Thirty years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the ghosts of West European communism live on

Bull, MJ

Abstract

Germany marked the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall on 9 November 2019. This article argues that alongside the sweeping changes that occurred in central and eastern Europe, the end of the Cold War also had a lasting legacy for western European states. While the demise of western Europe’s communist parties after 1989 appeared to signify the passing of a burnt-out cause, it acted as a catalyst for change in the political space to the left of social democracy, generating new ideas and configurations that continue to shape politics today.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: Nov 4, 2019
• Deposit Date: Nov 6, 2019
• Publicly Available Date: Nov 6, 2019
• Journal: European Politics and Policy (EUROPP) Blog (London School of Economics)
• Publisher URL: https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/europpblog/2019/11/04/thirty-years-after-the-fall-of-the-berlin-wall-the-ghosts-of-west-european-communism-live-on/
• Related Public URLs: https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/europpblog/