MAPPING THE WEST The Collapse of Communism in Europe, 1989–1990
The 1989 overthrow of the Communist Party in the USSR satellite countries of eastern Europe occurred with surprising rapidity. The transformation began when Polish voters tossed out Communist Party leaders in June 1989, and then accelerated in September when thousands of East Germans fled to Hungary, Poland, and Czechoslovakia. Between October and December, Communist regimes were replaced in East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, and Romania. Within three years, the Baltic states would declare their independence, the USSR itself would dissolve, and the breakup of Yugoslavia would lead to war in the Balkans.