David S Mason - Revolution in East-Central Europe: The Rise and Fall of Communism and the Cold War

Series Editor
George A. Lopez, University of Notre Dame

Dilemmas in World Politics offers teachers and students of international relations a series of quality books on critical issues, trends, and regions in international politics. Each text examines a "real world" dilemma and is structured to cover the historical, theoretical, practical, and projected dimensions of its subject.

Ray Duncan
SUMY-Brockport

Jeffry Frieden
U.C.L.A.

Deborah J. Gerner
University of Kansas

Lev Gonick
Wilfrid Laurier University

Barry Hughes
University of Denver

Janice Love
University of South Carolina

Vincent Mahler
Loyola of Chicago

Zeev Maoz
University of Haifa

Karen Mingst
University of Kentucky

Frederic Pearson
Wayne State University

Neil Richardson
University of Wisconsin-Madison

Martin Rochester
University of Missouri-St. Louis

Harvey Starr
University of South Carolina

Michael Stohl
Purdue University

Richard Stoll
Rice University

Douglas Stuart
Dickinson College

Donald Sylvan
Ohio State University

Sarah Tisch
WinrocK International

John Vasquez
Rutgers University

Michael Ward
University of Colorado-Boulder

Steve Chan
East Asian Dynamism: Growth, Order, and Security in the Pacific Region

Deborah J. Gerner
One Land, Two Peoples: The Conflict over Palestine

Kenneth W. Grundy
South Africa: Domestic Crisis and Global Challenge

Gareth Porter and Janet Welsh Brown
Global Environmental Politics

David S. Mason
Revolution In East-Central Europe: The Rise and Fall of Communism and the Cold War

Georg Srensen
Democracy and Democratization: Processes and Prospects in a Changing World

Jack Donnelly
Human Rights and World Politics

Barry B. Hughes
International Futures

V. Spike Peterson and Anne Sisson Runyan
Global Gender Issues

Sarah Tisch and Michael Wallace
Dilemmas of Development: The What. Why, and Who of Foreign Aid

Ted Robert Gurr and Barbara Harff
Ethnic Conflict in World Politics

Frederic S. Pearson
The Spread of Arms in the International System

The Rise and Fall of Communism and the Cold War

David S. Mason
Butler University

To my parents

First published 1992 by Westview Press

Published 2019 by Routledge
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Copyright 1992 by Taylor & Francis

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Mason, David S. (David Stewart), 1947
Revolution in East-Central Europe: the rise and fall of communism
and the Cold War / by David S. Mason.
p. cm. (Dilemmas in world politics)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-8133-1340-6. ISBN 0-8133-1341-4 (pbk.)
1. Europe, EasternPolitics and government1945- 2. Communism
Europe, Eastern. I. Title. II. Series.
DJK50.M38 1992
947dc20 92-5339
CIP

ISBN 13: 978-0-367-28598-2 (hbk)

Like any academic enterprise, this book benefited from the assistance, comments, and suggestions of many people. George Lopez, the series editor, first broached the idea of this book with me and got me hooked on the idea of a readable and accessible text that integrates history, politics, and theory. I had just finished teaching a course entitled "Perestroika in Central Europe," and this book is in some ways an extension of that course. Some of my students from that course helped me refine some of the ideas and concepts that are developed here. Lori Jancik, as my undergraduate research assistant, contributed enormously to this book in many ways: helping with bibliographic research, fact-checking, proofreading, and preparing the chronology. I am also indebted to Carla Randolph, a former Butler student who is now a graduate student at Indiana University. She read and commented on an early version of the manuscript and helped me out with speedy and efficient research in Bloomington, which included digging up some of the political cartoons that appear in the book. Because this book is intended for students, the comments of Lori, Carla, and others were particularly helpful. Karen Gerkin and Kirstin Ellsworth also provided research assistance. Marta Goertemiller, our departmental secretary, also helped out with the book in innumerable ways.

Jennifer Knerr, senior editor at Westview Press, was patient and encouraging in prodding this project along. She found some wonderfully thorough and thoughtful readers in F. Neil Richardson and Robin Remington, who provided detailed and helpful criticism of the first draft of the book. The manuscript also benefited from suggestions from Dan Nelson of Georgetown University and Paul Marer at Indiana University. Of course I did not account for all of the suggestions of all of these friends and colleagues, so any remaining errors are entirely mine.

Finally, I want to thank the three women who are the most important part of my life. My wife and best friend, Sharon, read parts of the manuscript, talked me through some of the ideas and organization of the book, and put up with me when I was absorbed and distracted by this project. My daughters, Dana and Melanie, always full of life and (almost) always cheerful, provided perspective on all this and often asked questions about communism, world politics, and East-Central Europe that I could not easily answer. My fondest wish is that this new world that they will inherit will be more generous, charitable, and peaceful.

David S. Mason