Changes in Central and Eastern Europe - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

Changes in Central and Eastern Europe

19.4

Solidarity

Leader: Lech Walesa

Union that wanted gov’t recognitionUnions illegal under SU lawSolidarity workers went on strike at Gdansk shipyardMillions of Poles supported action and gov’t gave into union demandsWalesa becomes a national hero

Poland

G

ov’t

rebanned Solidarity and declared martial lawLead to economic crisis People went on strikeWanted Solidarity recognized and increase in wages1989 – Solidarity legalized and free elections held

Poles vote Communists out of power and Solidarity candidates into powerLech Walesa voted president

Poland

Lech Walesa

Used shock therapy on economy

Didn’t work: inflation, loss of jobs, unhappy people1995 - Voted out of office Aleksander Kwasniewski (former Communist) voted inKwasniewski’s PolandConnected Polish economy to rest of Europe

Became NATO memberSupported US in Iraq

Poland

East Germany and E. Berlin remained in ruins while W. rebuilt

E. Germans tried to escape over 200 killed

1989 Hungary opened borders to AustriaAllowed E. Europeans way into W. EuropeThousands of people fled

Germany Before the Fall

After Hungary opened borders, E. Germany closed theirs

Led to riots

Demanded right to travel freely and vote in free electionsE. German leader, Egon Krenz, tried to restore control by allowing people to cross the country freely

9 Nov 1989 he opened the Berlin WallA month later Communist party in E. Germany collapsed

E. Germany Falls

Germany started to

reunify - merging two

countries togetherMany people feared a united Germany Officially reunified 3 Oct 1990Leader: Helmut Kohl

Leader of W. Germany before reunification, took control after reunification

Germany and Reunification

Serious Problems with Reunification

E. Germany still in ruins

RRs, telephones, highways had not been updated since WWIIGoods produced by factories not good enough to compete in global marketFactories close – people lose jobsBanking system bankrupt

Germany After Reunification

1998 Kohl voted out of office

Gerhard Schroeder voted in but could not fix economic problems

Unemployment increased Economy shrunk 2006 – Angela Merkel elected chancellorUnemployment fellBudget was reduced below EU limits

Now largest economy in Europe

German Economic Challenges

Leader: Milos Jakes:

Arrested all protestors

Ruled country with an iron fistWenceslas Square Protests10,000 people gathered in Wenceslas Square to demand democracy and freedomHundreds were arrested but it sparked revoltVelvet Revolution: 25,000 students protested in Prague

Brutally attacked by the police – many injured and killedAngered the Czech people

500,000 people protested in PragueJakes stepped down and the Politburo resigned in a monthDemocracy in Czechoslovakia

S

hock therapy (again) to fix economy

Unemployment hit Slovakia (region of country) hardb/c of economic troubles Slovakia drifted apart from Czechoslovakia 1 Jan 1993 Czechoslovakia split into two countries: Czech Republic and SlovakiaBoth countries now members of NATO and the EU

Break-Up of Czechoslovakia

Initially led by

Josip

Broz Tito after WWIIPlayed US and SU against each otherLed to prosperity in Yugoslavia Kept country together during the Cold WarTito died in 1980 leaving Yugoslavia struggling

Yugoslavia

After Tito’s death, resentment within country turned into bloody conflict

Serbs, Croats, Slovenians, Bosnians, and

Kosvans, wanted own countriesSerbian Slobodan Milosevic came to power in Yugoslavia after Tito

Break-Up of Yugoslavia

Slovenia and Croatia declare independence

Milosevic ordered Serbian-led Yugoslavian armies to invade

Led to months of bloody fighting but both countries freed themselvesBreak-Up of Yugoslavia

After Slovenia

and

Croatia success, Bosnia-Herzegovina triedDisagreeing forces in B-HBosnian Muslims and Croats wanted independenceBosnian Serbs did not 1992: Bosnian

Serbs attack Muslims and Croats Used

violence and chemical warfare to ethnically cleanse Bosnia of Muslim populationEthnic Cleansing – specifically killing an ethnic groupThree years before US and UN force peace treatyMilosevic put on trial for his role but died before official trialToday, fighting died down but tensions still exist

It Gets Confusing