For four decades, the communist regimes of Eastern Europe seemed unshakeable. Yet when the end came, it unfolded with stunning speed:
1989:
June 4 - Communists overwhelmingly defeated in Poland's first partially free elections in four decades.
August - Tens of thousands of East Germans swamp West German diplomatic missions in East Berlin, Czechoslovakia and Hungary seeking asylum.
Aug. 24 - Poland's Tadeusz Mazowiecki becomes Soviet bloc's first non-communist prime minister.
Sept. 11 - Hungary opens border with West; exodus of East German refugees begins.
Oct. 7 - Visiting East Berlin, Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev indirectly urges reform; first demonstrations against the East German regime.
Nov. 4: 1 million East Germans rally in protest.
Nov. 7-8 - East Germany's ruling Politburo resigns.
Nov. 9 - Berlin Wall and East German borders open.
Nov. 10 - Bulgaria's long-time communist dictator, Todor Zhivkov, removed by Politburo colleagues.
Nov. 17 - Students clash with police, starting Czechoslovakia's "Velvet Revolution."
Nov. 25 - Referendum weakens communists' hold on power in Hungary.
Dec. 17 - Romanian police fire at protesters; dictator Nicolae Ceausescu and wife try to flee uprising five days later.
Dec. 25 - Ceausescus executed by firing squad.
Dec. 29 - Communist rule ends in Czechoslovakia after 41 years, with election of dissident playwright Vaclav Havel as president.
1990:
March 18 - Alliance for Germany, which seeks quick reunification, wins East Germany's first free election.
March 25-April 8 - Hungary has first multiparty elections since communist rule began.
June - Bulgaria holds free elections.
July - Thousands of Albanians rush foreign embassies in Tirana.
Oct. 3 - East and West Germany reunited as one country.
Dec. 9 - Lech Walesa, former shipyard worker and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, wins Poland's first popular presidential election.
Source: AP News
