The End of History Part 41: The Revolution, Televised
The Romanian Revolution of 1989 capped of a year of tumultuous change across Eastern Europe. Its brutal conclusion marked the end of the Communist Era in Eastern Europe.
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The End of History Part 40: Czechs and Balances
Czechoslovakia's Velvet Revolution is often overshadowed by the dramatic fall of the Berlin Wall, which took place only a few days earlier. However, it was a deeply fascinating chapter, and an important domino in the fall of Eastern Bloc Communism.
The End of History Part 39: Tear Down This Wall
On November 9, 1989, a series of blunders by the East German Communist regime set in motion a chain reaction of events that led to the fall of the most infamous symbol of the Cold War, the Berlin Wall.
The End of History Part 38: Refugees
In the late summer and fall of 1989, upon receiving news of the reforms there, huge numbers of East Germans made their way to Hungary hoping to escape across the border to Austria and on to West Germany. The ensuing refugee crisis initiated a series of events that forced the Communist regime in East Germany into a struggle for its very survival.
The End of History Part 37: A Necessary Detour
The partition of Germany was never meant to be permanent, but materialized by accident as a practical solution to the unbridgeable divide between the Soviets and their erstwhile Western allies on what to do with their defeated German enemies in the wake of the Second World War. This divide placed Germany on the front line of the Cold War for more than four decades.
The End of History Part 36: The Ghosts of '56
After 1956, the Communist leaders of Hungary elected to rule with a softer touch than was employed elsewhere in the Eastern Bloc. Despite this, or perhaps because of it, Hungary became just the second domino to fall in the series of revolutions that spread across Eastern and Central Europe in 1989.
The End of History Part 35: Solidarity
In the summer of 1980, the workers at the Lenin Shipyard in Gdansk, Poland went on strike to demand the reinstatement of a fired coworker and the recognition of their independent trade union. They were soon joined by workers around the country. What began as a relatively moderate labor movement soon transformed into a social and political revolution that would unravel Communism in Poland.
The End of History Part 34: Restructuring
In addition to the widespread loss of faith in the Soviet system by ordinary citizens as a result of the Chernobyl disaster, by 1987, the Soviet Union also faced a deepening economic crisis. The reforms of Perestroika were an attempt to remake this failing system and save the USSR.
The End of History Part 33: Fallout
The initial response of the Soviet government to the nuclear disaster at Chernobyl was the perfect storm of incompetence, callousness, and shameless lies. This bungled exposed the flaws in the Soviet system its own people and to the wider world.
The End of History Part 32: Going Nuclear
In the early morning hours of April 26, 1986, reactor number 4 at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Station suffered a catastrophic failure when the poor decisions of the plant's electrical engineers combined with a critical design flaw in the reactor. The result was the worst nuclear accident in history.
The End of History Part 31: Meet the New Boss
In 1985, Mikhail Gorbachev did not yet have the political capital or the right people in place to enact his bold domestic reforms. However, in the realm of foreign policy, he was able to make a splash more quickly.
The End of History Part 30: The Reformer
Mikhail Gorbachev was a natural leader and a skilled administrator, but little about his early life led people to believe that he would usher in an era of revolutionary change when he became General Secretary in March 1985.
The End of History Part 29: Interregnum
The period between the death of Leonid Brezhnev in 1982 and the rise of Mikhail Gorbachev in 1985 is often glossed over in histories of the Soviet Union. Yet, much of what happened in this time period provides vital context for the turmoil that would rock the USSR in the coming decade.
The End of History Part 28: Holy Warriors
The Guerilla forces who faced the Red Army in Afghanistan have been defined in various lights. To some, they were the heroic defenders of Afghanistan's freedom. To others, they were bloodthirsty terrorists. In truth, they were mostly ordinary people forced to live in extraordinary and difficult times.
The End of History Part 27: The Soldiers
The war in Afghanistan was a bridge between the old Soviet Union and the new Russia. The soldiers of the Red Army who fought in it came from every republic and region of the USSR, and the war left an indelible mark on those who survived.
The End of History Part 26: Into the Abyss
Between 1973 and 1979, there were three violent coups in Afghanistan, generating a crisis that culminated in the full-scale Soviet invasion of the country. It would be a war with few, if any, redeeming qualities. There were no good guys and everybody lost.
The End of History Part 25: The Graveyard of Empires
Afghanistan is a country at the crossroads of the world. Just about every major Eurasian Empire has been entangled in Afghan affairs at some point. The history of Afghanistan brings clarity not just to our understanding of the decline of the Soviet Union, but the entire modern world.
The End of History Part 24: Oh My God
The Soviet Union was an officially and aggressively atheist state. However, religious traditions were strongly rooted among the peoples of the USSR. Even amidst an atmosphere of persecution, various Christian, Muslim, and Jewish communities persevered and even thrived.
The End of History Part 23: Dissent
As Brezhnev pushed back against the reforms of his predecessor, members of the Soviet intelligentsia who had been inspired by the Khrushchev thaw, refused to be silenced. By the 1970's, underground human rights organizations were springing up all over the USSR. While the KGB could destroy individual groups, they had greater difficulty containing the ideas that inspired them.
The End of History Part 22: Holding the Line
When the Soviet Union and several Warsaw Pact allies invaded Czechoslovakia in 1968, it put an end to the reforms of the Prague Spring. However, it also fractured the Communist World, leading Albania to defect from the Warsaw Pact and deepening the Soviet rift with China.
The End of History Part 21: Advanced Socialism
The Brezhnev era was, socially and politically, the most stable in the history of the USSR. However, it is also the period in which its economic decline accelerated. The complete collapse of the 80's and 90's had its roots in the mismanagement of the 60's and 70's.
The End of History Part 20: Frenemies
In October 1964, a plot was executed to force Nikita Khrushchev from power. Khrushchev's fall, not so coincidentally, was concurrent with the rise of his protege - Leonid Brezhnev.
The End of History Part 19: The Brink
In October 1962, the presence of nuclear missiles on the island of Cuba brought the world to the brink of catastrophe. The ensuing Cuban Missile Crisis was also a pivotal moment in the decline of the USSR.
Standalone: Bittersweet History
The islands of the Caribbean, which are today popular tourist destinations, were once home to some of the most concentrated suffering in human history. Above all, it was the Caribbean sugar industry that fueled the inhumanity of the Atlantic Slave Trade.
The End of History Part 18: Rising Star
The unlikely success of Fidel Castro's 26th of July Movement in the late 1950's is one of the most fascinating underdog stories in world history, and it set the stage for the most dramatic moment of the Cold War.
The End of History Part 17: Cuba Libre
For a relatively small island nation, Cuba has consistently had an outsized impact on world history, shaping the destinies of empires and superpowers. Cuba's destiny in the modern world was forged, above all, by one man - Fidel Castro.
The End of History Part 16: Let's Go!
The Space Race began as a mere extension of the Cold War arms race, but it soon took on a life of its own. The achievements of the Soviet space program early in the race set the standard for all future space exploration.
The End of History Part 15: Uprising
The Hungarian Revolution of 1956 was one of the most remarkable events of the 20th Century, and it led to a significant escalation of the Cold War
The End of History Part 14: The Commissar
Nikita Khrushchev was a deeply complicated figure. He was capable of terrible ruthlessness, but could, at times, come across as a very sympathetic and even admirable figure. Whatever our opinion of him, his impact on the history of the Soviet Union is undeniable.
The End of History Part 13: The Death of Stalin
On March 5, 1953, Joseph Stalin died of a cerbral hemorrhage, setting in motion a struggle for power between his subordinates.
The End of History Part 12: Return to Peace
Despite their emergence as a superpower, the postwar Soviet Union faced a series of challenges brought on by the destruction of the war and economic mismanagement by Stalin and the Communist Party.
The End of History Part 11: The Bomb
In July 1945, the leaders of the Big Three came together to decide the fate of the world in Potsdam, Germany. As they prepared to meet, an explosion in the New Mexico desert would fundamentally change the world forever.
The End of History Part 10: The Big Three
When Stalin, Roosevelt, and Churchill met in Tehran and Yalta, they sought to resolve their differences and lay the groundwork for the new postwar order.
The End of History Part 9: Victory
As the Red Army advanced across Eastern Europe, they discovered horrifying evidence of Nazi atrocities. When they got to Germany, they committed a few of their own.
The End of History Part 8: The Cauldron
The Battle of Stalingrad was one of the most decisive moments in world history. At an appallingly high cost, the Red Army turned back the Nazi tide and began the long march toward victory.
The End of History Part 7: The Great Patriotic War
On June 22, 1941, Nazi Germany launched a devastating surprise attack on the Soviet Union. The Soviet people faced the possibility of annihilation and overcame it.
The End of History Part 6: The Gathering Storm
By the late 1930's, the clouds of war were already approaching the Soviet Union. Stalin's foreign policy was dominated by the existential threat posed by the rise of Fascism in Europe.
The End of History Part 5: The Great Terror
After securing his position as the unquestioned leader of the Soviet Union, Stalin sought to will history forward and eliminate all threats to his regime with a series of brutal campaigns against alleged internal enemies.
The End of History Part 4: The Georgian
No figure looms quite as large over the history of the USSR as Joseph Stalin. From humble origins on the periphery of the Russian Empire, he would rise to become one of the most influential world leaders of the 20th Century.
The End of History Part 3: All Power to the Soviets
The October Revolution of 1917 transformed Russia into the world's first Communist state and set the stage for the defining events of the 20th Century.
The End of History Part 2: The Winds of Revolution
Everything that has an end must have a beginning, and the beginning of the USSR sprang from the Russian Revolution of 1917.
The End of History Part 1
In 1991, the Soviet Union, one of the world's two superpowers, officially dissolved. What was this country, why did it collapse, and why does it matter? Join us in this new series as we attempt to answer these questions, and more!
The Creole Affair: Part 3
As lawyers, politicians, and diplomats clash on both sides of the Atlantic, the fate of the Creole rebels is decided and the Affair comes to its final conclusion.
The Creole Affair: Part 2
The saga of the Creole continues, as the ship arrives in the Bahamas amidst political and diplomatic crises.
The Creole Affair: Part 1
In 1841, a group of enslaved men seized an opportunity to obtain their freedom and set in motion a series of events that would alter the course of history.
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