In Poland negotiation brought a non-communist government; in East Germany mass emigration and protest opened the Berlin Wall.
In Poland, the Solidarity trade union was formed in 1980 after strikes at the Gdansk shipyard. The government imposed martial law in December 1981 and banned it, but could not destroy it. By the late 1980s, economic crisis forced the communists to negotiate.
The Round Table talks of February to April 1989 legalised Solidarity and allowed partly free elections in June 1989. Solidarity won almost every seat it could contest. In August 1989, Tadeusz Mazowiecki became the first non-communist prime minister in the Soviet bloc.
In East Germany, the trigger was escape. Hungary opened its border with Austria in 1989, and thousands of East Germans fled west. At home, crowds in Leipzig marched every Monday, chanting "We are the people". On 9 October 1989, about 70,000 marched and the security forces did not shoot.
Erich Honecker was removed in October. On 9 November 1989, after a confused announcement about travel rules, crowds forced the guards to open the Berlin Wall. Germany reunified on 3 October 1990, and the Soviet Union itself dissolved in December 1991.
- Solidarity
- Formed 1980; martial law December 1981.
- Polish elections
- June 1989; Mazowiecki prime minister in August.
- Leipzig
- 9 October 1989: about 70,000 march peacefully.
- Berlin Wall opened
- 9 November 1989.
Worked example: Comparing Poland and East Germany
How did people power work differently in the two countries?
- Poland: an organised movement, Solidarity, negotiated a transition.
- East Germany: mass emigration and street protest without a single organised leader.
- Common factor: Gorbachev would not use force to save either regime.
- Judgement: people power was decisive, but only once Moscow stepped back.
Watch out for this
The Berlin Wall was opened by a planned decision of the East German government.
The announcement about travel was confused and premature. Crowds gathered and forced border guards to open the crossings that night.
Check your understanding
What did the Polish Round Table talks of 1989 achieve?
- They legalised Solidarity and allowed partly free elections.
- They reunified Germany.
- They brought Soviet troops into Poland.