INTERNAL CRISES IN THE COUNTRIES OF THE SOVIET BLOC IN CONTEXTS OF EUROPEAN SECURITY

Dmytro Lakishyk

Ph.D. (History), Senior Research Fellow

State Institution “Institute of World History of National Academy of Science of Ukraine”, Kyiv, Ukraine

ORCID logo https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3804-9806
DOI: https://doi.org/10.17721/2524-048X.2021.20.3

Abstract. The article analyzes the internal crises experienced by the Soviet bloc countries during the Cold War. It is noted that the crises of society in Eastern Europe, in which in the early 1950s the model of the state system of the totalitarian type of the Soviet model was finally established, they arose constantly and over time unfolded and deepened. The social order imposed on the states under the influence of the USSR proved to be foreign completely and the population of these countries was unprepared and refused to accept it, which was one of the main causes of permanent outbursts of social discontent. The crisis of governance in the Soviet Union that arose after Stalin’s death, uncertainty, and some hope for the liberalization of public life gave the socialist camp hope for democratic reforms that could begin with a new leadership in the USSR. An extraordinary surge in social activity in the Soviet bloc led to the Twentieth Congress of the CPSU, which decided on a variety of forms of transition to socialism and could create the conditions for a peaceful and radical political and economic transformation. However, subsequent events showed the inability of the Soviet leadership to manage effectively the socialist camp in times of crisis, the use of military force as the only possible method of resolving conflicts, unwillingness to reform the system in the face of the challenges of the time, indomitable authoritarianism.

It is noted that the internal crises that erupted in the Soviet bloc, along with the casualties of the population and the threat to the stability of European security, nevertheless showed the readiness of these countries to change and internal resistance to the system, which were able at any time, if possible, lead the states on the path of reforms and democratization.

Keywords: Soviet bloc, Poland, the GDR, Hungarian Revolution, “Prague Spring”, Cold War.

Submitted 24.08.2021

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