BMC Public Health 2007, 7:27 http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2458/7/27 Table 1: Events in the Soviet Bloc* and Migration to Sweden. Period The basic dates in the history of the Soviet Bloc Major events in the member countries which caused immigration waves in Sweden [7, 8, 36, 67–70] 1945–49 1944–45: Occupation of Hungary by the Soviet 1946–50 – Suppression of the anti-Soviet guerrilla movements in the Baltic Army republics of the Soviet Union (emigration to escape the Red Army) 1945–47: Communists established as dominant 1948–53 – Intensification of terror and anti-Semitic campaigns in all member force in Romania countries of the Soviet Bloc, especially in the Soviet Union 1947: Proclamation of People's Republic of Bulgaria 1948: Communists take power, Czechoslovakia becomes a Soviet-style communistic state 1948: Romania becomes a Soviet-style communistic state 1949: Proclamation of the People's Republic of Hungary 1950–59 1952: Proclamation of People's Republic of Poland 1956 – Soviet military invasion of Hungary in response to revolution 1955: Signing of the Warsaw Pact (all countries) 1960–69 1970–79 1980–89 1989 – Dissolution of the Soviet Bloc 1990–99 1991 – Breakdown of the Soviet Union * Only a brief list of basic dates and major events in the countries relevant for this study, not a complete chronicle of the Soviet Bloc's history 1968 – Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in response to the reforms of the "Prague Spring" 1967–73 – Anti-Semitic campaign in Poland 1968 – Start of the Polish political crisis (major student and intellectual protests against communist government) and consequent start of political persecutions in Poland The whole decade – economic difficulties, social discontent, strikes, protests, and consequent large-scale economic emigration from Poland 1981 – The military coup in Poland (communist government against "Solidarity" and the strikers) 1982–1983 – Imposition of martial law in Poland: reinforced persecutions of members of democratic movements (formal banning of "Solidarity") and harder military control 1989 – Fall of the Iron Curtain and disappearance of the migration restrictions in Eastern Europe 1991 – Disappearance of the migration restrictions in the former Soviet Union Country of birth Bulgaria Former Czechoslovakia Hungary Romania Poland The former Soviet Union Table 2: Immigrants from the Former Soviet Bloc in Sweden [71] Total number of immigrants for the year indicated (persons) 1950* 44 3,548 2,030 531 7,832 37,997 2001 3,605 7,835 14,027 11,954 40,506 30,504 Arrival of immigrants (number of persons per arrival period)** -1969 274 3,196 5,610 443 3,359 4,726 1970–79 313 1,551 2,750 666 9,498 1,092 1980–89 632 1,376 3,108 5,262 15,487 1,855 1990–99 2,094 1,086 1,705 4,818 9,734 12,173 * Mostly refugees of the World War II, many of whom have repatriated to their countries of birth later ** Only the arrival of immigrants who still lived in Sweden in 2001 (i.e. at the end of the study) is shown (not the arrival of the total number of refugees and immigrants during these periods). Page 3 of 12 (page number not for citation purposes)