Revolution and Resistance in Eastern Europe: Challenges to Communist Rule

by Matthew Stibbe (Editor), Kevin McDermott (Editor)

Overview

The history of Eastern Europe during the Cold War is one punctuated by protest and rebellion. Revolution and Resistance in Eastern Europe covers these flashpoints from the Stalin-Tito split of 1948 to the dramatic collapse of the Berlin Wall in 1989. Covering East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Poland and Romania, the authors provide comprehensive critical analysis of the varying forms of dissent in the East European socialist states. They take a comparative approach and show how the different movements affected one another. Incorporating archival material only accessible since 1989, they discuss issues such as the diverse manifestations of non-conformity among different strata of the population, the complex relationship between Moscow and the national Communist Parties, the loosening of Soviet control after 1985, and everyday resistance to state authority. This book offers a firm grounding in the tumultuous decades of communist rule, which is essential to understanding the contemporary politics of Eastern Europe.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781845202590
Publisher:	Berg Publishers
Publication date:	10/01/2006
Pages:	224
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.48(d)

About the Author

Kevin McDermott is a Senior Lecturer in the history department of Sheffield Hallam University.
Matthew Stibbe is a Senior Lecturer in the history department of Sheffield Hallam University.

Table of Contents

Foreword by Professor Pavel Seifter (Czech Ambassador to the UK, 1997-2003) * Revolution and Resistance in Eastern Europe: An Overview—Kevin McDermott and Matthew Stibbe * Part I * The Soviet-Yugoslav Split—Leonid Gibianskii * The SED, German Communism and the June 1953 Uprising: New Trends and New Research—Matthew Stibbe * Poland and Hungary, 1956: A Comparative Essay Based on New Archival Findings—Johanna Granville * Part II * Romania, 1945-89: Resistance, Protest and Dissent—Dennis Deletant * The Prague Spring: From Elite Liberalisation to Mass Movement—Kieran Williams * Solidarity, 1980-81: The Second Vistula Miracle?—Bartosz Kaliski * Part III * Negotiated Revolution in Poland and Hungary, 1989—Nigel Swain * 'To Learn from the Soviet Union is to Learn How to Win': The East German Revolution of 1989-90—Peter Grieder * Revolution and Revolt against Revolution: Czechoslovakia, 1989—James Krapfl * Afterword: East or West?—Tony Kemp-Welch