gorbachev withdrawal from eastern europe

[matiasm]

I`m doin an essay on why gorbachev withdrew from eastern europe for univeristy. Anyone have any good sources that are quotable with referencable information?

or Anyone have their own belief, views, opinions as to why this event occurred?

(i put this in politics section as i`m really not trying to leanr about this but geeting relevent political info and views)

[RedGeorge]

I believe that it was partly to do with the Soviet Union's need to trade with the West in order to try and save their dying economy. Gorby believed that the 'communist' regimes in Eastern Europe were preventing this from happening because they were undemocratic states directly controlled by Moscow. So, by withdrawing support, he became more favourable in the eyes of the west, but this did lead to the collapse of all the communist governments in the latter part of 1989.

You might want to look for info on the 'Sinatra' doctrine (named because the east European countries now had to do it 'my way' rather than take orders from Moscow.). A good place to start for all of this is on wikipedia, look for 'history of the soviet union 1985-91' or something like that.

[Severian]

Originally posted by [email protected] 15 2006, 02:46 AM
or Anyone have their own belief, views, opinions as to why this event occurred?
The biggest single reason, IMO, is because it was costing the USSR money.

The military presence, certainly. And maybe also the economic relations. The relations with less-developed countries and regions certainly cost Russia money; the question would be whether the same is true for some of the more-developed countries in Eastern Europe.

One of the things Gorbachev did was put the Soviet-led trading bloc COMECON on the basis of world market prices and cash transactions.

The USSR was dissolved by Yeltsin for similar economic reasons; some of the republics woulda been happy to stay in.

Unlike capitalist countries, the USSR rarely gained anything economically from its foreign relations....

[Janus]

Moved.