Mikhail Gorbachev and the collapse of Communism

Explain how Mikhail Gorbachev opened up the Soviet Union and paved the way for the end of Communism. Also define the words "Glasnost" and "Peristrokia".
The new openness allowed Soviet citizens to complain publicly about economic problems.
Angry consumers protested that they had to stand in long lines to buy food, soap, and
other basics. Gorbachev blamed these problems on the Soviet Union’s inefficient system of central planning. Under central planning, party officials told farm and factory
managers how much to produce. They also told them what wages to pay, and what prices to charge. Because individuals could not increase their pay by producing more,they had little motive to improve efficiency.
Peristroka means economic restructuring.

Collapse of Communism

Why did Communism collapse in Eastern Europe and the USSR?
The fall of Communism was a major turning point in history. For Instance, the Cold War, which had been going on for a long time, ended. Diplomats, finally had an opportunity to enter the Soviet Union without military aid. The Berlin Wall came crashing down, Eastern and Western Germany could form more economic and social ties
Why did people tear down the Berlin Wall?

The Berlin Wall first went up in August 1961. The Communists were trying to stem the flow of refugees into West Germany. East and West Germans were surprised when they were not allowed to cross the border. Many of them gathered in large groups, facing tear gas and bullets to try and cross the border, but to no avail. For 28 years, East and West Germany were completely blocked off from each other.
In November, 1989, breakin the wall down began. At first, the goal was to make a road designated for private trips between the two sections of Germany. Next, they decided to make several border crossings so more people could travel across. Soon, they were cutting holes for pedestrians. Some people came at the wall with rock hammers to gather souvenirs of the wall.

What happened to the Soviet Union and how did the collapse of the Soviet Union change the world?
they were mad and surprised.

nelson mandela and apartheid

Apartheid is a the segregation of the government to colored people. If you were of color you could not vote, or be allowed in certain areas.The establishment of Black National States was another manifestation of apartheid. In 1991, after years of internal dissent and violence and the boycott of South Africa, including the imposition of international trade sanctions by the United Nations (UN) and other organizations, President F. W. de Klerk repealed the key elements of apartheid legislation and by 1994 apartheid had ceased to exist.
He Fought for Unity and Liberation. Today, His Country Is Healing the Wounds of Racism and Apartheid.

When Nelson Mandela walked out of prison on Feb. 11, 1990, South Africa's future walked with him. If Mandela had raised a clenched fist and said, "We must purge this land with blood," an uprising would have surely ensued, and South Africa would have disappeared into the sea of anarchy that has engulfed so many other African nations.

African Independence

Africa changed a lot over 20 years cause they lost a lot of their colonies. They are all now independent coountries. Patrice Lumumba was ther first prime minister of africa. He ruled a divided country. The local leader Moise Tshombe. he wanted to declare independence for his country. then Mombutu ruked africa. He used force rule, one party rule, and gifts to his supporters.

The Cuban Missile Crisis

The Cuban Missile Crisis was the closest we ever got to having a nuclear war. The United States were more then ready for this, and the Soviet Union was ready with there nuclear weapons if anyone tried to take over their land. Luckily thanks to John F.Kennedy the war never got to start.
the United States missiles were no comparison to the Soviet Union's. This whole thing started when John F. Kennedy saw some pictures of the Soviet Union making some missiles. Right away Kennedy made a group called the EX-COMM and they were a special group to form some of the greatest missiles. Within 7 days this happened.

NATO and The Warsaw Pact

The NATO or North Atlantic Treaty Organization is an organization that includes Europe and North America. The main reason why the NATO organization was formed was because the countries involved wanted defensive alliances. This meant if one of the countries got attacked and they were part of the the NATO organization they would all have each others backs.

The Warsaw Pact was like the NATO formation but this one consisted of the Soviet Union and its satellite countries. This was created for the same reason the NATO formation was created for. The defensive alliance. The Warsaw Pact was formed in response of NATO. But the pact got dissolved at the late 90's.

Film lesson: "The Right Stuff"

The U.S and the USSR in the film "The Right Stuff" are competting for space. In the movie it tells you that Russia is winning the race. They put a satelite in space called "sputnik." This satelite was very scary to the amercian citiznes. they thought that the Russians were beating them and were scared that the Russians were going to bomb the Amercians. the most famous scene i will remember from that movie is when the Americans finaly broke the sound barrier and they made history.

Film Lesson: "Schindler's List"

this movie shows the re-make of what happened. it shows the exact things that happened in a very affective way. this movie had a lot of powerful scenes but the most powerful scene to me was the last one where they announced that the war was over and the worst was over. Th e reaming were survivers of the most horrible experience in history. They were alive but dead inside because of what they to expeirence this whole time. They had to there own kind murdered and slautered. the last scene will stay with me forever.

Night and Fog

the movie Night and Fog was very visual and deatialed. It shows everything that happened very vividly. I liked this movie becuase it showed what it really was. This movie impacted me a lot. It showed a lot of stuff that I didn't think happened. the images they showed really made me see how bad the conditions were. I found this movie very powerful in its words and the images. I think if a lot of people see this movie they would really be moved like I was. Seeing both Night and Fog and Schindler's list i can see that Night and Fog really showed what happened and Schindler's list just showed a reenactment which was good but the other movie showed more of what happened. i think thios because Night and Fog showed more pictures which is what really gives you the idea, while the movie just shows it for a short period of time.

The Treaty of Versailles (Ended WW I)

Explain how the Treaty of Versailles affected Germany at the end of WW I. Some historians say that the Treaty of Versailles led to the rise of Fascism and Adolph Hitler. Why do you think historians say this?


Germany was affected by the Treaty at the end of world war I by paying taxes and losing a lot of thier land to Great Britain and France. They were blamed for the whole war and the start of it as well. Germany also lost 12.5% of there population because they had to move to another part of Germany because of the treaty. Germany did not want to sign the treaty at first but they had no choice because they had no way to fight back. thier army was not strong enough and they didnt have enough money to pay them off. so they signed.
i think the treaty did lead to the rise of Adolf Hitler. I think this because he was a very strong and smart man who wanted to be a leader and was mad about the unfairness of the treaty and his country couldnt pay off the debt. so he overthrew his government and became a leader for the germans. Since Great Britain and France blamed the war on a country that didnt start the war, the germans blamed thier problems on someone else. The "Jews". They balmed it on the jews because they were outsiders to the germans and they didnt like that.

Mustafa Kemal (Ataturk) and the Modernization of Turkey

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of the Turkish Republic and its first President, stands as a towering figure of the 20th Century. Among the great leadersof history, few have achieved so much in so short period, transformed the life of a nationas decisively, and given such profound inspiration to the world at large.
This is how the peopel of turkey thought of him as and many other people. Mustaf was a great leader and let his people feel safe. He would destroy the invaders in his country. He got the nick name "Ataturk" which means father of the turks. he got this name for his great military strategies and his great leadership.
Because of his great leadership he led his country to full independence. He also beat all of the odds of winning half of his battles. he put a stop to the Ottoman dynasty that was in works for over 6 centuries. This created the republic of turkey in 1923.
Mustaf was president for 15 years. In his presidency he introduced a lot of new reforms like:
political, social, legal, economic, andcultural spheres. These reforms were so more advanced than any other country. Because of all his acheivements,after he died his people made a monument dedicated to him. All his poeple of Turkey will always have memory for Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. secular means: of or pertaining to worldly things or to things that are not regarded as religious, spiritual, or sacred; temporal

Film lesson "Ghandi"

Ghandi used his intelligence from law school to help the Indians become an independent nation. he wanted the Muslims and the Hindus to become one instead of two different nations. He told his people to use there head instead of there fists. They protested and showed the Britsh they can fight back. Ghandi showed his people how to gain independence without using violence and how make there point even more feirce by doing everything else but hitting. His philosophy of using non-viloence was very affective to the British. they didnt know how to react to the non-viloence policy. Ghandi's famoous quote is "eye for an eye makes the world blind." This means that if you react to there hitting and you hit them back then you become one of them and then your no better then the one that hit you. this quote is very powerful and is very deep.
I think the independence would have happened anyways but it would have taken so much longer. because the indians wouldnt have tried to gain there own independence and just wait. but yes i think it would have happened anyways. i think Ghandi had a big part in there independence but it wasnt all him. his people didnt have to go along with him. but they did so they also did there own job.

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