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The Enigma of 1989: The USSR and the Liberation of Eastern Europe. By Jacques levesque, trans. Keith Martin. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1997. 267p. $35.00 cloth, $19.95 paper.
Few developments in the twentieth century were more dramatic than the abrupt and largely peaceful collapse of East European communist regimes in 1989. For roughly forty years, the Soviet Union had maintained a bloc in Eastern Europe through the use or threat of military force. When Mikhail Gorbachev took office as general secretary of the Soviet Communist Party (CPSU) in March 1985, he displayed no sign of wanting to make fundamental changes in Soviet-- East European relations. Yet, not five years later, when it became clear that Gorbachev would not rely on military force to prop up orthodox communist rulers in Eastern Europe, the whole Soviet bloc disintegrated, and noncommunist governments came to power. Soon thereafter, in October 1990, Germany was reunified as a member of NATO. This sudden transformation was all the more remarkable because it occurred with almost no violence.
The upheavals of 1989 have been chronicled and analyzed at great length. A vast number of books and articles on the subject have been published, and many more are likely to appear. Most of the literature covers events in a particular East European country (especially East Germany), tracing the emergence and growth of popular unrest and the downfall of the communist regime. This literature has given us many insights into the political and social developments that undermined communism in the region. What is not as well understood is the fundamental change that occurred in Soviet policy. Although numerous scholars and journalists have attempted to explain why Gorbachev ended Soviet hegemony in Eastern Europe, much of this work is inconclusive. Some argue that the Soviet Union was forced to give up its hold on Eastern Europe because of economic difficulties, relentless pressure from the United States, domestic political maneuvering, or some combination of these factors. Others contend that the reason was a desire to improve relations with the West. For the most part, these explanations have been inadequate or unconvincing. The motivations behind Gorbachev's actions are more complex than often alleged.
Jacques Levesque's book, which first appeared in French (1989,...