1. Outcome: Soviet Imperialism and the Fall of Communism
Russian Imperialism and Communism
Outcome: Soviet Imperialism and the Fall of Communism

2. Vladimir Lenin and Joseph Stalin

3. Soviet Imperialism and The Fall of Communism
Setting the Stage: Joseph Stalin
Lenin warned people of Stalin before his death in 1924
By 1928 Stalin was poised to take absolute control as a dictator
Was an ally of the United States during World War II
First enemy of the US during The Cold War

4. Soviet Imperialism and The Fall of Communism
Killed many of his own people if they disagreed and attacked religion
Known as rough and crude
Encouraged people to think of him as “The greatest genius of all times and peoples”
Did Truman use the Atomic Bomb on Japan to show off to the Soviet Union?

5. Gulags: Soviet Forced Labor Camps

6. Gulags

7. Gulags

8. Gulags

9. Gulags

10. Soviet Imperialism and The Fall of Communism
Soviet Imperialism: The Soviet Sphere of Influence
When the Soviet Union liberated Nazi occupied countries in World War II, they promised autonomy and free elections in those countries
Instead, they took over and imposed Communism, “The Iron Curtain”
Countries affected were Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, East Germany, Poland, Romania, and Albania

12. Soviet Imperialism and The Fall of Communism
The Warsaw Pact was a military alliance created for the countries listed above to offset NATO established by the free countries of the West

13. Soviet Imperialism and The Fall of Communism
The Soviet Union supported Mao Zedong’s communist victory in China in 1949 as well as the communist regime in North Korea

14. Soviet Imperialism and The Fall of Communism
The Soviet Union supported communist Cuba

15. Soviet Imperialism and The Fall of Communism
The Soviet Union invades Afghanistan in 1979
The US quietly supports Afghanistan freedom fighters; Soviets leave beaten and frustrated in 1989

16. Soviet Imperialism and The Fall of Communism
Review: The Cold War
Begins in 1945
Time of tension between US (capitalist & free) and Soviet Union (Communist)
Neither side trusted each other, nor wanted to share in the post war victory over Germany or Japan
US and Soviet Union never directly fight one another

17. Soviet Imperialism and The Fall of Communism
Build of nuclear weapons, Nuclear Arms race (Soviets get bomb in 1949)

18. Soviet Imperialism and The Fall of Communism
Space race starts when the Soviets launch satellite Sputnik in 1957

19. Soviet Imperialism and The Fall of Communism
Korean and Vietnam conflicts were U.S. Cold War Containment policies
The Korean Conflict ends in a stalemate at the 38th parallel
The Vietnam Conflict ends with North Vietnam imposing communism on South Vietnam and renaming the capital in the south Ho Chi Minh City

20. Korean Conflict

21. The Vietnam Conflict

22. Soviet Imperialism and The Fall of Communism
The Berlin Wall was built in 1961 to keep Berlin divided

23. Soviet Imperialism and The Fall of Communism
Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 nearly brought us to nuclear war because the Soviets put nuclear tipped missiles within striking range of the US

24. Soviet Imperialism and The Fall of Communism
Reagan teases Star Wars or SDI missile defense system

25. Soviet Imperialism and The Fall of Communism
Miracle on Ice: US beats Soviet Union in Olympic Hockey in 1980

26. Soviet Imperialism and The Fall of Communism
Communism Unravels
Soviets spend too much money on nuclear weapons during late Cold War; economy is in shambles
Mikhail Gorbechev introduces democratic changes (glastnost) and new openness (perestroika) in 1985

27. Soviet Imperialism and The Fall of Communism
Polish workers union known as Solidarity led by Lech Walesa, forced the government in Communist Poland to agree to negotiations and establish (free?) elections

28. Soviet Imperialism and The Fall of Communism
Tiananmen Square Massacre of 1989: Chinese army turns on crowd marching for democratic reform; hundreds killed and protest is ended violently

29. Soviet Imperialism and The Fall of Communism
Eastern Bloc (Soviet Satellite) countries start breaking away
Berlin Wall comes down in 1989 (Symbolic)

30. Soviet Imperialism and The Fall of Communism
Communism falls apart at the end of the Cold War and in 1991, Boris Yeltsin is elected as a democratic leader
Soviet Union goes back to being called Russia or Russian Federation
Capitalism and democracy prevailed

31. Soviet Imperialism and The Fall of Communism
Communism Today
Communist countries today
The People’s Republic of China
Cuba
Laos
North Korea
Vietnam

32. Soviet Imperialism and The Fall of Communism
Result: The capitalists win the Cold War and The Soviet Union dissolves allowing Boris Yeltsin to be elected as the first democratic ruler of Russia in Today Russia is still facing a slow economy and is not the super power they once were, but are still a force to reckoned with.