SWBAT examine the impacts of the political reforms of glasnost and perestroika within the Soviet Union, on the Soviet communist bloc, and in the world.

The Soviet Union in the 1970s and 1980s The Soviet Union was at the height of its power by the early 1970s. Not only was the economy robust and the standard of living high, but the Soviet Union was also able to gain a communist victory in Vietnam during the Vietnam War. The victory in Vietnam was complemented by growing support of communist and Soviet ideals in South America. Up until the late 1970s, it appeared that the American policy of containment was no match for communist expansion. By the early 1980s, the Soviet economy began to slow down before finally reaching economic stagnation [state of not growing or progressing]. Because so many Eastern European countries were satellite nations with economies intertwined with the Soviet Union, these countries suffered as well. Once a state with high wages and a high standard of living, the Soviet Union was now home to very poor people who at times longed for the prosperity in the West. By the 1980s, a large portion of the state's funds were spent on the military to support the involvement in Afghanistan and to fund the arms race with the United States.  The involvement with Afghanistan resulted in heavy casualties and high costs. This led to a loss of faith in the Soviet Union. Ronald Reagan, president of the United States, developed cruise missiles and a defense system, and the Soviet Union struggled to keep up with the pace and costs of the arms race with America.

Glasnost and Perestroika impacted Gorbachev’s relationship with the Soviet Union’s satellite states and Soviet republics. Until 1989, the Communist party indirectly controlled all levels of government. As a highly centralized state, the Soviet Union was divided (from 1940 to 1991) into 15 Soviet republics that had little real power. These republics answered to the government of the Soviet Union. In the spirit of Glasnost and Perestroika, the political climate began to change. In both Moscow and the UN in New York in 1988, Gorbachev announced that he'd abandoned the idea of limited sovereignty for the Soviet Union's republics in Eastern Europe. He declared that all countries had the right to decide what kind of political and economic system they wanted.

Geographic Context- refers to where this historical development/event is taking place and why it is taking place there.

1. Explain the geographic context for the historical development shown on this map. [1] Score of 1: Explains the geographic context for the historical development shown on this map. Examples: Allied positions at the end of WWII led to a division in Europe that lasted throughout the Cold War; the Soviet Union had control of Eastern Europe and the British, French, and Americans controlled Western Europe at the end of WWII; during the Cold War, the USSR controlled Eastern Europe through the Warsaw Pact, and western European countries allied through NATO; the Allies divided up Berlin at the end of WWII and the British, French, and Americans controlled the West while the USSR controlled the East; the Soviet Union set up the Warsaw Pact in Eastern Europe to support communist countries and NATO was setup in western Europe to support democratic/capitalist countries; the Soviet Union and other Allies had different political and economic beliefs that they influenced different parts of Europe with those ideas and systems Score of 0: Incorrect response: Examples: Allies won WWII; Berlin Airlift; Cold War; the fall of the Berlin Wall

2a. Based on the excerpt of the Berlin Wall Speech, explain how audience affects the way Ronald Reagan presents his ideas. [1]

Score of 1: Explains how audience affects the way Ronald Reagan presents his ideas Since Reagan was speaking to an international audience that could have included people in the USSR and the Soviet government, he wanted to convince them to take down the Berlin Wall; Reagan wants to encourage the USSR to change, so he mentions positive changes in the country already and encourages more like tearing down the wall; Since Reagan is speaking to an international audience and people in West Berlin who have been affected by the USSR’s actions, he can ask them to put more pressure on the Soviets to change; Since foreign broadcasts are not being blocked in the USSR, Reagan’s audience could include people in the USSR and the Soviet government, so he is promising them that if they have more freedom and become more like the west, they will be safe and secure Score of 0: Incorrect response: Reagan wants to tear down the wall; Reagan is speaking to West Berliners and an international audience

3. Identify and explain a cause and effect relationship associated with the ideas or events in documents 1 and 2. Be sure to use evidence from both documents 1 and 2 in your response. [1]

Score of 1: Identifies and explains a cause-and-effect relationship associated with the events or ideas in documents 1 and 2. The division between NATO and the Warsaw Pact in Berlin led to the building of the Berlin Wall and Reagan’s eventual call for it to be torn down; Disagreements between the democratic and capitalistic Western Europe and United States and the Soviet Union as seen in Document 1, led to competition during the Cold War which is demonstrated by Ronald Reagan’s call for changes in the Soviet Union in Document 2; Berlin was divided after World War II, and in the late 1980s Ronald Reagan wanted to end that division by tearing down the wall Score of 0: Incorrect response: The Berlin Wall caused NATO and the Warsaw Pact; Reagan caused the Cold War

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