Word: czechoslovakias
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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With a full complement of East bloc countries on hand for the first time in eight years, a bundle of Olympic records were set. Jozef Pribilinec of Czechoslovakia won the 20-km walk in 1:19:57, breaking the old record by more than 3 min. Mop-top Khristo Markov of Bulgaria hopped, skipped and soared to a triple-jump record of 57 ft. 9 1/2 in., while American favorite Willie Banks placed sixth. East Germany's Ulf Timmermann threw the shot put 73 ft. 8 3/4 in. for an Olympic record, and Randy Barnes of the U.S. placed second...
Adryan was not so lucky last year. A native of Potsdam, 15 miles from East Berlin, she had been arrested when she tried to flee from Czechoslovakia into West Germany. Granted amnesty after spending several months in detention, she decided to try again after becoming pregnant in May. "There was a danger they might take my baby from me and put it in a state home," she says. "I knew we had only one alternative, and that was to try to escape." In July she and her fiance, Thilo Koch, 18, and two friends conducted practice swims during a camping...
...closed societies of Eastern Europe, even a modest rise in expectations can be as explosive as leaking gas fumes. Last week strikes, protests and demonstrations erupted in an arc of unrest that ranged from the Soviet Union's restless Baltic republics to Poland, Czechoslovakia and Hungary. The immediate provocation for most of the popular outbursts was worsening economic deprivation. But on a deeper level, frustrated East Europeans were prodded into action by Soviet Leader Mikhail Gorbachev's tantalizing vision of a reformed and freer model of Communism. The protests also underscored a generational shift to younger activists, whose hopes...
...countries as diverse as Poland, Czechoslovakia and Hungary, the new young activists are markedly different from the generation that manned the rebellious barricades in Prague in 1968 -- and even from the veterans of Solidarity's struggle in 1980. "The young today diverge very strongly from my generation," says Jacek Szymanderski, 43, a Polish historian and formerly a leading figure in Solidarity. "They are more sophisticated politically but less experienced. Their demands are more ambitious, but they are also perhaps more cynical. Most especially, they are deeply aware of human rights." In addition, they are the first generation of protesters...
...cold war really over? No doubt the withdrawal from Afghanistan marks a change. It signifies the demise of the Brezhnev Doctrine, first enunciated with the invasion of Czechoslovakia exactly 20 years ago. Brezhnev declared that socialism will suffer no losses: countries that come under Marxist- Leninism remain under Marxist-Leninism. Afghanistan is the first breach in that doctrine. (Grenada is too small to count.) Enthusiastic believers in the demise of the cold war also point to Gorbachev's words to show that the Soviet Union, apostle of revolution ("national liberation"), has become the defender of stability. A favorite quote...