The Fall of Communism and the Struggle for Democracy The Soviet Union, Eastern Europe and China

Brezhnev: dies in 1982 ▫Politburo ▫Establishment: 2 that followed Brezhnev died shortly after gaining power

Mikhail Gorbachev: age 54 ▫People were supportive ▫Youngest leader since Stalin ▫Open to new ideas

Gorbachev’s new policies 1.Glasnost: literally means openness  Allowed soviet citizens to speak more freely and express ideas for political and economic change  Churches reopened  dissidents freed from prison  books of banished authors were allow to be published  reporters were allowed to criticize public officials

2.Perestroika: economic restructuring  Problem: farmers and factory managers were told what to produce and how much to pay workers  Solution: local managers have more authority, allow small businesses to open wh/ = more efficient & productive economy

3.Democratization: voters could choose from a list of candidates wh/ = reformers being voted into office 4.Foreign Policy: works w/ the US & President Reagan to limit the costly arms race

Fall of the Berlin Wall (1989) Video footage of speeches by President Kennedy (1961) President Reagan (1987)

Gorbachev’s Power Challenged ▫Lithuania  Declared independence  Soviet invasion & blockade to stop rebellion ▫Boris Yeltsin  Critical of Gorbachev’s slow economic reforms  Critical of Gorbachev’s invasion of Lithuania  Became the 1 st democratically elected president of the new Russian Federation in 1991

August Coup: hardliners tried one last time to stop all reforms but the Russian citizens won ▫Considered a revolution ▫By December 1991 all 15 Soviet satellites had declared independence

Yeltsin’s faces problems ▫Shock therapy ▫Chechnya ▫Vladimir Putin came to power as Yeltsin resigns due to health and stress issues

Putin Faces Problems ▫50,000 homeless children in Moscow alone ▫Increase in domestic violence ▫Increase in unemployment ▫Continued rebellion: i.e. Republic of Georgia in 2008

Eastern Europe ▫Gorbachev promised not to meddle in reform movements ▫Would not intervene militarily ▫Poland and Hungary among the 1 st to est. reform movements

Poland ▫1980: Solidarity ▫Lech Walesa ▫1985: Union outlawed ▫1988: workers walked off jobs ▫1989 General Jaruzelski legalized union & allows free elections ▫1990: Walesa elected President of Poland  1 st free elections since communist took power

▫1995: Walesa voted out of office  Aleksander Kwaniewski voted in ▫1999: became member of NATO ▫2001: supported the US war on terrorism ▫2002: came to request of Geo. W. Bush for official state visit

Germany ▫1989: Hungary allows East Germans to go through their country & into Austria wh/ = entrance into W. Germany ▫Reaction: E. Germany closes its borders ▫People protested: gov’t leadership changed  Erich Honecker to Egon Krenz  Krenz decided to allow free travel between countries feeling that he could still maintain order: opens Berlin Wall

▫He could not maintain order ▫1989: E. German communist Party did not exist Reunification ▫October 3, 1990 ▫Helmut Kohl ▫What is the name of the current leader (s) of Germany?  President of Germany Horst Kohler & Chancellor is Angela Merkel.

Czechoslovakia ▫ : Communist gov’t out & democratic gov’t in ▫Unable to agree on economic policy so the country split into:  The Czech Republic & Slovakia

Romania ▫1989 Nicolae Ceausescu ▫Executed ▫Communist gov’t out; democratic gov’t in ▫Very slow transition

Yugoslavia ▫formed after WWI ▫Ethnic conflict: 8 different groups ▫New countries form  Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia- Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro  War between Bosnian Serbs & Bosnia Muslims “Ethnic Cleansing” ▫Kosovo: UN & NATO intervened  independent

China 1949: Mao Good ideas but did not favor modernization Wanted families to live in communes wh/ = lack of incentive to work wh/ = economic disaster Mao tried several programs to enforce his ideology & keep China isolated Programs were not successful

▫1 st Five Year Plan ( )  Modeled after Stalin & USSR  Attempted rapid industrialization  Problem: no modernization  Industry grew 15% a yr  Agriculture output very slow/limited

▫Great Leap Forward ( )  China suffers economic disaster wh/ = industrial decline & food shortage  Mao losing influence ▫Cultural Revolution ( )  Mao regains popularity by backing radicals  Purges & conflicts among leadership = economic, social & political chaos

Cultural Revolution from Red Guards are to destroy Four Olds: ideology, thoughts, habits, and customs those who disagreed were humiliated, imprisoned, or killed

China needs new direction ▫Zhou Enlai (2 nd in command)  Concerned that China was isolated  Foreign countries had not visited China since 1949  Started reaching out  US table tennis team to China (1971)  Nixon visits China (1972)  1976: both Mao & Enlai die  1979: US & China est. diplomatic relations

Who will be the next ruler of China? ▫power struggle between his widow & 2 nd in command Deng Xiaoping

Deng introduced Four Modernizations 1. Agriculture: land leased to famers who contracted w/ gov’t to produce a certain amount of food for the gov’t & any extra could be sold for profit wh/ = increase in production

2. Industry: more consumer goods, more small business, encouraged foreign capital

3. Science 4. Technology & Defense

Deng’s plan was overall successful because: 1.shift from agriculture to industry 2.more people moved to cities. 3.led to coastal development 4. economy on track to be largest in world 5.daily life has improved 6.people want a 5 th Modernization; political freedom

Political Freedom denied ▫martial law ▫led to protests by students ▫ : Tiananmen Square

Issues currently facing China 1.Human Rights 2.Environment 3.Religious Reform 4.Population 1,338,299,512 (2010)

Buddhism50% Taoism30% Atheism14% Christianity4% Islam1.5% Other0.5% Religion Divisions in China

Hu Jintao w/ President George W. Bush Hu Jintao w/ President Barack Obama

Xi Jinping