1989: The Annus Mirabilis
Stalin: “How many divisions does the Pope have?”
Revolts in Eastern Europe
1953 East Germany U.S. Ignored
1956 Hungary U.S. Ignored
1968 Czechoslovakia U.S. Ignored
1979 Poland U.S. Ignored
Key events in the Collapse of Russian Communism
1973-1975 Western Publication of Solzhenitsyn’s Gulag
October 1978 Election of Karol Wojtyla as JPII
June 2, 1979 JPII gives Homily in Warsaw: “Be Not Afraid”
Lech Walesa, the leader of Solidarity, said of JPII: “The pope started this chain of events that led to the end of communism,” Walesa said. “Before his pontificate, the world was divided into blocs. Nobody knew how to get rid of communism. “He simply said: Don’t be afraid, change the image of this land.”
Communist General Jaruzelski, leader of Poland, said, “That was the detonator.”
November 1980 Election of Ronald Reagan as 40th U.S. President
Spring 1981 Assassination attempts on RR and JPII
May 17, 1981 RR Commencement address at the University of ND
June 7, 1982 RR and JPII meet for the first time
Richard Allen, RR’s National Security Advisor: RR and JPII “agreed to undertake a clandestine campaign to hasten the dissolution of the communist empire.”
June 8, 1982 RR Speech to British Parliament: “Ash Heap of History”
October 10, 1982 Canonization of Maximilian Kolbe
1983 RR announces the Star Wars program
“Reagan’s SDI was a very successful blackmail,” Gennady Gerasimov, an official Soviet spokesman, remembered. “The Soviet economy couldn’t endure such competition.”
March 8, 1983 RR major address to the Nat. Assoc. of Evangelicals
June 12, 1987 RR at Berlin Wall: “Tear down this wall”
1989: An Annus Mirabilis in World History
Soviets had planned world-wide celebrations to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the French Revolution
April: Poland announced free elections
May 2: Hungary opened its borders to West Germany and Austria
June: Hungarians reburied Imre Nagy and martyrs of the 1956 revolt
September 12: Poland’s first non-communist party elected
October: Hungarian Communist Party disbanded
October 16-20: Hungarian government reformed as representative democracy
November 4: Demonstrations began in East Germany
November 9: After the protestors circled the extant medieval walls of Leipzig seven times, Hoenecker resigned and sought refuge with the Lutheran minister he had tortured
December 3: President Bush and Premier Gorbachev declare Cold War over at Malta Conference
December: Romanian leader Ceausescu arrested Lazlo Tokes, a prominent Calvinist minister
December 15: Timisoara (Romania) massacre
December 22: Baptist minister Peter Dugulescu led counter demonstration: “God exists!”
December 24: Ceausescu arrested and executed
December 25: Romania celebrated death of the “Anti-Christ”
Stormfields 