Archive for the ‘Stokes’ Category

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Journal article and paper topic

Saturday, October 6th, 2007

The more I read into what Stokes and others say about the situation between Yugoslavia and Croatia, and Yugoslavia and Slovenia – the more I want to read and understand the guerrilla scenario the Yugoslavs invited upon themselves when acting against Slovenia. I chose my paper topic to be on the resistance of Slovenes and Croats to the Yugoslav republic with the effort to juxtapose the guerrilla war’s success and the two conventional armies bloody onslaught. An article from the New York Times reflects the confusion of the conflicts between the factions. This was a “Special to the NY Times” article headlined as, “An Army Beseiged: Yugoslav Troops Fight for Status Quo as All Sides Question Their Conduct,” and dates from July 1, 1991.

One item I found particularly interesting was the author, John Tagliabue’s analysis of the JNA’s shortcomings: ethnic conscription, victimization by political maneuvering, and the binds of not being able to respond faster (because the JNA would be condemned by the international community for its eagerness to engage in war). This was all at the time in with Serbian nationalist Milosevic was making headway trying to bring the Army under Serbia’s authority within the 8 member counsel.

Lastly, the other item that stuck out was the issue of the officer corps in the JNA and their support of one Yugoslav Republic. I’ve studied other countries and the history of their officer corps, and how they have often been a source or the source of change like Gamal Abdel Nasser in Egypt and others – whether or not anyone wants to admit it. The leadership in the case of the JNA desired to keep the country together in order to maintain their own income and higher-than-standard housing and subsistance. Though they and their subordinates desired not to be killed by the territorial defense forces of the Slovenes, they did however have alterer motives which were apparent even to a free-lancer trying to make a buck off the NY Times.

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Stokes v. Kenney

Tuesday, September 25th, 2007

For some strange reason I haven’t been able to log into the site for the past few days, but now just before it class it has started to finally work. After reading both Stokes and Kenney’s books I have to say that my favorite by far is Kenney’s Carnival of Revolution. Last semester I took professors Barnes’ class History of the Soviet Union: Post World War II and have heard all the reasons of revolution that Stokes goes through in his book. Although it all makes sense and I’m sure is completely true for the upper echelons of the political world it all seemed a bit drab and boring. Kenney’s book gives me a better impression of the way the revolutions themselves took place. It wasn’t just another politician droning on about parastroika it was in a sense a party that the police just could not break up. In Stokes book it seems almost like it was a miracle that the Soviet Union didn’t break apart violently without a nuclear incident. Kenney’s book; however, takes away some of the mystery about how a situation like the Cold War could have ended without the missiles being fired. Although Stokes gives his readers the usual findings by experts about the political situation and world that resulted in the end of Communism it seems as if he has left out a key part to how it all came crashing down. Kenney fills in that blank by telling the ways in which the people, whether politically motivated or simply frustrated by some small part or for some people just wanting to join in on the fun, brought down Communism in their countries.

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Brad Prindle Stokes response

Monday, September 17th, 2007

The chapter I found most interesting and I learned the most from in The Walls Came Tumbling Down was chapter 3. My understanding of the economic collapse of the Eastern Bloc countries consisted mainly of defaulting on international loans, and the overall failure of the planned economy. Chapter 3 introduced many ways in which the economy of Hungary was able to develop which aided in the transition process after communism. The four examples Stokes gives of major autonomous economic activity are, auxiliary businesses, the second economy, the family oriented farm, and “plan bargaining”. Stokes cites these activities as playing key roles in the economic development of Hungary without strikes or direct confrontations. Stokes mainly uses books, interviews and firsthand accounts, as well as journals as his sources in chapter 3. After reading Stokes I feel I have gained a significantly better understanding of the events, both positive and negative, that led to the collapse of Communism in Eastern Europe.

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Stokes, Part 2— Jerry Lin

Monday, September 17th, 2007

I choose Chapter 6 as the focus of my blog for this week. Ch. 6 covers a very good review of what took place in most of these Eastern European countries during the first two years after the revolution. Stokes begin the Chapter with a very powerful message from Mikhail Gorbachev, who had resigned as the president of Soviet Union by then. In his quote, Gorbachev admitted that he had greatly underestimated the process of renovating Soviet Union. Although he seem to be disappointed that the reforming process was more complicated than he expected, but he also pointed out that the movement was inevitable. Most of the Soviets desperately wanted to get rid of the old totalitarian system and adapt a more democratic society. I thought it was interesting that the leader of the Soviet Union, who arguably was the one most responsible for the 1989 revolution, admitted his mistake but also recognize the significant of the movement. In my opinion, Stokes used this statement perfectly to preview what he was going to cover in Chapter 6th, such as the election process in these Eastern European nations after 1989, how some of the Communists Party were still able to play a role in politics (Especially in Romania), or how the Bulgarian Communists were able to turn their policy more democratically in order to work with their counterpart.

I thought Stokes did a pretty good job of backing up his statements/observations with his sources. As previously mention earlier by Colleen, most of his sources in the book were based on interviews, reliable newspaper articles, and professional in-depth reviews of Eastern Europe. However, most of the sources in Chapter 6 seem to be published by Western Publishers such as NY Times, Washington Post, or other U.S. affiliated source. I don’t know if my observation is wrong or not, but I think having some counter points from Eastern European’s perspective would strengthen his arguments.

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Monday, September 17th, 2007

The Walls Came Tumbling Down was a good introduction to the revolutions in Eastern Europe.  Before I opened this book I only had general knowledge of the Soviet Union’s control over Eastern Europe.  Stokes was able to explain the various communist systems in each country and how people were eventually led to democratic societies.  The first half of the book mainly describes the economic and social problems that led to the revolutions in that region.  He is able to show how the reforms in some countries, such as Hungary, led to revolution in other countries. Ultimately, the changes Gorbachev made in the Soviet Union was the ultimate catalyst for the revolutions of 1989.  Stokes doesn’t end with the revolutions in 1989, but goes on to explain how these countries adjusted to democracy.  This informed me of some of the problems faced in switching to a different system of government.  Romania still clung to totalitarian methods ,while Czechoslovakia was divided over the naming of its country.  One telling example of the difficulties faced was the disintegration of Yugoslavia.  Overall, Stokes’ book is a helpful history of the origin and outcome of the Eastern Europe revolutions.  Stokes relied on a variety of books, newspaper or magazine articles, and some primary sources.  This insures that he was able to compare and contrast different accounts of the events and come out with a well thought out analysis.       

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Stokes III

Monday, September 17th, 2007

Before I read this book, I had very little knowledge about Eastern Europe. I heard about Eastern Europe being the satellite states for the Soviet Union and they formed the Warsaw Pacts to fight against the U.S. led NATO forces in my high school history class. I previously thought that Eastern Europeans were either diehard communists or so completely controlled by the Soviets so they could not do anything. Stokes’ narrative about what happened in 1989 really enlightened me of unknown subject for me. Now, I guess I could say little bit more about Eastern Europe and how those people struggled against Soviet communism to gain their freedom. In my understanding, Eastern Europeans are a lot like Koreans after 1950s. After all those horrible times they went through during the WWII from the fascist regimes, Imperial Japanese and Nazi Germans, by the devil’s finger on their fate, they both had to face even bigger evil, Soviet led communism. I think the main point that I learned from Stokes’ argument is that although the author is very optimistic about the future of Eastern Europe, it would be very difficult to establish well-functioning pluralistic societies after not having self-rule and own power for very long period of times. For fundamental changes in Eastern European nations and to establish well-functioning democratic political institution and strong market economy in Western standard, the rest of world needs to support and wait for changes patiently for long period of times.  

                After carefully examine sources for chapter seven (Yugoslavia), I come to realized that Stokes did very good job on presenting resources which his arguments based upon. Stokes used acclaimed scholastic books, academic journals, and quotes from experts on his field of study, especially lectures from Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, D.C. I think his sources are plentiful and diverse, and I could not argue about any major problems about sources. However, I do wish that it would be much better if Stokes used some more sources from regional scholars. I think Stokes cited many ideas from prominent American and internationally acclaimed scholars. However, I am not sure if he used ideas from prominent scholars from Eastern Europe in many cases. I recognize that Stokes used many quotes from interviews or lectures from key local character of 1989, but I am not sure if he used ideas of Eastern European scholars in many occasions. I guess it would be hard to underestimate value of ideas from local scholars who actually saw and experienced the real event.  

Saeil

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The Momentum of Change in Hungary

Monday, September 17th, 2007

I looked at Chapter 3, “The Momentum of Change in Hungary.” A great deal of this chapter is dedicated to the economy of Hungary, economic reform and progress, the emergence and importance of the second economy, and so on.  His statistics and facts are backed by economic textbooks and articles, but Stokes even states that some of the numbers are estimates – as several different sources reveal conflicting information.  In this situation, he admits to making some estimates based on his better judgment.  Many of the estimates on Hungary’s GDP may be slightly off, because according to Stokes, approximately 75% of Hungarian’s “received and income from a second economy.”  I would assume that calculating GDP (or any market indicator, for that matter) in this situation would be difficult considering income obtained “outside the socialized sector,” or, black market transactions, are not included in the calculation of GDP.  Some of his information is contradictory, but considering the limited resources available when this book was written, I would say Stokes is effective in giving a general idea of the economic situation in Hungary.

Once Stokes brings up the democratic opposition that developed in Hungary in the 1970s and 80s, the sources for his arguments are supported by interviews, underground newspaper and journal articles (several written by major opposition leaders) and speeches.  Besides a few very general observations he makes, Stokes uses several primary sources to support his arguments. These sources provide him with a strong case for his claims, seeing as they were written or spoken by the people who lived through and witnessed the events that took place.  

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The Devil’s Finger

Monday, September 17th, 2007

I think that the most informative chapter in Stokes’ book was the one on the breakup of Yugoslavia, as it was  something that I really hadn’t covered in any of my other history classes.  While most general history classes cover something about East Germany, and we hear some thinks about other countries in the Eastern Bloc, Yugoslavia is not really mentioned, and so my prior knowledge about the country is almost nonexistent, limited to the mere knowledge that a UN peacekeeping force was there, and that there were some U.S. forces in the area.  Stokes does a good job educating people about the preexisting circumstances in the region, how the breakup occurred, and what the ramifications were of the breakup and the human cost of the breakup.  While this chapter is one of the shorter ones, it doesn’t cover the same ground that the other chapters did, so it is easier to pay attention.  The sources that Stokes uses in this chapter seem to be more in the vein of popular culture, as magazines and journals were cited (Time, Wallstreet Journal, et al.) but that is because there wasn’t much time to write extensively on the subject, as the conflict started only a couple years before this was published.  It would be interesting to know how Stokes would have written this chapter had there been more ready information when she was writing about this topic.  It is a subject that I think I should have learned about before now, but am just glad that I read this book.  I am sure that it this chapter could be better written now, but I think that Stokes’ work is important, because it shows the initial view on how the breakup of Yugoslavia was perceived.

While reading this chapter, for some reason, I was always thinking about “Behind Enemy Lines.”  After reading the chapter, I quickly went to  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Behind_Enemy_Lines_(film)  to see how much of this was real.  Little was my surprise when I read that it was almost entirely fictional, but it was interesting to actually see a rendition of the mass graves, and the impunity that the “Serbs” used in killing people was interesting to think about after reading this.  While Stokes’ information was good, and it was a much more compelling story than this movie, sometimes visual reinforcement can be a good thing.

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Stokes Part II

Monday, September 17th, 2007

Stokes points out that early in the 20th century, many people believed a hyperrationalist society would fulfill their desire for equality and freedom. The eventual turn towards communism in Eastern Europe ultimately provided for the exact opposite: individual freedom was denied and an authoritarian state was created. Stokes argues that by the last quarter of the 20th century, communism had lost its legitimacy in the eyes of many Eastern Europeans. Stokes credits the collapse of communism to several different factors. He especially emphasizes the importance of antipolitical opposition (including the role of an intelligentsia and religion), along with the economic situation and oppressive nature of Communist leaders.

After reading this text, it seems clear to me that Communism eventually always leads to an authoritarian state. Although it is true that many of the reform-minded Communists did not intend to dismantle Communism entirely, it became evident that a command economy is not compatible with democracy. In sum, a market economy is necessary for political freedom, and therefore, freedom cannot realistically be preserved in a Communist society. The downfall of the Soviet Union has shown to the world what happens when a society is based on a single ideology – it fails. Stokes also argues that creating a body of law based on a constitutional democracy is one of the most important steps towards achieving pluralism.

By the end of the 20th century, Stokes claims that capitalism has triumphed over socialism. Societies in Eastern Europe have turned towards the ideals of capitalism, which includes privatization, market economies, and a democratic government. However, by now, doubts have been cast on whether or not this turn towards capitalism has been successful. I would be interested to know if the economies of the post-Soviet states are better off now than they were before Communism collapsed? (Say, in terms of GDP).

In my opinion, Stokes makes a very important point in the last chapter of the text: the primary cause of conflict in Eastern Europe is no longer based on an ideological struggle as it was before 1989 – but rather a cultural struggle between nations with ethnically diverse populations. The conflict in the former-Yugoslavia was not a class struggle or an ideological struggle, but a nationalist struggle that turned into a bloody civil war. I had previously no understanding of the events that lead to the break-up of Yugoslavia, or any understanding of the revolutions that unfolded in Eastern Europe in 1989 prior to reading this text.

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Stokes II

Monday, September 17th, 2007

Outside of the usual arguments based around talking points and the communists versus democrats (little d, not capital D), there were reoccurring themes that grabbed my attention, particularly about hyperrationalism. I truly do wonder if Marx and Engels ever sat down and thought about what they were saying. Yes, it was a different time – people bought into any new idea or cure-all (completely different from now… right). Going further back, early socialist-minded philosophers like Plato and the Sassanian, Mazdak, didn’t seem to realize the ease of corruptibility and dysfunction when a ‘utopia’ gains traction – they must have not known people will always be people. Did these great thinkers earnestly believe the kind of rubbish they were espousing and that everyone will happily ever after in peace? It was interesting to note how often communists and hard line socialists will look at the world as classes and try to elevate the proletariat one day, and the next day they will betray their own vision by consolidating their power and seizing the basic rights of the people. It is akin to when groups call themselves freedom fighters in both Africa and Asia. Anyway, it didn’t seem like many of the people at the top actually believed in the empty promises of communism; rather they just desired to retain their grip on power for the rest of their days.

Communism lost its legitimacy and many wanted to live their lives without the government running it for them. Communism was crushed between the rock and the hard place of a general sense of dissent and the economic factors which fueled such dissent. The second part of Stokes’ book is defined by certain questions like: where do we go from here?

Unfortunately, reality and relativism sets in along with cynicism. For most people who lived in Eastern Europe, the collapse of the old system was the defining moment of their lives, for better or for worse. I’d like to think for better but like anything in life there are equal and opposite reactions. The elderly on fixed incomes had to adjust, parents couldn’t support all their children so some were sent out into the streets, and individuals lives were ruined because they found out their wife or son or best friend were the ones keeping tabs on them for the government.

What I interpret from Stokes’ book was that the phrase “collapse of communism” is a misnomer. Communism didn’t collapse like a house of cards. If what we have been taught about how governments are the product of the people’s mutual consent – a social contract, than governments are not meant to oppress which the communists did. The communists and their governments were suppose to fear the people so while the governments were being pressured on the outside by the arms race, globalization, glasnost and perestroika, they were also being squeezed by dissident groups like solidarity, and in another vein: environmental devastation, and a centrally planned economy. There were organic forces pushing towards each other and caught in the middle was communism. Not to be overly dramatic – The outcome was inevitable.

The chapter I focused in on was chapter 7 – the Devil’s Finger. The breakup of Yugoslavia is not a subject I knew too much about, or nearly anything at all. This is unfortunate given the death toll of the conflicts and the NATO/US presence which still exists today. The sources from the chapter ran the range of 1st through 3rd person, which is ideally what I would look for when examining my own and others’ writing for legitimacy. Stokes had speeches and articles from Serbs, including Milosevic and Komnenic and others, and articles from Oxford and the US government among other resources. The central theme that most of these articles and accounts illustrate is the idea of ethnic and cultural division, whereas we found ourselves in an ideological division previously. Any of these sources give a great indication of how terrible the situation was during the 1990s for different ethnic groups.

Looking towards the next few weeks, it’ll be interesting to see how significantly each of our assigned readings will differ and if the differences will be noteworthy or will they be something that won’t necessarily resonate with us?

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