress and problems of post-communist development attending to aspects of transition in the region as a whole and to specific issues in Albania, Bulgaria, the Czech and Slovak Republics, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, Rumania, and Yugoslavia. Goldman (political science, Northeastern U.) diagrams the commonalities of development and the diversity of the various countries' rejection of communism, setting forth the difficulties in moving from communist monolithic authoritarianism to pluralistic democracy, coping with threats to progress and stability, and the international implications of these transitions. Paper edition (758-5), $32.95. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

A comprehensive introduction to the nations of Central and Eastern Europe over a half century of turbulent change - from post war subjugation by the Soviet Union to both shared and divergent experiences of post-Communist transition to free-market democracies.