Briefings

Image : Berlin, Prague, Warsaw and Bucharest in 1989.

1989, 20 years on

Protests, round-tables, revolutions: in 1989, Eastern Europe ousted the communist regimes which had ruled since the Second World War ended, and brought down the iron curtain. From Warsaw to Bucharest, including Prague and Budapest, people discovered a new way of life: democracy, travel, capitalism and freedom of choice, but unemployment, corruption, and immigration as well. Twenty years down the road, although they are now members of the European Union and NATO, the transition is still incomplete.

 
Image : Berlin, Prague, Warsaw and Bucharest in 1989.

Briefly

Romania The confiscated revolution
On 21 December 1989, Nicolae Ceauşescu was booed during a speech to an assembled crowd – and then ousted in the hours that followed. 20 years later, we still don’t know exactly what happened in the Romanian revolution. One thing is certain though: a handful of Communists capitalised on the ensuing bloodshed to take and consolidate power.
Romania Slow to write a new chapter
In the run-up to elections on 6 December, Romanian presidential campaigns have focused on issues of corruption and the legacy of the communist state, concerns which seem very remote when viewed from abroad. Writer Julia Kristeva argues that only the country's culture is now sustaining the bond with Europe.
Central and Eastern Europe Some post-communist dos and don'ts
Jobs, government, infrastructure: in the wake of 1989, the countries of the former communist block had to re-invent themselves. As Czech daily Hospodářské Noviny notes, the different strategies they chose resulted in some initiatives that were well-prepared and some that were wholly unsavoury.
Czech Republic Youngsters to the rescue, sort of
Increasingly disillusioned with the powers that be, students in Prague have decided to confront the political establishment with their own views. Their object is to change course and pave the way for a democratic renaissance.
Former Czechoslovakia The mildly masochistic revolution
Achieved without violence, the fall of the Czechoslovak communist regime had none of the usual arousal associated with revolutions. Journalist Jiří Peňás presents a psychoanalytic interpretation of the events of 17 November 1989.
Slovakia Press fights the state gag
Life for Slovak journalists is not exactly a bed of roses. Nonetheless, in spite of a populist government out to gag them by hook or by crook, they still manage to break scandals galore.
After '89 Loving Europe, despairing of the EU
Twenty years after the fall of Berlin Wall, the hope the event inspired is being thwarted by a European Union that seeks “to standardise behaviour and attitudes”, argues Henry Porter in the Observer.
Berlin Wall Lest we forget Poland...
Almost everyone remembers the fall of the Berlin Wall as the moment that marked the end of communism in Europe, but five months earlier, the first free elections in Poland had already paved the way for change. Journalist Jacek Stawiski complains that our sense of history has been skewed by a fondness for dramatic images.
Germany After the Wall
Today, on 9 November, a reunified Germany and a peaceful Europe will celebrate the anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall - an event hailed by the European press, which nonetheless notes that the end of the Cold War has yet to bring all of the expected benefits to the Old Continent.
Germany Reunification - one word, two lies
Eastern Germans have too been too busy adapting to a new society to settle their accounts with the former German Democratic Republic. And upholding the myth of reunification will only serve to stifle any real debate, comments the writer Thomas Brussig.
Poland-Czech Republic Smells like '89 spirit
In October 1989, underground artists from Poland and Czechoslovakia gathered in Wrocław for an independent cultural festival. Twenty years later, a commemorative event held in the Polish city and in Prague aims to rekindle the spirit of solidarity and cultural resistance to the communist regime.
Czech Republic The age of disenchantment
The Czech president’s controversial European policy is a telltale sign of the crisis and demoralisation that has paralysed the country. What is worse, however, “mafia capitalism” has set in and is rotting society, laments ex-president Vaclav Havel.
Hungary 13 reasons not to be cheerful
A recent national survey has ranked Hungarians among the most pessimistic peoples on the planet. Taking a broad look at the different profiles that participate in the collective gloom — from those who lost out in the 1989 regime change to thwarted ideologues — sociologist Elemér Hankiss explores the range of Hungarian despondency.
Autumn 1989 The Wall fell in Leipzig
The Berlin Wall is the symbol of both divided and reunified Germany. But 20 years ago, on 9 October, the first mass demonstrations against the East German regime took place in Leipzig. Had it not been for Leipzig, the Wall would never have come down, writes Die Zeit.
Anti-missile shield Russia inspires fear and foreboding
Barack Obama's decision to abandon plans for a missile defence shield in Poland and the Czech Republic - promised by George Bush - has not been welcomed in either country. The European press expresses its concern about the influence of Moscow in the region.
Documentary Filming the forgotten frontier
Café Babel interviews Berlin-based French students Simon Brunel and Nicolas Pannetier, directors of The Inner Border, a documentary that travels along the former Iron Curtain in search of those whose lives were shaped by the now defunct and once forbidding boundary line.
Romania New tourism likes it dark
Memorials for massacres, genocides and catastrophes of all kinds are magnets for tourists. Every year, places such as Hiroshima, Chernobyl, Ground Zero, and Auschwitz attract millions of visitors. In Romania, the Memorial to the Victims of Communism in Sighet prison aims to show visitors some of the horrors of the totalitarian state.
World War 2 Warsaw and Moscow, rethinking 1939
On 1st September, Polish, German and Russian leaders will attend a ceremony to remember the German invasion of Poland, which triggered the start of the Second World War. But behind the scenes, Warsaw and Moscow are involved in a war of words about the responsibility of the Soviet Union in the tragic events of 1939.
Czech Republic Spies still come in from the cold
On the 17 August 2009, two members of the Russian embassy in Prague were charged with spying and expelled from the country. The very next day, two Czech diplomats working in Moscow were sent home in retaliation. This episode illustrates the lingering tensions between Russia and ex-satellite countries that have since joined the EU and NATO.
Athletics The doping legacy
In the wake of re-unification, Germany inherited a stable of East German champions, who had not only broken records in track and field but also in the consumption of steroids. Twenty years later, German sport is only now beginning to recover.
Anniversary The picnic that raised the Iron Curtain
On 19 August 1989, several thousand people arranged to get together near the Hungarian town of Sopron, along the Austrian border, for a pan-European picnic. The event was organised by Hungary’s democratic opposition parties and Otto von Habsburg’s pan-European movement, and was sanctioned by the Hungarian authorities, who actually opened the border for three hours for the occasion. The picnic proved a turning point in history that eventually led to the raising of the Iron Curtain.
Czech Republic and Slovakia Parted twins are grown-ups now
Seventeen years ago, Czechoslovaks were in mourning for their impossibly named multi-ethnic state, which had just been dissolved to create two separate countries. Having squandered the first five years of their independence, Slovaks rapidly embarked on a series of major reforms which led to their inclusion in the eurozone. For the first time ever, they "succeeded in overtaking the Czechs" who were busy struggling with the interminable internal squabbles that beset their new republic.
Croatia The island of Marshall Tito
A Croatian island that was home to a sinister Titoist re-education camp for 40 years will shortly be provided with a memorial and documentation centre. For former detainees, acknowledgement of the horror they endured remains an ongoing combat, reports Dutch daily Trouw.
Moldova The emperor, the miller and the judge
After elections in April, which sparked protests in the streets and returned a parliament that was unable to elect a president, Moldovans are returning to the polls for an early general election on 29 July. National daily Timpul wonders if the communists will retain power, and whether the electorate will opt for a Western or Eurasian political model.
Romania Some benefits are more equal than others
In 2008, nearly one out of two Romanians obtained social benefit. With comfortable pensions for some and long maternity leave for others, the unemployed remain sidelined, reports România Libera, while the better off reap full advantage of a generous system.
Memory Lane Bussing to the new frontier
In 1989, after the collapse of the communist regime, Czechoslovakian buses trundled out to the four corners of Europe...and its shopping centres. Lidové Noviny remember a time of adventure galore round the corner from every car park.
Post-89 societies In the shadow of the archives
In the countries of the former Soviet Bloc, information from communist era secret police archives continues to spark controversy. Should public figures be investigated? Or is it time to forget? Different attitudes in individual countries were determined during the transition to democracy.
Youth Daughters of communism don't look back
Born in what was still known as the "Eastern bloc", three young women now in their twenties have embraced whole-heartedly their societies' conversion to capitalism. Café Babel meets up with Europe new "Working girls."
EU presidency Czech presidency misses the boat
The Czech Republic's six month presidency of the EU has been much talked about. For all the wrong reasons, argues political analyst Lukáš Macek in Mladá Fronta DNES.
Poland It was 20 years ago today...
As Poland celebrates 20 years of political independence, feelings are mixed. While Gazeta Wyborcza raises a glass to a free Poland, “shared by all”, Pawel Lisicki, in Rzeczpospolita laments “a time of ‘amnesia and a weakening of the sense of civic duty.”
 
 
 

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