Works of Leading Scholars on Eastern European History - Assignment Example

Gale Stokes, a at Rice is one of the top ities on Eastern European history, Balkans and Nationalism. In his book “The Walls Came Tumbling Down”, Stokes explores a short, but turbulent period from 1968 until early 1990’s. The book was first published in 1993. Stokes’s book is a compelling account of events that brought down Communism in Eastern Europe and changed European landscape in profound ways. The book opens with events from 1968, when economic and political reforms were proposed in Czechoslovakia under the umbrella of so called Prague Spring and under the leadership of a reformist Alexander Dubcek. Stokes contends that, when Soviet President Leonid Brezhnev and his counterparts in other communist countries in the European east decided to crush down the movement and use force to do it, they signed and sealed a death warrant of the system they thought they were saving. Prague Spring lasted from January 1968 till August of the same year, when Warsaw Pact invaded Czechoslovakia and forcefully stopped reforms. Although short in duration Prague Spring echoed throughout eastern Europe and in the next two decades there will be other movements and attempts to change the system. Stokes talks about events in Hungary, Bulgaria and Romania in the late 1970’s, he gives a lot of space in the book to Poland’s Solidarity Movement in the 1980’s , all of which culminate in 1989. The events in Poland according to the author show resilience of reformists. There, the workers struck again and again as an effort to force the government to negotiate with them. Solidarity was the culmination of those attempts. Stokes writes that Lech Walesa, the leader of the movement skillfully led it as he tried to keep demands outside of ideological and political sphere. This strategy paid off as Warsaw was forced to recognize the movement and its demands. Stokes belief is that 1989 is as important in European history, as 1848, or 1917 or 1789 were. He is surprised that the whole world missed an opportunity to se 1989 revolutions in Eastern Europe coming. Stokes says that this pivotal year in history was unexpected by everyone, from Washington through Communist regimes, to even rebels themselves. Stokes, also, explores historical figures of the era and area. He talks about Romanian President Nicolae Ceausescu and his self-glorification, about changes occurring in Hungary when country officials decided to turn toward market-based economy. When talking about Polish President Gierek, Czech Vaclav Havel or other figures he is very accurate in their portrayals. Stokes gives special importance to the arrival of the last Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev. He sees Gorbachev as one of the reasons that lead way for wider reform movements as Gorbachev “lifted the lid on reform.” Finally, book has a special chapter that deals with the break-up of Yugoslavia and a bloody civil war that followed and was still raging when book was published. It is important to say that Stokes’ account of events in former Yugoslavia should be taken as an assertion of one of the foremost authorities on the issue. Stokes concludes his book by giving a historical overview of Eastern Europe events from WWI till 1990’s. in that Regard, Stokes talks about antinationalist fascist experiments between the two world wars, through hyper-rationalist communist experiment all the way to newest changes that give Eastern European countries a chance to join the pluralist experiment. It is his belief that the chance will be taken but at the same time, it will be a long process that will happen over decades not years. When read, the book shows that the author is not only an expert on the topic historically, but also that he possesses great sense for writing process. It is an easy read, well explained and documented and some experts call it the first history of the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe done by a professional historian. In the introduction to the book Stokes writes: “The desire for a new start, for a real change, for something different from the tired solutions of the 1930’s… was strong in Eastern Europe after the war. This shows us that the need for change was something that was prevalent in the societies of Eastern Europe as early as the 1930’s, and that this movement towards change culminated in the revolutions of 1989-1991.” The book would explore this sentence numerous times and discuss “paths of their own choosing” for Eastern European countries. Joseph Rotschild and his book “Return to Diversity” are both highly acclaimed. Rotschild is considered one of the leading scholars when it comes to Eastern European history and the book itself is a great narrative and, at the same time, wonderful summary of a complex political history in the region. Ever since first published in 1989, the book was used by scholars, professors and students as a valuable source of knowledge on the history of communist Eastern Europe since the end of WWII. The book is organized chronologically in a country-by-country mode and is thus very easy to navigate, something especially important for students. Each of its sections has a summary of most important themes in each country during the rise and fall of communism, Warsaw Pact and the cold war. Rotschild not only gives historical and chronological countdown of events in the area, he discusses in depth relevant political processes and reasons for specific events. Specifically, the author spends most time in extensive sessions covering Solidarity Movement in Poland, ethnic issues among Czechs and Slovaks in Czechosloavakia, the rise of new coalition government in Hungary, the retreat of Albania’s communist regime, the ousting from power of leaders of Romania and Bulgaria, and finally war in Yugoslavia, which is not covered in the first edition of the book, but it has its place in newer editions of the book. Since the book is written to follow historical events in a chronological way each decade after the end of the WWII, has specific events and issues Rotschild writes about. There are events from Yugoslavia in the late 1940’s, when Tito’s regime declined calls and threats from Stalin to join the Eastern Bloc. Rotschild discusses issues that arose during 1950’s in East Germany, Poland and especially Hungary, where Hungarian Revolution took place in 1956 . The revolution started on October,23 when students revolted against the communist government and Soviet imposed policies. Student delegation tried to get into the National Radio Building and broadcast their demands and was detained by the state police. Police refused to free them and then started shooting at demonstrators. This , in turn, lead to more violence and soon after whole country was engulfed in protests and clashes with the police and Soviet troops. Hungarian Politburo announced that they are willing to negotiate the withdrawal of Soviet soldiers from the country, and then switched and moved in with the goal to crush the revolution which actually happened on November,10. Rotschild, then, goes into 1960’s where he talks about Albania, Romania and Czechoslovakian Prague Spring of 1968. Another unsuccessful revolution following one in Hyngary, Prague Spring lasted much longer, had more underlying political impact on the future events but was still ended by Soviet force. Another important movement discussed by Rotschild was Solidarity in Poland. founded in September 1980 at the Gdansk Shipyard, and originally led by Lech Walesa, Solidarity was the first non-communist party-controlled trade union in a Warsaw Pact country. In the 1980s it constituted a broad anti-bureaucratic social movement. The government attempted to destroy the union during the period of martial law in the early 1980s and several years of political repression, but in the end it was forced to start negotiating with the union. This led to semi-free elections of 1989 and the elction of Walesa for President in 1990. Rotschild, also, writes about specific processes and analyzes consequences of specific important events. He contends that Soviet Bloc was only “supposedly monolithic”, claiming that it was never that and especially not after the death of Stalin in 1953. He, too, as many other scholars recognizes the importance of nationalism in politics of Eastern Europe and region’s societies. Special emphasis here is on the rise of nationalism in the 1980’s which proved to be one of the factors that sped up changes in the area and contributed to the fall of communism. Communist ideology practiced more or less in Eastern Europe of that era, always tried to dismiss national component as important, focusing rather on social issues between classes. This historical mistake, proven in a best way as Karl Marx was writing his Manifesto in 1848 and Europe was simultaneously burning with nationalist uprisings, was repeated by Soviet and other communist leaders since the WWII . Ethnically diverse and with minority issues in many of its member countries Eastern Europe was always poised to become a set of independent, ethnic countries. Communism could not offer the opportunity for that and was therefore growingly unpopular. Overall, “Return to Diversity” recognizes that in its very title. Rotschild tells us in an indirect way that diversity is what Eastern Europe was, what was always wanted. The ideology of communism is anything but that. Gale Stokes seems to be very popular source for studies on Eastern European history especially since the end of WWII. Released in 1996, his book aptly titled “From Stalinism to Pluralism”, covers half a century of history of Eastern Europe in which area countries went from being influenced by Soviet Union and its communist ideology to being free, democratic and pluralistic societies. In the book, Stokes incorporates a host of documents pertaining to the period. There is Yalta Agreement of 1945 that reorganized Europe in the aftermath of the war. The Yalta Conference included leaders of USA, UK, and Soviet Union and as the time proved will have a great impact on Eastern Europe. Also in the book, we find Helsinki Accords of 1975, held in Finland in an attempt to improve relations between the West and the Soviet Bloc, Gdansk Agreement signed after successful strikes in Poland in 1980. Extracts from works of all major dissidents in Eastern Europe are also included. There are parts of writings from Poland’s Leszek Kolakowski, Czeslaw Milosz and Adam Michnik, Yugoslavian writer Milovan Djilas, Hungarians George Lukacs and George Konrad, as well as Czech writer and dissident Vaclav Havel all of which offer valuable insight into processes and events that led Eastern Europe from being Soviet Union controlled to being democracies free to develop in their own way. With this book, Stokes tries to follow the thorny path Eastern European countries had to follow between Stalinism and political pluralism. To illustrate the character of this path, Stokes, also, introduces other pieces of writing that are useful for his discussion. The correspondence between Yugoslavian leader Tito and Stalin himself in years just following WWII sheds light on the relation between Yugoslavia and Soviet Union and shows how one small country stood up to the giant and refused to join the Soviet Bloc. Imre Nagy was the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Peoples Republic of Hungary on two occasions. Nagys second term ended when his non-Soviet-backed government was brought down by Soviet invasion in the failed Hungarian Revolution of 1956, resulting in Nagys execution on charges of treason two years later. His essays covering the 1956 uprising are also used by Stokes. “From Stalinism to Pluralism” is regarded as a strong intellectual history of Eastern Europe in the light of Soviet influence and the rule of communism. All the documents used in the text represent a very useful and valuable collection. At moments the book might look like a compilation of writings that are very loosely connected into a whole. But, that notion cannot be further from the truth. Along with all outside documents, Stokes himself has a lot to say. His commentaries and assertions are often time illuminating and sometimes even exciting. Stokes understands the forces at work in Eastern Europe more than any other scholar. He understands how difficult the fight Eastern European countries had to endure was. Stokes’ “From Stalinism to Pluralism” is a great combination of author’s own perceptions and thoughts and supporting texts. The later are included for the sole purpose of explaining author’s own views, and in that regard this book is a perfect research project. Read More