The Rise and Fall of Communism in Central and Eastern Europe, 1944 - 1991

Description

The end of the Cold War and of Eastern European communism in 1989-1991 did not mean the loss of global interest in developments in the former communist countries of Central and Eastern Europe. On the contrary, the recent history of these countries, the period of their post-communist transition to political democracy and a market economy, has been marked with new instabilities, crises and wars which have had serious implications for global trends. This course is designed to provide a broad background to an understanding of the political, socio-economic, and cultural developments in the former communist countries of Central and Eastern Europe as an essential prerequisite to understanding the modern world.