Discussion: Changes in Eastern Europe and Russia after the Soviet Union
Background: Until the Communist governments of the Warsaw Pact nations began to fall like dominoes late in 1989 â?" followed two years later by the Soviet Union â?" the Eastern Bloc appeared to be a permanent fixture on the international landscapeâ?¦By the end of 1991, the one-time monolith of Eastern European communism seemed near extinctionâ?¦ The journey, however, had only begun. The changes of 1989-91 â?" initially so promising and hopeful- often had unexpected and even painful repercussions. The removal of the political and social straitjackets was welcome, but it resulted in an inevitably awkward period of adjustment" .
Question: Write a response identifying two of the most significant challenges that people in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union faced in the period immediately following the collapse of communism?