When looking for a topic to add to under Wikipedia, I initially was at a loss as to what I could contribute. Under the revolution of 1989 topic, everything seemed to be there. It seemed to have all the major occurrences of that period, but as I looked closely I found a few details that were missing under Poland. There was no explanation of the results of the negotiations between the democratic opposition and the Polish government. So I looked for information about the reforms and wrote about the change in the legislative body and said that the presidential powers were expanded. So far there have not been any changes to what I wrote or additions to what I wrote. Overall, it was pretty easy to contribute to the online encyclopedia. I guess that’s what makes it popular. Unfortunately, the ease with which you can add information makes it more likely for incorrect facts to be submitted online. If the details are not looked at closely, something incorrect could be overlooked. So, even though the Wikipedia encyclopedia is more democratic, that is what could make it unreliable.
Archive for the ‘Monica’ Category
Wikipedia entry
Thursday, December 13th, 2007Map of Croatia
Thursday, October 18th, 2007My group looked at the population map for Croatia indicated that the population near the borders were low. Problems with the economy and conflict with neighbors can explain this. Croatia borders Bosnia and conflict has happened around this area. So it is possible that people stayed away from this area for safety reasons.
Article for topic
Friday, October 5th, 2007One article I could use for my topic is titled “Church War Crisis Brought by Czechs”. This article talks about how the Catholic church in Czechoslovakia, led by Archbishop Joseph Beran, had resisted the control of the communist government. It explains that the aim of the communist governments of Eastern Europe was to make the Catholic and Orthodox churches their instruments. While there were instances of conformity, the majority of church leaders resisted. The Catholic church also was better able to resist because a large part of the population still attended religious services. I can use this article to get a general idea of how leaders of the Catholic church reacted to government pressure.
Paper topic
Thursday, October 4th, 2007For my paper topic I plan to look at how the church reacted to communism in Eastern Europe. I haven’t decided whether to look at one country or whether to compare and contrast the reaction of churches in different countries. If I do the latter I would like to compare and contrast the reactions of the Catholic church and the Orthodox church.
Justice in Eastern Europe
Tuesday, September 25th, 2007In post- communist Eastern Europe justice would involve punishing those directly involved with maintaining the communist state. This would include spying, giving information and police brutality. Also, the conviction of those who did wrong would insure that they would not take a prominent role in society. The last thing they wanted was a former Stasi member involved in decisions to implement democracy. To insure that the process stayed true to democracy, they had to purge the leadership of possible anti-democratic viewpoints.
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.
Reform of Government in Poland
Thursday, September 13th, 2007For my wikipedia entry I wrote three sentences about some of the results of the negotiations between the government and the opposition. I focused on the changes in the government system regarding the creation of a bicameral legistlature and the expansion of the power of the presidency. My entry can be found on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revolutions_of1989. Look under Reform in Poland and Hungary at the end of the second paragraph.
Stokes part 1
Wednesday, September 12th, 2007In the first part of The Walls Came Tumbling Down, Stokes tries to explain the quick overthrow of communism in Eastern Europe in 1989. He explains that some Eastern European countries advocated for change in the communist system. They did not want to remove the political system of socialism, but only wanted to reform it. When workers in Poland advocated for the right to have independent unions, this indicated how far the government was from the principle that the Communist party was the representative of the workers. Other countries, such as Bulgaria, were under leaders who enforced their own version of Stalin’s economic ideas. These ideas proved to be ineffective and led to discontent. Meanwhile, in East Germany people were envious of the freer and more opulent lifestyle of West Germany.