Eastern Europe has been in ongoing crisis since the breakup of the Soviet Union. This book is the only comprehensive one-volume dictionary on East European personalities, politicians, and history since 1945. It provides basic, up-to-date information on the events and background that have led up to the current crisis. A valuable source for students and others trying to understand today's conflicts, the volume covers all of the countries that were part of the colonial empire of the Soviet Union - Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, the German Democratic Republic (East Germany), Hungary, Poland, Romania, and former Yugoslavia. In an introductory essay, Held begins with an overview of the region's general characteristics and history prior to 1945. The volume is then divided into separate sections on each country. Each section includes basic information about the country, a map, and a chronology followed by entries, arranged alphabetically, on people, places, political parties, and events that have shaped the country's history since 1945.