Word: blocs
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1980-1989
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
BERLIN--Hundreds of thousands of East Germans marched for democracy last night, the eve of a trip to Moscow by new leader Egon Krenz for talks with the Soviet bloc's champion of reform, Mikhail S. Gorbachev...
...promised that as East bloc countries move away from one-party Communist rule, the Soviet Union will observe strict principles of non-intervention and "absolute freedom of choice...
Without specifically mentioning any East bloc country, he said Moscow would henceforth relate to its Warsaw Pact allies on the basis of "sovereign equality, the impermissibility of any kind of intervention and the recognition that each country has the right to absolute freedom of choice...
...halt the demonstrations that were spreading like a virus from city to city. But after the number of protesters multiplied into the tens of thousands, the Politburo announced a newfound willingness to discuss limited reforms. The sudden shift not only indicated a crack in one of the East bloc's most ossified regimes, but also spurred speculation that the ruling party was in disarray -- and that Honecker's days were numbered...
Much of the impetus for reform flowed from the fact that early next year Hungary is to have the most open balloting in the East bloc in four decades. At least a dozen parties will be competing with the Hungarian Socialist Party for the 374 seats in Parliament. Reformers within the Communist ranks contended that without a fresh image, they stand no chance at the polls. In four recent by-elections, the Democratic Forum, which has only 20,000 registered members, in contrast to the 700,000 claimed by the Communist Party, has easily defeated candidates...