Historical Methods

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.

Gale Stokes’ book The Walls Came Tumbling Down chronicles the events that led to the fall of Communism in Eastern Europe. Stokes mainly attributes the collapse to the failure of the planned economies in the satellite countries, and the disillusionment of the people due to the constant hypocrisy of the state. The Communist system by its very nature is a system that can not reform as easily as many of their democratic counterparts. The problems with the reforms implemented by the Communist countries was the continual “thawing” and “freezing” of policy. When trying to reform the country changes would be made and if it looked like things were progressing in a way the Communists did not agree with, they would strike down the changes and attempt to return life to the way it was. This disillusioned the people and was a contributing factor to the fall of the Communist governments in Eastern Europe. Stokes introduces many examples of the failure of the economies of Eastern Europe such as dramatic inflation, basic food shortages, and low wages. Stokes uses many primary sources and first hand accounts in this book. I think that the primary sources are credible when used as a way to understand the thinking and the mindset of the people who lived during this time. Overall I find Stokes book to be an insightful and well organized look at the fall of Communism in Eastern Europe.