the Stalinist Albanian government also came to power independently of
the Red Army as a consequence of World War II. Albania broke with the
Soviet Union in the early 1960s and aligned itself instead with the
People's Republic of China.
Nations within the Eastern
Bloc were often held in the Soviet sphere of influence through military
force. Hungary was invaded by the Red Army in 1956 after it had
overthrown its pro-Soviet government; Czechoslovakia was similarly
invaded in 1968 after a period of liberalization known as the Prague
Spring. The latter invasion was codified in formal Soviet policy as the
The Eastern bloc came to an end with the collapse of the pro-Soviet regimes in Eastern Europe in 1989.
After the German and Soviet
invasion of Poland in 1939, the first Polish uprising during World War
II was against the Soviets. The Czortków Uprising occurred during
January 21–22, 1940, in the Soviet-occupied Podolia. Teenagers from
local high schools stormed the local Red Army barracks and a prison, in
order to release Polish soldiers who had been imprisoned there.
In the latter years of the war, there were increasing conflicts between
Polish and Soviet partisans, and some groups continued to oppose the
Soviets long after the war. Between 1944 and 1946, soldiers of the
anti-communist armed groups, known as the cursed soldiers, made a
series of attacks on communist prisons immediately following the end of
World War II in Poland. The last of the cursed soldiers, members of the
militant anti-communist resistance in Poland, was Józef Franczak, who
was killed with a pistol in his hand by ZOMO in 1963.
Poznan 1956 protests were massive anti-communist protests in the
People's Republic of Poland. Protesters were repressed by the regime.
The Polish 1970 protests (Polish: Grudzien 1970) were anti-Comintern
protests which occurred in northern Poland in December 1970. The
protests were sparked by a sudden increase in the prices of food and
other everyday items. As a result of the riots, brutally put down by
the Polish People's Army and the Citizen's Militia, at least 42 people
were killed and more than 1,000 were wounded.
Solidarity was an anti-communist trade union in a Warsaw Pact country.
In the 1980s, it constituted a broad anti-communist movement. The
government attempted to destroy the union during the period of martial
law in the early 1980s, and several years of repression, however, in
the end, it had to start negotiating with the union. The Round Table
Talks between the government and the Solidarity-led opposition led to
semi-free elections in 1989. By the end of August, a Solidarity-led
coalition government was formed, and in December 1990, Walesa was
elected President of Poland. Since then, it has become a more
traditional trade union.
Hungarian Revolution of 1956 was a spontaneous nationwide revolt
against the government of the People's Republic of Hungary and its
Soviet-imposed policies, lasting from 23 October until 10 November 1956.
The revolt began as a student demonstration which attracted thousands
as it marched through central Budapest to the Parliament building. A
student delegation entering the radio building in an attempt to
broadcast its demands was detained. When the delegation's release was
demanded by the demonstrators outside, they were fired upon by the
State Security Police (ÁVH) from within the building. The
news spread quickly and disorder and violence erupted throughout the
The revolt spread quickly across Hungary, and the government fell.
Thousands organized into militias, battling the State Security Police
(ÁVH) and Soviet troops. Pro-Soviet communists and
ÁVH members were often executed or imprisoned, as former
prisoners were released and armed. Impromptu councils wrested municipal
control from the ruling Hungarian Working People's Party and demanded
political changes. The new government formally disbanded the
ÁVH, declared its intention to withdraw from the Warsaw Pact
and pledged to re-establish free elections. By the end of October,
fighting had almost stopped and a sense of normality began to return.
After announcing a willingness to negotiate a withdrawal of Soviet
forces, the Politburo changed its mind and moved to crush the
revolution. On 4 November, a large Soviet force invaded Budapest and
other regions of the country. Hungarian resistance continued until 10
November. Over 2,500 Hungarians and 700 Soviet troops were killed in
the conflict, and 200,000 Hungarians fled as refugees. Mass arrests and
denunciations continued for months thereafter. By January 1957, the new
Soviet-installed government had suppressed all public opposition. These
Soviet actions alienated many Western Marxists, yet strengthened Soviet
control over Central Europe.
Public discussion about this revolution was suppressed in Hungary for
over 30 years, but since the thaw of the 1980s it has been a subject of
intense study and debate. At the inauguration of the Third Hungarian
Republic in 1989, October 23 was declared as a national holiday.
People's Republic of China
The Chinese democracy movement is a loosely organized anti-communist
movement in the People's Republic of China. The movement began during
Beijing Spring in 1978 and played an important role in the Tiananmen
Square protests of 1989. The 1959 Tibetan Rebellion had some
anti-communist leanings. In the 1990s, the movement underwent a decline
both within China and overseas, and is currently fragmented and not
considered by most analysts to be a serious threat to power to the
Communist Party's rule.
Charter 08 is a manifesto signed by over 303 Chinese intellectuals and
human rights activists to promote political reform and democratization
in the People's Republic of China.
As a document of Chinese origin, it is unusual in calling for greater
freedom of expression and for free elections. It was published on 10
December 2008, the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights, and its name is a reference to Charter 77, issued by
dissidents in Czechoslovakia.