Transnistria is a separatist state entity located in a territory internationally recognised as part of the Republic of Moldova, on the left bank of the Dniester River. Its creation resulted from factors both internal – including the concerns of the Transnistrian population over Romanian nationalism in an independent Moldova and the efforts of local elites to maintain control over the region – and external, namely the Kremlin’s strategy of leveraging Transnistrian separatism to retain influence over Moldova. This article analyses the causes of Transnistrian separatism, reconstructs the process of its emergence and continued existence of an unrecognised de facto state, and outlines the political, economic, and international context of the region, as well as the peace process.

As a result of the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Ukraine declared its independence. In the years 1991–2013, Russia continuously interfered in Ukraine’s internal affairs, supporting separatist movements of the Russian minority and of Russian-speaking Ukrainian citizens. In 2014, Russia engaged in an act of aggression against Ukraine. It made use of pro-Russian separatists, Ukrainian citizens, in the annexation of the Crimean Peninsula and the creation of the pseudo-independent Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics (Donbas). After a further attack on Ukraine in 2022, Russia conducted the annexation of Ukraine’s south-eastern oblasts. Russia questions the ethnic, cultural, and religious separateness of the Ukrainian nation. It holds that Russians, Belarusians, and Ukrainians should form a single, common union state. It denies Ukraine the right to independent choice of international integration structures, primarily accession to the European Union and NATO.

The aim of this article is to reconstruct the process of the restoration of Lithuania’s independence in the context of the fall of Communism and the transition to democracy. The chronological boundaries are the year 1987 (the first mass demonstration in Lithuania after the suppression of so-called Kaunas Spring in 1972) and the early 2000s (symbolic years marking full Lithuanian transatlantic integration, joining the EU and NATO). Special attention will be given to the social transition, followed by almost a uniform demand for restoring the rule of law and rebuilding historically-threatened justice. Law and justice were the essential planes of Lithuanian post-Soviet transformation – but in its historiography these dimensions are receiving less attention than the economic or political transition.

Following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the political and socio-economic landscape of the post-Soviet republics underwent significant transformation, opening new opportunities for their independent development and the assertion of national identity. At the same time, these newly independent states faced considerable economic challenges resulting from the disintegration of the centrally planned economy of the USSR, coupled with a lack of established external relations with other countries and international organisations. This article examines the impact of the political and economic changes in Kazakhstan since 1991 on the Polish diaspora as part of the country’s multiethnic population. The material analyzed in this study includes personal recollections of Poles published in the Ałmatyński Kurier Polonijny magazine between 2012 and 2017, as well as data from a survey conducted among Poles who emigrated from Kazakhstan to Poland for permanent residence since 2015, alongside responses from individuals currently residing in Kazakhstan.

The book under review here, Koniec imperium MSW. Transformacja organów bezpieczeństwa państwa 1989–1990 by Tomasz Kozłowski, is the first book-length publication devoted entirely to the transformation within the Polish apparatus of internal affairs during 1989–1990. It covers the background, course and results of that process. The author offers a critical verification of popular ideas about the transition from the Security Service (SB) and the Citizens’ Militia (MO) to the Office of State Protection (UOP) and the Police. The publication features little-known or previously unavailable historical sources. The book has a major significance for understanding not just the premises and mechanisms of reorganisation in the interior apparatus, but also the mechanisms of transformation in Poland as a whole.

This text presents a critical review of Michał Przeperski’s book Dziki Wschód. Transformacja po polsku 1986–1993 (The Wild East. Transformation in the Polish style 1986–1993), which examines the social transformations in Poland during the final years of the communist regime and the initial phase of democratic governance.

This paper outlines Paulina Codogni’s book on the process and political occurrences of the parliamentary elections in 1989 in Poland, that led to decomposition of the Communist political order, and democratic transition.

This paper reviews Matěj Bílý’s second book on the Warsaw Pact history outlining the final years of Pact’s functioning and its demise, parallel to the demise of the Soviet Union and its domination in the Central and Eastern Europe.

This review paper concerns the collection of studies prepared by Czech historians in cooperation with other researchers from the countries of the former Eastern Bloc. The particular articles concern the essential landmarks and development points of the transformation in selected countries (Czechoslovakia, Hungary, the German Democratic Republic, Poland and the Soviet Union) from the turn of the 1970s and 1980s of the twentieth century up to 1989, and the main personalities of the events. The book is supplemented with interesting text and illustration material.

The purpose of this review is, first and foremost, to introduce and briefly describe a collection of papers devoted to the political changes of 1989 in Slovakia and Europe. It also offers an opportunity to provide an overview of historical and social research conducted over the past decade on the changes of 1989, their context, and their consequences in Slovakia. Although numerous works have been published, most concentrate on how witnesses recall and interpret the events. Certain areas remain neglected, such as the situation within the Communist power structures or the State Security apparatus in Slovakia. To some extent, this is also true of the volume under review. It should be noted that the Slovak public also reads works on 1989 published in the Czech Republic. This is due not only to linguistic proximity, but also to similar developments in the two societies, which were at the time part of a single state. In addition to the state of historical research, another key question – raised not only in the present proceedings, but also in many other publications on 1989 – is whether, and in what ways, there have been changes in the manner in which Slovak society relates to this historical event, which so profoundly transformed the country and enabled it to achieve independence. It seems that the perception of 1989 in Slovakia is becoming increasingly critical.

Report from the conference entitled »Prawdziwa wolność jest pierwszą cechą człowieczeństwa« – różne wymiary wolności od lat siedemdziesiątych XX wieku do chwili obecnej. Ogólnopolska konferencja naukowa w 40. rocznicę śmierci błogosławionego ks. Jerzego Popiełuszki [“True Freedom is the First Characteristic of Humanity” – various dimensions of freedom from the 1970s to the present day. All-Poland academic conference in fortieth anniversary of Fr. Jerzy Popiełuszko’s death] held on 17–18 October 2024 in Toruń, Poland, organised by Centrum Badania Historii Solidarności i Oporu Społecznego w PRL [Centre for Research on Solidarity History and Social Resistance in Polish People’s Republic] of the Nicolaus Copernicus University and Kujawsko-Pomorski Urząd Marszałkowski (Cujavia-Pomerania Voivodeship Marshal Office).