On 9th November 1989, the Berlin Wall fell. That event, which marked the demise of one of the most powerful symbols of the Cold War, certified the end of an era. When, in 1985, Mikhail Gorbachev assumed leadership of the Soviet state, no one could have imagined that his policies of glasnost and perestroika would soon bring so-called "real socialism" to an irreversible crisis, which would culminate in 1991 with the collapse of the USSR.

From the second half of the eighties onwards a tumultuous phase started, laying the foundations of the present world. The countries of Central and Eastern Europe experienced frenetic political, economic and social transformations. With the disappearance of the previous bipolar order, new geopolitical balances and new dynamics emerged in international relations. The project of European integration took decisive steps, as certified by the elaboration and signing of the Maastricht Treaty. The Communist Parties in particular, and left-wing forces in general, had to account for their own identity and their traditional theoretical postulates, facing the attacks of those from the right who proclaimed the "end of history".

Thirty years after the fall of the Wall, it seems opportune to reflect on the repercussions that the crisis of so-called "real socialism" and the end of the Cold War had for Spain and Europe. For this reason, we invite the research community to submit papers related to the following thematic areas:

- Development of perestroika in the countries of the Soviet bloc;
- Revolutions of 1989 and subsequent evolution of the countries of Central and Eastern Europe;
- Attitudes adopted by Spanish and Western public opinion towards changes in the Soviet bloc;
- Repercussions of the collapse of "real socialism" for Western Communist Parties;
- Memory of communism after 1989;
- East-West relations in the eighties and nineties;
- Impact of the end of the Cold War on the process of European integration and enlargement of the EU towards the East;
- International relations of Spain at the end of the Cold War

The proposed papers (in Spanish, English, French or Portuguese) must be sent to the email address treglia.emanuele@gmail.com before 1st September 2019. They must include a title, a summary of up to 350 words and a brief CV of the author. The acceptance of papers will be announced on 9th September 2019.

Organizing committee: Antonio Moreno, Carlos Sanz, Eduardo Abad, Emanuele Treglia

Cooperating entities:
Research project “Spain and Portugal before the second enlargement of the European Communities: a comparative study (1974-1986)” (HAR2017-84957-P)
Department of Modern and Contemporary History (UCM)
Research Group on History of International Relations (UCM)