What are two symbols of freedom against the soviet tyranny in the 1970s and 1980s?

Answer 1

As the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact were made up of a number of different peoples, with different histories and different languages, ethnicity and language played a major role in resisting Soviet rule. The first Soviet republics to demand independence were the tiny Baltic states of Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia. Each had a strong nationalist tradition, which included using native languages instead of Russian, even though these native tongues were banned. Patriotic songs were a major symbol of the Baltic independence movements, and resistance in these countries prompted other Soviet republics to demand independence.

In the Warsaw Pact nations, which were reduced to mere satellites of Soviet policy, Poland provided an example of resistance in two ways. Labor unions had long been the leaders of protest in Poland, and they succeeded in banding together to form Solidarity in the late 1970s. Solidarity protested Soviet rule with strikes and demonstrations, and managed to drum up international sympathy, which culminated in Pope John Paul II visiting Poland to denounce Soviet oppression. Since John Paul II was Polish, and Poland is a heavily Catholic country, this was a crucial moment.

East Germany provided probably the most famous example of anti-Soviet protest: the tearing down of the Berlin Wall. The Wall was built not so much to keep intruders out as to keep East Germans in, and it often separated families. Numerous brave souls slipped under, over, or through the wall since it was built in the 1960s, so it was an incredible release for the German people to tear the wall down in 1988, while the infamously brutal East German Police (the Stasi) simply stood aside and let it happen. Please note that, even though documentaries often show the two events happening together, Ronald Reagan had nothing to do with the Berlin Wall coming down-he gave his "tear down this wall" speech AFTER the Germans had already resolved to reunite their own country.

Answer 2

Andrei Sakharov from the Soviet Union and Lech Walesa from Poland