• allowed people to gain exposure to western media

• allowed people to criticise the gov

• historians could expose the past & bad stuff done by previous soviet leaders

• allowed opposition parties

overall, this allowed E. Europeans to see that they were living badly compared to other countries eg. USA, and also expose the flaws of their government. E. Europeans lost confidence in USSR government. The E. Europe countries created opposition parties and overthrew Gorbachev's government => end of communism

Communism ended in Eastern Europe because of the choosing of their own political system. After USSR implemented changes in their own country, like in June 1988, during the warsaw pact summit, when ussr withdrew their troops from Eastern Europe, Eastern Europe was able to choose their own political system. The people wanted to leave the communist system, so one by one each state had their own election which led to them become democratic. The people would go so far as to imprisoning, arresting and executing communist governments that do not want to step down. Thus ending communism in Eastern Europe

Firstly, he introduced 'Glasnost': Gorbachev allowed criticism of the Soviet Government & Communism, freedom of press and speech, as well as allowed historians to expose the past (such as Stalin's infamous actions). He decreased censorship, allowed the citizens of the USSR to be exposed to Western media, and even allowed the formation of opposition parties.

Particularly, the exposure to Western/external media allowed people to see how backwards the USSR was compared to other countries: while other countries were progressing forward and becoming better/more advanced under democratic capitalism, USSR was stuck in the past due to communism. The more people knew about these differences and inadequacies, the angrier they became with the Soviet Government. This lead to them becoming more critical and resentful of communism. People of the USSR then lost confidence in the communist government's inefficacy, and therefore wanted communism to end.

Secondly, Gorbachev also initiated de-ideologisation. When Gorbachev decided USSR would no longer want to spread communism to other countries, in order to do away with ideological competition (communist vs democratic capitalist), he ended the Arms Race with the USA, did not pursue any more proxy wars (like KW and VnW), and withdrew from the Afghan War. He no longer wanted the USSR to intervene in Eastern Europe, and no longer forced communism onto those countries. By the Sinatra Doctrine, Gorbachev allowed the Eastern European countries to "go their way", essentially enabling them to break free from the USSR and thus communism. As more and more Eastern European countries broke free from the USSR, these countries eliminated their communist leaders, held elections, and chose democracy. This pushback against communism and influx of democracy, thus lead to the eventual collapse of communism in Eastern Europe (and thus the rise of democracy).

communism ended in eastern europe because

1. USSR’s decline and weak economy

• low standard of living

• low salary which made work force unmotivated leading to low productivity

• ussr was unable to provide for the whole of eastern europe and maintain military

• cause people in eastern europe to be angry and disappointed in USSR

2. Uprising and revolution by E.Eur

• Glasnot policy - allowed people to criticise ussr govt and form opposition parties (so they did)

• many e. european countries rose up to take down communist govt - assassinated/ imprisoned communist leaders

• held elections - eventually democratic government chosen so no more communism

3. USSR give up on East Europe and let go

• ussr no longer wanted to spread communism to other countries

• no. more proxy wars

• did not want to intervene in East Europe already - withdrew Sovt army in east europe ( so when govt gets attack no one to protect them so the communist govt in other countries no more)

1. Gorbachev’s Reforms

• This included de-ideologisation where USSR no longer wanted to spread communism to other countries, no longer intervening in Eastern Europe. The Sinatra Doctrine was a Soviet foreign policy, initiated by Mikhail Gorbachev, that allowed member nations of the Warsaw Pact to determine their own domestic affairs. This led to rise in democracy as people could elect their own government. Eastern Europe broke away from USSR and troops were withdrawn from eastern Europe. Communist leaders were executed and people chose democracy.

• This also includes glasnost where gorby allowed more freedom and openness by allowing criticism of the USSR government, freedom of speech, decrease in censorship, allowing historians to expose the bad past of USSR and exposure to western media which led to more people aware and angry with communism, realising USSR was backwards. He also allowed people to form their own opposition parties, making non c+ parties. This led to lost in confidence about communism and hence Eastern Europe also wanted to break free from communism hence collapse of communism in e. Europe

Clarice 7

Communism ended in Eastern Europe because of the reforms that Gorbachev introduced in the USSR. In June 1988, Gorbachev made a speech at the Warsaw Pact Summit where he withdrew large number of soviet troops from Eastern Europe and that they will not help other countries anymore and these countries will have to listen to their own people. Subsequently, the collapse of the Berlin war became a symbol of the fall of communism

…because Gorbachev introduced changes [Glasnost]

• he allowed freedom of press & speech, historians to share/expose the past, decrease censorship, exposure to western news/media and people to form opposition parties.

• the more people knew/learnt about what USSR did or have been doing during CW, the angrier they were with Soviet government.

• The people in E.Europe became more critical, more resentful and more distrustful of communism

• People of E.Europe realised that democracy was better (more advanced)

• people lost confidence in communism government & wanted communism to end

Therefore eventually leading to collapse of communism.

Communism in Eastern Europe ended largely due to economic decline. The centrally planned economies were inefficient, unproductive, and unable to compete with the West. Shortages of basic consumer goods, long queues, and poor living conditions led to widespread public dissatisfaction. Many countries in the Eastern also accumulated massive foreign debt in an attempt to modernize their economies, which only deepened the crisis.