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U.S. Plans to Influence Bulgarian Political Changes

On November 10, 1989, the day after the fall of the Berlin Wall, leading figures in the Bulgarian Communist Party (BCP) forced Todor Zhivkov, Bulgaria’s leader for more than 35 years, to resign.

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Improving the Status of the Turks in Bulgaria?

The ethnic Turks living in Bulgaria had faced discrimination throughout Bulgaria's history. In response to a series of demonstrations in May 1989 for Turkish rights, the Communist government expelled more than 300,000 Bulgarian Turks over the course of the year.

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U.S. Reaction to Romanian Violence

In this December 18 communique from the U.S.

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Official Romanian Version of December Events

This telegram from the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, sent on December 19, comes two days after the shooting of demonstrators in Timisoara and informs Romanian ambassadors abroad of the government's official position on the crisis and how they should handle questions from their foreign hos

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Resolving the Turkish Question in Bulgaria

The ethnic Turks living in Bulgaria had faced discrimination throughout Bulgaria's history. In response to a series of demonstrations in May 1989 for Turkish rights, the Communist government expelled more than 300,000 Bulgarian Turks over the course of the year.

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Breakdowns in Soviet-Romanian Relations

In its final years, Nicolae Ceausescu's dictatorial regime in Romania increasingly isolated itself from the rest of the Eastern Bloc. Likewise, Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev distanced himself from the ultra-hardliners in Bucharest.

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The Possible Soviet Intervention in Romania

Romanian security forces' violent assault on demonstrators in Timisoara in mid-December 1989 sparked a wave of speculation as to whether this spelled the end of Nicolae Ceausescu, the region's sole remaining communist dictator.

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Romanian Assessment of Recent Events in Eastern Europe

In this December 22 telegram, Romanian ambassador to Moscow Ion Bucur reported to Deputy Foreign Minister Constantin Oancea in Bucharest on his discussions with Soviet officials concerning the situation in Eastern Europe, particularly the backlash against communist authorities.

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Soviet Response to the Romanian Uprising

In mid-December 1989, demonstrations erupted in Timisoara, quickly spread to other parts of Romania, and developed into a full-scale revolution, leading to the execution of President Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife on December 25.

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Protests in Yugoslavia

By December 1989, the economic hardships, chronic shortages, and unwillingness to reform created the same pressures on the Yugoslav Communist Party as it had elsewhere in Eastern Europe.