Browse

Government

Source

Guenter Schabowski's Press Conference in the GDR International Press Center

Günther Schabowski, the spokesman for the East German Communist Party Politburo, played a vital role in the toppling of the East German Communist government in the fall of 1989.

Source

Verbal Message from Mikhail Gorbachev to Helmut Kohl

With the opening of the border between East and West Germany on November 9, 1989, jubilant crowds took to the streets in Berlin to celebrate this historic event.

Source

The Russian Revolution: The Problem of Dictatorship

In January 1988, dissidents in East Germany mounted a counter-demonstration during the annual parade honoring the lives of Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht. Luxemburg and Liebknecht were both killed by right-wing Freikorps vigilantes during the 1919 January revolution.

Source

Excerpt from Freye Klier's Diary

Freya Klier was a leading theatrical director in East Germany. She and her husband, Stephan Krawczyk, were outspoken critics of the East German regime and were among the leading organizers of the counter-demonstration during the annual Liebknecht-Luxemburg parade in January 1988.

Source

Remembering the Dead

Professor Dr. Heinz Kamnitzer was the head of the East German writers group, PEN.

Source

President George H.W. Bush and Solidarity Leader Lech Walesa in Question-and-Answer Session With Reporters Following a Luncheon in Gdansk, 11 July 1989

The transition to a Solidarity-led government in Poland was closely associated with the introduction of market-oriented economic reforms.

Source

Minutes No. 64 from an Expanded Meeting of the PZPR CC [Central Committee of the Communist Party] Secretariat, June 5, 1989

The following are excerpts from a meeting of the leadership of Poland’s communist party held the day after the June 4, 1989 elections, when the magnitude of the party’s electoral defeat was just becoming clear.

Source

Letter from Andrzej Slowik to "Roundtable" Chair Wladyslaw Findeisen

Between February and April 1989 in Poland, Communist Party leaders and Solidarity activists engaged in negotiations during the historic roundtable talks.

Source

Prague Embassy cable, Brutal Suppression of Czech Students' Demonstration

This official cable sets forth the reaction of the U.S. Embassy in Czechoslovakia to the events of November 17, 1989.

View document icon
Source

Teleprint from CC CPCz to First Secretary CC CPS and Secretaries of Regional and District Committees

The Velvet Revolution was named for the remarkably non-violent end to communism in Czechoslovakia. Yet as Milos Jakes and his conservative government scrambled to respond to the aftermath of November 17, they were considering all options.