Revolutions of 1989

The Revolutions of 1989 or the Fall of Communism were a series of revolutions against communist and socialist governments around the world, especially in Europe. It caused the end of the Cold War, saw the end of most communist states and the United States becoming the world's only superpower. It also caused the end of the Soviet Union due to the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt and the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. After the revolutions, the only remaining communist countries were China, Cuba, Laos, North Korea and Vietnam, however people in these countries did hold protests against the government (like the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests in China) and there were many reforms after 1991 (like đổi mới in Vietnam, which was similar to Mikhail Gorbachev's reforms in the Soviet Union, glasnost and perestroika).

End of communism and socialism by country

In Europe

Country	Year communism ended
Poland	1989
Hungary	1989
East Germany	1989^[a]
Czechoslovakia	1989^[b]
Bulgaria	1989
Romania	1989
Yugoslavia	1990
Albania	1990
Mongolia	1990
Soviet Union	1991

Outside Europe

Outside Europe, communist and socialist governments in Africa, Asia and the Middle East also lost power in the late 1980s and the early 1990s, as did the short-lived People's Revolutionary Government of Grenada in 1983 (after the Americans invaded Grenada).

Breakup of the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia

Soviet Union

All of the republics of the Soviet Union except for Lithuania fully left the Soviet Union at some point in 1991; Lithuania left in 1990, making it the first to declare independence.

Country	Year of leaving
Lithuania	1990
Georgia (country)	1991
Estonia	1991
Latvia	1991
Ukraine	1991
Moldova	1991
Kyrgyzstan	1991
Uzbekistan	1991
Tajikistan	1991
Armenia	1991
Azerbaijan	1991
Turkmenistan	1991
Belarus	1991
Kazakhstan	1991
Russia	1991

Yugoslavia

Country	Year of leaving
Slovenia	1991
Croatia	1991
Macedonia	1991
Bosnia and Herzegovina	1992
Serbia and Montenegro	1992^[c]

Related pages

Dissolution of the Soviet Union

References

Notes

↑ Unified with West Germany to become Germany in 1990.
↑ Split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia in 1992.
↑ Serbia and Montenegro was officially called the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, not to be confused with the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, the country that existed until 1992. In 2006, the country split into Serbia and Montenegro. In 2008, Kosovo declared independence from Serbia, but this is still disputed, see political status of Kosovo and international recognition of Kosovo.

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[1] Unified with West Germany to become Germany in 1990.

[2] Split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia in 1992.

[3] Serbia and Montenegro was officially called the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, not to be confused with the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, the country that existed until 1992. In 2006, the country split into Serbia and Montenegro. In 2008, Kosovo declared independence from Serbia, but this is still disputed, see political status of Kosovo and international recognition of Kosovo.

[a]

[b]

[c]