{"id":11924,"date":"2026-05-14T14:41:47","date_gmt":"2026-05-14T06:41:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stg.igbis.edu.my\/the-past-changes-a-little-every-time-we-retell-it\/?page_id=11924"},"modified":"2026-10-26T13:24:22","modified_gmt":"2026-10-26T05:24:22","slug":"what-caused-the-transition-to-take-place","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/stg.igbis.edu.my\/the-past-changes-a-little-every-time-we-retell-it\/what-caused-the-transition-to-take-place\/","title":{"rendered":"A. What caused the transition to take place?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>There are three reasons given by the IB for this question to be answered.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-pale-pink-background-color has-background\"><strong>Role of the Communist party<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"The Coup That Killed The USSR\" width=\"525\" height=\"394\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/xScY2924Svo?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-pale-pink-background-color has-background\"><strong>Impact of stagnation and failed economic reform<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Inside Gorbachev&#039;s USSR (1990)\" width=\"525\" height=\"394\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/4MlMQPfoq3I?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Impact of Chernobyl<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Impact of the Cold War: Detente, Afghanistan and SDI<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-pale-pink-background-color has-background\"><strong>Challenges to communism in Eastern Europe<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Romania<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Fall of the Berlin Wall<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-pale-cyan-blue-background-color has-background\"><strong>Poland and Solidarity<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Lech Walesa was an important figure during the 1980s. He was a Communist trade union leader (called Solidarity) and was one of the leaders advocating for change in Poland. He came to prominence in 1980, gaining industrial workers some of the rights they sought. But then martial law was introduced in 1981 and Walesa was jailed for a year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"687\" src=\"https:\/\/stg.igbis.edu.my\/the-past-changes-a-little-every-time-we-retell-it\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2026\/10\/image.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12133\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stg.igbis.edu.my\/the-past-changes-a-little-every-time-we-retell-it\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2026\/10\/image.png 1000w, https:\/\/stg.igbis.edu.my\/the-past-changes-a-little-every-time-we-retell-it\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2026\/10\/image-300x206.png 300w, https:\/\/stg.igbis.edu.my\/the-past-changes-a-little-every-time-we-retell-it\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2026\/10\/image-768x528.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 767px) 89vw, (max-width: 1000px) 54vw, (max-width: 1071px) 543px, 580px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/biography\/Lech-Walesa\">Britannica<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As a result of an economic crisis in 1988 (Poland had borrowed billions from the West in the 1970s but had not been able to pay it back) Solidarity became legal again and the free elections which took place in 1989 led to them winning a huge majority. Walesa eventually became Poland&#8217;s first president from 1990 to 1995. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>What was the impact on the Soviet Union?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Arguably the events of 1988 and 1989 in Poland were a catalyst for what was to happen in the Soviet Union.  It proved the end of the Brezhnev Doctrine (the Soviets would use military force if a <a href=\"https:\/\/history.state.gov\/milestones\/1953-1960\/warsaw-treaty\">Warsaw Pact<\/a> nation was threatened). Arguably, the <a href=\"https:\/\/edwardbetts.com\/monograph\/Sinatra_Doctrine#:~:text=He%20has%20a%20song%2C%20'I%20Did%20It,apparently%20ossified%20Soviet%20bloc%20seemed%20unthinkable.%20%E2%80%A6\">Sinatra Doctrine <\/a>replaced it! Events in Poland may have influenced:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Hungary tearing down their border with Austria (this began before the Polish elections but may have been influenced by the reinstatement of Solidarity).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The fall of the Berlin Wall in November.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Communist regimes in Prague, Sofia, and Bucharest fell in rapid succession.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Independent movements in the Soviet Union then began to make progress, knowing that Moscow may not act to prevent them moving towards self-determination. <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>There are three reasons given by the IB for this question to be answered. Role of the Communist party Impact of stagnation and failed economic reform Impact of Chernobyl Impact of the Cold War: Detente, Afghanistan and SDI Challenges to communism in Eastern Europe Romania Fall of the Berlin Wall Poland and Solidarity Lech Walesa &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/stg.igbis.edu.my\/the-past-changes-a-little-every-time-we-retell-it\/what-caused-the-transition-to-take-place\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;A. What caused the transition to take place?&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":95,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-11924","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stg.igbis.edu.my\/the-past-changes-a-little-every-time-we-retell-it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/11924","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stg.igbis.edu.my\/the-past-changes-a-little-every-time-we-retell-it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stg.igbis.edu.my\/the-past-changes-a-little-every-time-we-retell-it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stg.igbis.edu.my\/the-past-changes-a-little-every-time-we-retell-it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/95"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stg.igbis.edu.my\/the-past-changes-a-little-every-time-we-retell-it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11924"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/stg.igbis.edu.my\/the-past-changes-a-little-every-time-we-retell-it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/11924\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12140,"href":"https:\/\/stg.igbis.edu.my\/the-past-changes-a-little-every-time-we-retell-it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/11924\/revisions\/12140"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stg.igbis.edu.my\/the-past-changes-a-little-every-time-we-retell-it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11924"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}