(^202) › STEP 4. Review the Knowledge You Need to Score High
West Berlin, where they were embraced by tearful West Germans who gleefully gave them
handfuls of cash. The West German chancellor, conservative Helmut Kohl, moved quickly
toward reunification. It was a reunification that amounted to East Germany being annexed
by the West. Completely swept away in the pace of reunification were the original Civic
Forum leaders who were not at all sure that they wished to be reunified with West Germany
and its capitalist economy. Key events of the reunification included the following:
• In March 1990, elections were held in East Germany, creating a new government ready
to negotiate with West Germany.
• By August 3, the official treaty of reunification was drafted.
• The East German government approved the official treaty of reunification at the begin-
ning of October, and on October 3, 1990, the Germans celebrated Reunification Day.
• On December 2, the first unified national elections resulted in sweeping wins for Kohl,
“the Reunification Chancellor,” and his party.
Yugoslavia: Fragmentation
Yugoslavia had been a fragile state of six ethnically self-conscious member republics. As the
communist regime began to collapse, the ethnic rivalries of Yugoslavia quickly reasserted
themselves:
• Albanians in the autonomous province of Kosovo revolted against Serbian rule.
• The Slovenes and Croatians (or Croats), both western Slavs, agitated for independence
from Serbia.
• In 1989, the communist regime began to collapse, and the stronger republics were
moving toward independence. A fragile multiparty system was put into place.
The Soviet Union Comes Apart
Caught between the hardliners who wished to slow down reform and a population that
wanted it to come faster, Gorbachev’s popularity began to slip. Determined to go forward,
Gorbachev persuaded the Communist Party to give up its monopoly on political power
and called for free elections. Sensing collapse, Party members resigned in large numbers.
The various “republics” that made up the Soviet Union now emulated the satellite states
and began to agitate for independence. Lithuania led the way, declaring the restoration of
Lithuanian independence in March 1990. Others soon followed suit, including the Russian
Republic, led by the charismatic deputy, Boris Yeltsin. Gorbachev was faced with a crisis. In
the spring of 1991, Gorbachev proposed a compromise. He suggested that all the republics
sign a Treaty of the Union, declaring them all to be independent but also members of a
loose confederation. In August 1991, just as the treaty was about to take effect, hardlin-
ers tried to oust Gorbachev. For three days, there was confusion about who was in charge
and what the military would do. Yeltsin seized the moment, positioning himself between
the parliament building and military tanks. The military backed off and the coup attempt
failed, but it was Yeltsin who was now the favorite. Gorbachev resigned late in 1991, and
the Soviet Union, as the world had known it, disintegrated. Most of the republics chose
to join a loose confederation known as the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS),
whereas a few, especially the Baltic states, opted for independence.
Nationalism and Globalization
Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, nationalism, which had been driven under-
ground, again came to the surface in Eastern Europe:23_Bartolini_Ch23_195-206.indd 202 27/04/18 1:56 PM