Revolution '89

A internationalist socialist on-this-day celebration of the 30th anniversary of the collapse of Stalinism at the hands of its workers.
Hosted by @workersliberty

[Revolution '89 @Revolution_1989]

2019 marks the 30th anniversary of the defeat of Stalinism in Eastern Europe at the hands of workers and students. Starting from January 1st this account will provide an on-this-day account of these inspiring struggles from an unashamedly socialist perspective. Give us a follow.

[Revolution '89 @Revolution_1989]

3/3 To this day discussion of the massacre is censored and taboo inside China. The Chinese Communist Party and its sister parties globally justify the action as a response to 'counter revolutionary' activity. Severe repression of democratic rights continue in China today.

[Revolution '89 @Revolution_1989]

1/2 BEIJING, China: The Chinese 'Peoples Liberation Army' on the orders of Communist Party leaders enters the city, killing protestors who had gathered as part of months of countrywide demonstrations demanding democratic reforms and freedom of speech, association and the press.

[Revolution '89 @Revolution_1989]

2/2 Many student and worker protestors defended themselves bravely against the advancing 300,000 troops. Many thousands were murdered for questioning the legitimacy of the Communist Party's rule with many more imprisoned and exiled.

[Revolution '89 @Revolution_1989]

2/2 The holiday, a celebration of the 1848 revolution against Austrian rule crushed with support from Russian troops, was previously banned believing it could prompt protests against the Soviet occupiers. They weren't wrong. The flag of the 1956 revolution was raised again.

[Revolution '89 @Revolution_1989]

1/2 BUDAPEST, Hungary: 100,000 march through the city on the pretext of celebrating a national holiday previously banned by the regime. Banners, slogans and speakers call for free elections and the withdrawal of Soviet troops. This time the authorities do not hinder the protest.

[Revolution '89 @Revolution_1989]

Alina Pienkowska - Polish nurse and trade unionist. When Walesa wanted to capitulate to the regime in '80 she refused to accept. She led workers back on strike and continued to be a left-wing, radical counterweight to the conservatism of the majority male Solidarnosc leadership.

[Revolution '89 @Revolution_1989]

Women were at the forefront of the struggles against Stalinist oppression. Often the left forgets or refuses to remember them but the working-class and humanity more generally owes them a huge debt. #InternationalWomensDay
Here are just a few...

[Revolution '89 @Revolution_1989]

Erika Szeles - A 15 year old Hungarian jew who fought as a revolutionary to rid the country of the brutal totalitarianism of the Hungarian Communist Party and from Soviet domination. She was killed by Russian troops on the 14th day of the revolution in 1956.

[Revolution '89 @Revolution_1989]

3/3 At 9.37pm it fell. Author Stephen Vizinczey, then a student recalled, "It was eerie; several thousand people sighing with joy. We all had a sense of making history. We thought the whole world is looking at us and the whole world is happy". Hope spread across the Eastern Bloc.

[Revolution '89 @Revolution_1989]

1/3 We couldn't pass the anniversary of Stalin's death without comment. Throughout the Eastern Bloc protests often involved the defacing or outright destruction of the grotesque statues of the great oppressor and other grandees of the system he represented. '89 was no exception.

[Revolution '89 @Revolution_1989]

2/3 However, the most symbolic toppling was on the 1st day of the Hungarian revolution on 23 Oct 1956. A giant bronze statue of Stalin with a hideous smile had overshadowed Hero's Square in Budapest for 4 yrs. Workers & students gathered to down this monument to their oppression.

[Revolution '89 @Revolution_1989]

@BobDeed They also organised practical solidarity. For example sneaking in printing equipment for Solidarnosc activists and others to produce agitational bulletins and literature as they were outlawed and the state routinely destroyed and confiscated such equipment.

[Revolution '89 @Revolution_1989]

1/3 WROCLAW, Poland: Members of the PPS-RD (Polish Socialist Party - Democratic Revolution) are detained & beaten by the police. The PPS-RD was an illegal organisation of anti-Stalinist socialists & trade unionists who raised left-wing demands within the democracy movement

[Revolution '89 @Revolution_1989]

@BobDeed This particular delegation were from the group 'Socialist Organiser', which later became @workersliberty. Their activists played a leading role in the campaign 'Solidarity with Workers in the Eastern Bloc'. Here's an advert for their 1990 conference.

[Revolution '89 @Revolution_1989]

3/3 For example, they thought Lech Walesa had undervalued the strength of the movement in settling for power sharing. Pictured below is a solidarity delegation of British socialists with PPS-RD comrades in 1990 and one of their workplace bulletins, 'Robotnik'.

[Revolution '89 @Revolution_1989]

2/3 They took central roles in strikes and demonstrations against the regime and joined the burgeoning democracy movement but were critical of its leadership. They opposed calling-off the wave of strikes in '88 and some of the agreements from round-table talks with the regime.

[Revolution '89 @Revolution_1989]

@HistoryNed Thanks foe this Ned. Yes, 80 were shot but you are of course right that the number killed 'by the existence' is larger. However even the larger number doesn't begin to reflect the numbers psychologically scared by the border between them and family and friends.

[Revolution '89 @Revolution_1989]

3/3 All in all 80 people were murdered by the Stalinist state attempting to escape the authoritarian hell of East Germany by crossing the Berlin Wall. Following the reunification of Germany many guards who had participated in murders were tried and sentenced. Heinrich included.

[Revolution '89 @Revolution_1989]

1/3 EAST BERLIN, East Germany: Chris Gueffroy (20, pictured) and Chris Gaudian are the latest to attempt to escape the DDR by jumping the Berlin Wall. Gueffory is shot dead by East German soldier Ingo Heinrich in line with the states 'shoot to kill' policy on the border.

[Revolution '89 @Revolution_1989]

2/3 Gueffory's body is quickly cremated to destroy evidence of the crime. Heinrich and his partner Andreas Kuhnpast are commended by superiors for their actions and awarded 150 marks in reward for the killings. Gaudian, who survived was imprisoned for 'illegal border crossing'.