Perestroika and the Party

Francesco Di Palma (1980) is Associate Professor at the University of Vienna and Project Researcher at the German Historical Institute in Rome. A former Teaching Fellow at the Freie Universität Berlin and at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, he has published widely on European socialism and communism, fascism and antifascism, and cultural and Jewish history.

“Written by well-known historians and political scientists, the book addresses an underexplored topic in detail and therefore will be of interest to specialists of communism, party politics, and the political Left in Europe.” • Choice“…a generally strong…and substantial collective contribution to the historiography of Communism.” • H-Diplo“Perestroika and the Party gives a comprehensive look at how different national parties reacted to Mikhail Gorbachev’s program of reform. Its case studies are fascinatingly detailed and make useful additions to the larger historical literature.” • Edward Cohn, Grinnell College

• Introduction: Perestroika or about the Demise of the Communist World?Francesco Di PalmaPART I: EASTERN EUROPEChapter 1. The Impact of Perestroika and Glasnost on the CPSU's Stance toward the “Fraternal Parties” in the Eastern BlocPeter RuggenthalerChapter 2. Soviet Society, Perestroika, and the End of the USSRMark KramerChapter 3. Perestroika Made in Hungary? The HSWP’s Approach to the Soviet Reform of the Late-1980sTamás Péter BaranyiChapter 4. Yugoslavia and Perestroika 1985-1991: Between Hope and DisappointmentPetar DragišićChapter 5. The Polish United Workers Party and PerestroikaWanda JarząbekChapter 6. SED and Perestroika: Perceptions and ReactionsHermann WentkerChapter 7. Between External Constraint and Internal Crackdown: Romania’s Non-Reaction to Soviet PerestroikaStefano BottoniPART II: WESTERN EUROPEChapter 8. Parallel Destinies: The Italian Communist Party and PerestroikaAldo AgostiChapter 9. “I felt as if I was faced with a French Honecker”: The French Communist Party Confronted with a World that was Falling Apart (1985-1991)Dominique AndolfattoChapter 10. A Dialogue of the Deaf: The CPGB and the SED during the Gorbachev Era (1985-1990)Stefan Berger and Norman LaPorteChapter 11. Premature Perestroika: The Dutch Communist Party and GorbachevGerrit VoermanChapter 12. The Perestroika and the Greek LeftAndreas StergiouChapter 13. The Austrian Communists and PerestroikaMaximilian GrafChapter 14. The Spanish Communist Party and PerestroikaWalther L. BerneckerAfterword: Gorbachev and the End of International CommunismSilvio PonsIndex