Thursday Bracket – Napoleon vs. Gutenberg 14.4 NOTES UNIT 14 PETS DUE NEXT FRIDAY CHRONOLOGY QUIZ PART TWO NEXT MONDAY/TUESDAY Random Fact of the Day In 1940, 12-year-old boy Fidel Castro wrote a letter to President Roosevelt to request a$10 bill because he had never seen one before.
Gorbachev and the Collapse of the Soviet Union (1982-1991) 14.4
FALL OF THE SOVIET UNION – WHY? Costs of protecting empire were high Middle class were becoming too influential in the 70s and 80s Oil Crisis of the 1970s laid groundwork for economic trouble Nationalist resentment from other countries War in Afghanistan was a drain
Helmut Kohl Germany The Atlantic Alliance Three powerful western democracies believed that the Soviet Union was a threat United States Great Britain West Germany Very pro-American…will support USA and Great Britain ALWAYS Helmut Kohl Germany
Margaret Thatcher Ronald Reagan Believed USA could outspend USSR in military production and survive it better USSR – “Evil Empire” Advocated hardline military positions Falklands War Margaret Thatcher Great Britain Ronald Reagan United States
Mikhail Gorbachev (1985-1991) Sought reforms to push USSR toward modern times Perestroika – infuse communism with capitalist measures (Lenin’s NEP) Glasnost – open Soviet society to free speech and political liberty Seeks to reduce East-West tensions Repeals Brezhnev Doctrine Ends Soviet invasion of Afghanistan Signs INF Treaty with USA, bans IRBMs
Friday Bracket – Smith vs. Darwin 14.4 NOTES Chronology Quiz – Next time I see you Wise Guys Quiz (front) – next Wednesday/Thursday Random Fact of the Day In Japan, there are Pepsi- flavored Cheetos.
END OF AN ERA – THE FALL OF THE SOVIET UNION Revolutions of 1989
The first to fall POLAND HUNGARY GERMANY Solidarity returns, free elections come and elect non-Communists HUNGARY Proclaims independent republic in October 1989 GERMANY Berlin Wall comes down in November Germany reunified in 1990
More to fall CZECHOSLOVAKIA ROMANIA “Velvet Revolution” – a general strike led to fall of communist gov’t Vaclav Havel, dissident playwright, elected President Country splits into two in 1993 ROMANIA Oppressive dictator Nicolai Ceausescu assassinated ONLY VIOLENT REVOLUTION
AND NOW the SOVIET UNION Communist hard-liners attempted to force Gorbachev out of power The people support Gorbachev…Boris Yeltsin defies the tanks Attempted coup weakens Gorbachev Yeltsin, fellow liberals, declare Russia independent from USSR Christmas 1991 – Soviet Union dissolves
Post Cold War Struggles President Boris Yeltsin failed to transform the Russian economy to free market capitalism War with Chechnya throughout the 1990s
Vladimir Putin’s russia Recentralization of power to executive branch Restricts some personal freedoms Distancing relations from the West