Eastern Europe

Abstract

During the period of Soviet domination of Eastern Europe the problem of minorities lay dormant, even if it had not gone away. Generally control by the Communist Party of states and the media meant that minorities got as much or as little attention as the authorities allowed.¹ The communists could try assassination or elimination of minorities, as Bulgaria did with regard to its Moslem population. For example, in the 1970s and 1980s using arguments similar to those used by Mussolini with regard to the South Tyrolese, claiming that Roma and ethnic Turks were really ethnic Bulgarians who had been forcibly converted into Turks under Ottoman rule, these were obliged to change their names. Villages also had to take new names. Eventually in 1989, after Turkey had agreed to accept them, 370 000 Turkish Bulgarians were expelled.² For its part, Poland ignored its some half-million Germans.³ In Romania treatment of minorities varied according to the regime and the minority.