Word: gorbachevized
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...deep rooted to be cured by tinkering. Party boss Janos Kadar, the quisling who had replaced Nagy, was ousted in May 1988. He was succeeded by moderate reformer Karoly Grosz. But as in the Soviet Union, moderate reform was, by definition, inadequate. Drastic measures were necessary and, in the Gorbachev era, acceptable to Moscow. In search of new ideas and a democratic image in January 1989, parliament passed legislation permitting the formation of opposition political parties for the next election, to be held in the spring. The communists, in a desperate bid to regain some legitimacy, have renamed themselves...
...Gorbachev had played a pivotal role in heading off bloodshed. Visiting East Berlin on Oct. 7, the 40th anniversary of the communist state, Gorbachev cautioned the leaders that they could not count on Soviet support if they used force to crack down, and advised them to launch their own perestroika: "Life itself punishes those who delay." Eleven days later, Honecker was forced out and replaced by Krenz, who immediately sought to appease the marching crowds and the demands from his party for faster reform. His tenure was brief but memorable, if only because he ordered the opening of the Berlin...
...never been more than hollow administrations installed and maintained by Moscow's armed forces. They were rejected as Marxist, but even more as Russian, a double affront to the proud nationalism of countries that believed the West ended at Poland's eastern frontier. Once it became clear that Gorbachev meant what he said, the opposition -- tightly organized as in Poland or inchoate as in East Germany and Czechoslovakia -- rose up in wrath. Without the backing of the Soviet army, local satraps dared not use their security forces and probably did not know if they could trust them. The communist parties...
...Petar Mladenov, who purged the Stalinist leadership, promising to legalize opposition parties and hold free elections by the end of May. That move was something of a surprise, since Bulgaria most closely identifies with the Soviet Union and was not expected to take reforms further than Gorbachev himself has done. And Gorbachev draws the line at the formation of rival parties...
...Gorbachev has been badgering and cajoling ordinary citizens to take charge of their own futures in their jobs and in political organizations. He told Moscow editors in September 1988 that he wanted to "rid public opinion of such a harmful complex as faith in the 'good Czar,' the all-powerful center, the notion that someone can bring about order and organize perestroika from on high." His revamping of the legislative organs of the government offered just such an opportunity to assault the old conveyor-belt way of doing things...