Uprisings of Soviet Union Satellite Countries - Essay Example

Uprisings of Soviet Union Satellite Countries Introduction: Many of the satellite countries of the erstwhile Soviet Union were not willing membersof this union of socialist countries, but rather had been coerced into membership, and maintained as such, through the might of the armed forces of the Soviet Union. This being the case it was but natural that from time to time that there would be an eruption of nationalist spirit, leading to uprisings in these countries. Uprising in Poland 1956: After the Second World War, all resistance to Poland becoming a communist country was put down by 1947, but the embers of nationalist fervor remained in Poland, and caught afire again in 1956. It all started with almost 15,000 workers of the Cegielski locomotive works protesting their loss of due wages. Attempts to subdue these protests led to the Poznan riots, and what was to be later known as “The Polish October”. (THE HISTORY OF POLAND: POST WAR POLAND). The Poznan riots continued for two days, and led to the death of fifty-three, with another three hundred being injured. The Soviet Union viewed these riots as an imperialist plot to subvert the Soviet Union, while the Polish government supported the actions of the Polish workers. In an additional move, the Polish Communist party under the leadership of Wladyslaw Gomulka sought the removal of the KGB advisors from Poland. The Soviet viewed this as a move to eliminate the Soviet influence in Poland, and moved additional troops into Poland. However, these were not happy days for the Soviet Union as there was unrest in Hungary too, and so there was reluctance on the part of the Soviet Union to use force in a difficult situation. Finally a negotiated settlement saw the withdrawal of the Soviet intelligence and security apparatus from Poland, and payment for the presence of Soviet troops in Poland, but Poland remained within the Soviet Union. (POST-WAR POLAND) Uprising in Hungary 1956: The Hungarian uprising in 1956 was spontaneous and leaderless that had just one common thread, and that was the hatred of the oppressive regime. This was an uprising against communism, the first of its kind, in that many of those participating in the uprising were members of communist party, and most of them were either peasants or workers. Thus it bore resemblance to a Marxist revolution, with the difference that it was against a communist regime, and was led by peasants and workers, who were supposed to be the bulwarks of communism. Though economic factors provided background reasons for the uprising, the strength of the uprising came from political and emotional reasons. (Irving, D. 1981). Fighting in cities and towns is what most armies try to avoid, but it was this scenario that the armored units of the Soviet found themselves involved in, as they tried to suppress the Hungarian uprising in 1956. The Soviet army found themselves facing civilians, who attacked them with small arms fire, and a hail of Molotov cocktails, and then disappeared. The might of the Soviet army was not to be denied, and gradually each pocket of Hungarian resistance during the uprising was crushed. The defeat of the uprising consisting of people fighting on principle or tired of the oppressive government that only made false promises, was to be expected, as they were too poorly armed, and too poorly organized to succeed. (McCaul. E., 1998). Uprising in Czechoslovakia 1968: In the 1960s Czechoslovakia, though still a satellite of the Soviet Union was starting to display a certain degree of independence from the Soviet Union. By early 1968, the reformers had gained sufficient strength in the political apparatus to install Ludvik Svoboda as President and Alexander Dubcek as head of the Communist Party. These two took Czechoslovakia on to a path of economic reforms, and provided greater press and travel freedoms, and as a result Czechoslovakia became the most liberal Communist state in the world, with the people enjoying the newly available freedoms. This state of affairs was not to remain for long, as this state of affairs in Czechoslovakia, was alarming to the Soviet Union. Through negotiations an agreement was reached between Czechoslovakia and the Soviet Union to slow down the pace of reforms in the country, in an attempt to reduce the alarm of the Soviet Union. However, on August 20, 1968, the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact countries of East Germany, Poland, Hungary, and Bulgaria struck with lightening speed and massive force, so that within a week there more than half a million of these forces spread all over Czechoslovakia. Against this massive military might, the people of Czechoslovakia responded not through military means, but through nonviolent resistance. The Soviets responded with political manipulation and economic pressure that saw the Czechoslovakian leadership gradually give way. The intense initial resistance against the Soviet Union slowly eroded to a disgruntled complacency. Finally, the reformist government in Czechoslovakia was removed from office, and a more conservative government in keeping with the requirements of the Soviet Union was formed in its place. (CIVILIAN RESISTANCE IN CZECHOSLOVAKIA). The Break Away Of the Satellite Countries in the 1980s: Any forced union finally falls apart, and that is what happened to the Soviet Union from 1980 onwards. Economic stagnation in Russia itself had led to calls for reforms, and better relations with the Western world. This was to materialize through the Glasnost of Gorbachev. These changes within Russia provided the impetus needed for the satellite countries of the Soviet Union to break away one by one starting with Poland and the Solidarity movement. Gradually the Soviet Union disintegrated with all the satellite countries gaining full freedom from the Soviet Union, in keeping with their nationalist desires. (History of the Soviet Union (1985-1991) Works Cited 1. “THE HISTORY OF POLAND: POST WAR POLAND”. 23 June 2006. . 2. “POST-WAR POLAND”. 23 June 2006. . 3. Irving, D. “Uprising! One Nation’s Nightmare: Hungary 1956”. 1981. International Campaign for Real History. 23 June 2006. . 4. McCaul. E. “Hungarian freedom fighter”. Military History. 15.4, 1998: 38-45. 5. “CIVILIAN RESISTANCE IN CZECHOSLOVAKIA”. 23 June 2006. . 6. “History of the Soviet Union (1985-1991)”. Answers.com. 23 June 2006. . Read More