ABSTRACT

T he sudden collapse o f com m unism th ro u g h o u t C entral E urope in 1989 m arked a clear tu rn ing-po in t in the course tha t events had taken in the region since the end o f the Second W orld War. W hile the im plications o f this developm ent for existing patterns o f political rule and form s o f econom ic organization seem ed clear-cut, its bearing on subsequent developm ents was less apparen t. T he initial outcom e at least was relatively obvious and unam biguous in its im plications. T he pow er tha t the Soviet U nion had exercised since the 1940s was abruptly curtailed; the ties th a t had linked the reg io n ’s econom ies was severed; and the ever-present th rea t o f military in tervention from the sizeable Soviet military con tingents stationed in the area were rem oved. T he finality o f this change was later u n d erlin ed by the term inal crisis tha t afflicted the Soviet U nion itself and led to the abolition of the federal state in 1991.