<div class="description">
<p>Poland was the first East Central European nation to transfer from totalitarian rule  to democracy. Although resistance to the communist regime existed since 1956, it was  not until 1980 that this transition began to develop. Negotiations between Poland's  communist regime and its opposition allowed for the first free elections in East Central  Europe in the summer of 1989 and with in months, regimes throughout the region began  to fall. Poland's neighbors, Germany and the Czech Republic, immediately adopted  policies concerning the crimes of the previous regime upon their transfer but Poland did  not. Poland's failure to implement legislation concerning transitional justice led to  almost a decade of political turmoil and infighting. In order for an emerging democracy  to become effective, it must separate itself from the ideals of the old regime and those  individuals and policies that enforced its repression.  This thesis will examine the post 1989 governments of Poland,  Czechoslovakia/Czech Republic, and East Germany including how each of these nations  held the criminal functionaries of the previous regime accountable, while the transition to  a democratic state unfolded in turn in the 1990s. It will provide insight as to why Poland,  after legislation in 1996, is still struggling with implementation of transitional justice  eighteen years after transition.
</p>
<br>Subjects: Post-communism; Europe, Central; Europe, Eastern</div>
<div class="fn value">
Nielsen, Alexandra Kathryn</div>
Internet Archive identifier