November 8, 2019

On Nov. 9, 1989, 30 years ago tomorrow, the Berlin Wall, perhaps the most infamous symbol of the Cold War, was opened and begun to be torn down. (See below for a detailed definition of Cold War.) At that time, Germany and Berlin were still split between the Soviet-dominated east and a west supported by the United States and its allies. The fall of the Berlin Wall was an immensely important event in world history. It represented the end of the Cold War and a new beginning in world relations.

East German border guards face cheering crowds at the Berlin Wall on Nov. 10, 1989, the day after the infamous barrier was opened. Credit: © Tom Stoddart, Getty Images

In 1989, democratic revolutions were brewing in East Germany and other parts of Communist-controlled eastern Europe. Large numbers of East Germans were escaping to other countries, while others organized massive demonstrations demanding greater freedom at home. In November 1989, the East German government ended restrictions on travel and emigration and opened the Berlin Wall. In October 1990, East and West Germany were reunified as the single country of Germany, and Berlin was reunited as a single city.

East German police step into West Berlin as a block of the Berlin Wall falls in November 1989. East and West Germany reunited as one nation in 1990. Credit: AP Photo

The East Germans built the Berlin Wall in 1961 to stop the flow of its citizens into West Germany and other parts of Europe. Armed guards patrolled the massive concrete wall’s system of fortified barriers and obstacles. The guards killed many people trying to escape to freedom in the west.

The term Cold War describes the intense rivalry that developed after World War II (1939-1945) between groups of Communist and non-Communist nations. On one side were the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (the Soviet Union) and its Communist allies, often referred to as the Eastern bloc. On the other side were the United States and its mostly democratic allies, usually referred to as the Western bloc. The struggle was called the Cold War because it did not actually lead to fighting, or “hot” war, on a wide scale. Still, between 1945 and 1991, millions of people died in the Cold War’s “hot theaters”—that is, places where military action occurred—mainly in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

August 21, 2018

On Aug. 21, 1968, 50 years ago today, troops from the Soviet Union and its satellite Communist states invaded Czechoslovakia. (The Soviet Union comprised modern-day Russia and other republics; Czechoslovakia is now the Czech Republic and Slovakia.) For many years, Czechoslovakia was one of the Soviet Union’s most loyal Communist allies. In early 1968, however, the Czechoslovak government in Prague, the capital, introduced liberal reforms and worked to grant its citizens greater freedom. The liberal movement came to be known as the Prague Spring. For months, it appeared that Czechoslovakia might shrug off Soviet dominance and embrace the non-Communist West. The Soviet Union refused to allow this, however, and crushed what it considered a rebellious uprising. The Prague Spring was a key event of the Cold War, the intense rivalry that developed after World War II (1939-1945) between groups of Communist and non-Communist nations.

Citizens of Prague gather in peaceful protest around Russian tanks and soldiers during the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia on Aug. 21, 1968. Credit: © Libor Hajsky, CTK/AP Photo

Czechoslavakia, which was created at the end of World War I (1914-1918), came under Soviet control at the end of World War II in 1945. A Communist government took power in Prague in 1946, and it repressed all political opposition. In 1955, Czechoslavakia joined the Warsaw Pact, a treaty that held most Eastern European nations in a military command under tight Soviet control.

Click to view larger image
At the end of World War II in 1945, the Soviet Union kept control of the territory it gained from German rule, including Bohemia, Moravia, and Slovakia, the main territories of Czechoslovakia. Credit: WORLD BOOK map

During the 1960′s, the Czechoslovak economy was suffering. In addition, many Slovaks wanted greater recognition of Slovak rights. In 1968, Alexander Dubček became head of the Communist Party. Under Dubček, the government introduced the Prague Spring liberal reforms, a movement also called “socialism with a human face.” The press was granted greater freedom, and citizens were given a limited role in politics.

Click to view larger image
Prague is now the capital of the Czech Republic. Credit: WORLD BOOK map

Leaders of the Soviet Union and other European Communist nations feared that Dubček’s programs would weaken Communist control in Czechoslovakia. They also feared that people in other Communist countries would demand similar reforms. As a result, about 250,000 troops and 2,000 tanks from the Soviet Union (including small numbers of Bulgarian, East German, Hungarian, and Polish troops) invaded Czechoslovakia on the night of Aug. 20-21, 1968. To prevent a slaughter, the Czechoslovak government asked its people not to resist, but many stood up to the Soviets anyway. About 100 people were killed, hundreds more were wounded, and the Prague Spring came to a quick end.

Dubček was removed as head of the Czechoslovak Communist Party and most of his reforms were reversed. Political opposition was effectively silenced until the late 1980′s when democratic reforms began taking place in the Soviet Union. In November 1989, large numbers of Czechs and Slovaks gathered in the streets of Prague to call for an end to Communist rule. Less than a month after the protests began, the Communist government resigned. Non-Communist leaders gained control of the government. The end of Communist rule in Czechoslovakia occurred so smoothly and peacefully that it became known as the Velvet Revolution. On Jan. 1, 1993, the Czech Republic and Slovakia were created to replace Czechoslovakia.

November 28, 2016

Early this morning, November 28, tens of thousands of Cubans began lining up ahead of a mass gathering in Havana’s Revolution Square to honor the life of former dictator and president, Fidel Castro. Castro, a guerrilla leader who led a Communist revolution in Cuba and ruled the island from 1959 to 2008, died on Friday, November 25, at the age of 90. Castro’s younger brother, Raúl, has ruled Cuba since 2008.

Cuban President Fidel Castro. Credit: © AP Photo

Castro was cremated on Saturday, November 26. An urn containing his ashes is on display in Havana, the capital, until late tomorrow night. From there, a cortege will carry Castro’s remains 750 miles (1,200 kilometers) to a final resting place in Santiago de Cuba, the city in eastern Cuba where Castro launched the revolution. Castro will be buried on Sunday, December 4, ending the government’s nine-day period of mourning.

After word of Castro’s death spread on Friday, music was quieted in the capital, and flags were lowered to half-staff. The government temporarily banned alcohol sales and suspended the professional baseball season. Commenting carefully on the controversial Castro, U.S. President Barack Obama said it was up to history to “record and judge the enormous impact of this singular figure on the people and world around him.” Obama also reassured Cubans that they would always “have a friend and partner in the United States of America.” Conversely, U.S. President-elect Donald Trump called Castro “a brutal dictator who oppressed his own people for nearly six decades.” Trump has pledged to “reverse” the efforts of the Obama administration to normalize relations between Cuba and the United States.

Fidel Castro was born on Aug. 13, 1926, in Biran, near Mayari, Cuba. He graduated with a law degree from the University of Havana in 1950 and briefly practiced law in the capital. In 1952, he ran for election to the Cuban House of Representatives. But troops led by former president Fulgencio Batista halted the election and ended democracy in Cuba.

As a result of Batista’s actions, Castro tried to start a revolution against the Batista dictatorship. On July 26, 1953, Castro’s forces attacked the Moncada army barracks in Santiago de Cuba. Castro was captured and sentenced to 15 years in prison. Batista released him in 1955, however. Castro then formed the 26th of July Movement, a group of revolutionaries named after the date of his first revolt. He then went into exile in Mexico. Castro’s forces landed in Cuba in December 1956. Many rebels were killed, and Castro and other survivors fled to the Sierra Maestra, a mountain range in southeast Cuba. People from the surrounding countryside joined the rebellion. Batista fled from Cuba on Jan. 1, 1959, and Castro took control of the government.

Castro seized property owned by Americans and other foreigners as well as Cubans. In 1960, the Castro government took over United States oil refineries in Cuba. The United States then stopped buying Cuban sugar. Castro responded by taking over all United States businesses in Cuba.

Castro supported a number of revolutionary movements in South America, Central America, and Africa. The Castro government provided improved education and health facilities for many Cubans. But the economy often was troubled. In the early 1960′s, Cuba began depending heavily on the Soviet Union for economic support. This support ended in 1991, when the Soviet Union was dissolved. Castro vowed that Cuba would remain a Communist country. However, in the early 1990′s, Cuba undertook limited reforms that loosened state control over parts of the country’s economy.

In the 2010′s, relations improved significantly between Cuba and the United States. The U.S. government under President Obama eased some economic and travel restrictions regarding Cuba. The Cuban government made it easier for Cubans to leave the country. It also released some prisoners considered political dissidents (people who disagree with the government). In 2015, Cuba and the United States reopened their foreign embassies in each other’s capitals, officially restoring diplomatic relations after more than 50 years. In 2016, Obama visited Cuba and met with President Raúl Castro. It was the first visit by a sitting U.S. president in almost 90 years.