Politics
Solidarity Election Flier, “How to vote for Solidarity in Żoliborz”
The flier above, directed at voters in the town of Żoliborz, illustrates the complexity of the elections held on June 4, 1989.
Papal Visit of 1987
When Pope John Paul II arrived in Warsaw during his 1987 "pilgrimage" he drove from the airport to the Primate's palace. A huge crowd turned out to greet him and flowers were laid out along the street that he was scheduled to travel.
Tessek Valasztani
This is one of many posters used during the 1990 Hungarian election by new political parties to differentiate themselves from the Communist Party. Here, voters are asked to "choose" between two different types of kisses. The poster was used by the party Fidesz (Alliance of Young Democrats).
Reagan at the Berlin Wall
On June 12, 1987, President Ronald Reagan gave an historic speech to the people of Berlin.
Berlin Wall Memorial at the Baker Institute (Rice University)
In 2000, 11 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, Rice University installed a section of the wall as a permanent part of the Baker Institute.
Goodbye, Comrade...
Of all of the East Central European revolutions, only Romania's turned violent. After government security forces killed protesters in the city of Timisoara, violence broke out between the army and the secret police, with the army standing by the protesters.
Berlin 9 November 1989
With the regime in disarry, an announcement that travel restrictions would be liberalized led East Germans to rush for the wall; confused guards let them pass, and by nightfall, Berliners from both sides had converged on the hated barrier and begun chipping away.
Comrades - It's Over!
Poster circulated by the anticommunist organization, Hungarian Democratic Forum (MDF) in the summer 1989 marking the anticipated departure-eviction of the Soviet Red Army troops who had kept Hungary in the Soviet bloc since the end of World War II.
For Them We Have Already "Voted"
March 1989 election poster for the nationalist "Sajudis" movement in Lithuania, wryly alluding to the Soviet leaders pictured here - Stalin, Molotov, Khrushchev, and Brezhnev - whose rule had been imposed on the Baltic countries since World War II and ratified through sham elections.
It Must Not Happen Again (1)
One of a set of posters reflecting glasnost-era exposès of the crimes of the Stalin era - including collectivization, purges, and the gulag.