Revolutions
South Texas Border, 1900-1920: Photographs from the Robert Runyon Collection
These images represent a valuable visual record of life in the south Texas borderlands during the 1910s and 1920s, as well as an important window onto a relatively understudied phase of the Mexican Revolution.
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.
U.S. Reaction to Romanian Violence
In this December 18 communique from the U.S.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
Short Teaching Module: Letter by the Bratislava Five
This teaching module addresses a protest in Bratislava during the summer of 1989 aimed at commemorating the anniversary of the Warsaw Pact invasion by publicly laying flowers at various locations in Slovakia where citizens had been killed in 1968.
Short Teaching Module: Czech Independence Day Speech
The dramatic changes in Eastern Europe happened so rapidly and over so broad an area that making these events understandable for students can be a challenge. This teaching module uses a landmark speech by Vaclav Havel as a means to unpack the rapid events of 1989.