perestroika

Tomáš Vilímek - But They’re Threatening and Cursing Us! A Study of the Complaints and Notices sent in by Czechoslovak Citizens during Czechoslovakia’s Perestroika
Abstract

This paper looks at the complaints and notices filed by Czechoslovak citizens during the period when the legitimacy of the communist regime was in crisis in 1986–1989. They represent not only the “soft stabiliser of the rule of dictatorship” but also a remarkable and in its own way the most intense interaction between the state power bodies and the citizens demanding, often quite resolutely, that the regime fulfil its promises. Drawing on archival sources, scholarly literature and period press, the author describes the topics, form and overall numbers of complaints and notices; how- ever, the responses from the party, state and trade union bodies are also explored. In consequence of the transformation of the international situation and the deepening economic, environmental and social issues in Czechoslovakia, there were a growing number of complaints and notices in the late 1980s, written by people especially in the hope of improving their own living standards, while at the same time they were growing increasingly critical and forthright. The complaints are also a remarkable and authentic reflection upon the individual and society-wide problems of the time, and can be seen as one of the symptoms of the society-wide crisis and a manifestation of the majority society’s sole focus on consumption, while the recipients were probably better aware of the dimension and the potential destabilisation effects of the crisis than the senders. Despite complaints being presented in the state media as a means for citizens to protect their guaranteed rights and interests, in practice they were understood rather as a tool for controlling the work of the state and economic authorities and institutions, intended to help eliminate the adverse factors in society, thus increasing workers’ involvement in management and administration. However, the complaints and notices from the end of the 1980s imply that the ruling regime was not particularly successful in its effort to make them another link in the chain of control, or more accurately, was unable to take advantage of the stimuli it received in this area. For the complainants, they were often the last and relatively safe option for defending their own interests, or a means to voice, often anonymously, their dis- satisfaction with the reality of late-socialist everyday life. Although for many years complaints served as a kind of release valve, or a means of directing the conflicts between the powerful and seemingly powerless, it turns out that in this very period of so-called perestroika the potential for conflict rose remarkably, a problem the power bodies were unable to deal with.

Matěj Bílý - To Drive the Slogan of Human Rights out of the Hands of Opponents of Socialism: Discussions on Human Rights on Warsaw Pact Summits in the Years 1985–1989
Abstract

This study addresses the as yet only marginally researched topic of the approach to human rights as discussed at the political summits of the Warsaw Pact in the late 1980s after Mikhail Gorbachev became the leader of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Following research in the Czech, Polish and German archives, the paper analyses the course and consequences of this debate and puts them in the context of the last stage of the Cold War. The topic of the approach taken by the Warsaw Pact member states to the upholding of human rights was opened by the new Soviet leader in the very first year of his rule. It was undoubtedly part of his broader plan to improve the tense relations between the East and the West. The discussion that followed and intensified especially from the spring of 1987 played a significant role in the disintegration of the alliance. Although in the late 1980s the Warsaw Pact was functioning at its best in structural terms, the course of the debate shows that the strengthening of the political cooperation of the member states which occurred after Gorbachev came to power did not always have the intended effects. The vision that more regular and more open consultations would lead to the formulation of a more efficient joint foreign policy line was not fulfilled. On the contrary, freer discussion and the end of the Soviet pressure on the uniformity of opinions meant that the leaderships of the member states came to defend their own, often conflicting interests. That made the alliance unable to coordinate its work in many matters, which was especially true in relation to Gorbachov’s reforms, which also included a change in their approach to the protection of human rights. It turns out that the pressure from the West to uphold these rights not only affected the inner situation in the Warsaw Pact countries, but also created a source of friction between them that weakened the cohesion of the organisation as a whole. It therefore also undermined the multilateral relationships in the Eastern Bloc, symbolised by the Warsaw Pact.