Revolutions of 1989 across Eastern Europe

Date

1989 (Autumn of Nations)

Category

Politics & governance

Region

Eastern Europe

Era

Contemporary

Significance

Over the course of 1989, communist regimes across Central and Eastern Europe fell in a rapid revolutionary wave, enabled by Gorbachev's refusal to intervene militarily. Hungary began dismantling its border fence with Austria in May, opening a route for East Germans to flee westward.

Poland's partly free elections in June produced a Solidarity-led government. In Czechoslovakia, the Velvet Revolution (17–28 November) brought a swift, non-violent end to communist rule after mass demonstrations in Prague. Bulgaria's leadership was ousted in November. The wave culminated in Romania in December, where the violent overthrow of Nicolae Ceaușescu — the only bloody transition — ended with his and his wife's execution on 25 December 1989. The summit between U.S. President George H. W. Bush and Gorbachev at Malta (2–3 December 1989) symbolically marked the winding down of the Cold War. Within months, one-party rule had collapsed across the Soviet bloc.

Empires active in 1989 (Autumn of Nations)

• Soviet Union
  1922 CE – 1991 CE
• British Empire
  1583 CE – 1997 CE
• Portuguese Empire
  1415 CE – 1999 CE
• Yugoslavia
  1918 CE – 1992 CE

Related politics & governance events

• Fall of the Berlin Wall
  9 November 1989
• German reunification
  3 October 1990
• Dissolution of the Soviet Union
  August–December 1991
• Gorbachev's glasnost and perestroika
  1985–1991 (from 11 March 1985)
• The end of apartheid and Nelson Mandela's election in South Africa
  27 April 1994 (election); 10 May 1994 (inauguration)
• Iranian Revolution
  January–February 1979

Also relevant

• Chile's "No" Vote Ends Pinochet's Rule
  1988

Further reading

Conquerors: How Portugal Forged the First Global Empire

The wider story

Conquerors: How Portugal Forged the First Global Empire

Roger Crowley

Fast-paced narrative of Portugal's seaborne empire.

Get it on Amazon →

As an Amazon Associate, Human Saga earns from qualifying purchases.