1. 1970 to the Present

2. Global Economy Global economy made nations vulnerable to world events
late 1960’s to 1970’s economic slowdown and inflation
1969 OPEC
October 1973 Arab-Israeli War led to oil embargo in 1974
recession in 1974

3. world oil production affected by:
1979 Iran Islamic Revolution
1980 Iran-Iraq War
Welfare states cushioned effects

4. Great Britain Conservative Party Margaret Thatcher
supply side economics
1982 invasion of Falkland Islands Conservative rule
Labour Party takes over in Tony Blair

5. France 1981-1995--Francois Mitterand moderate socialist
less class struggle rhetoric
39-40 work week with 5 week paid vacation
high technology--nuclear power
Jacques Chirac
2007 Nicolas Sarkozy (6th president of the Fifth Republic)

6. To European Union 1952 EEC to 1965 European Community
1991 Maastrict Treaty-- European Union
2002 Euro currency
goal to be a “United States of Europe” as the largest trading bloc
critical of U.S. led globalization (American cultural dominance)
did not support U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003

7. End of the Cold War Brezhnev Doctrine 1970’s detente SALT I--1972
Ronald Reagan revived Cold War rhetoric
SDI--Star Wars-- Strategic Defense Initiative
“Mr. Gorbachev tear down this wall”
“evil empire”

8. Soviet Dissent dissidents Soviet Jews--anti-Semitism samizdat
Andrei Sakharov ( )
Alexander Solzhenitsy

9. Mikhail Gorbachev technocrat: youngest Soviet leader since Stalin
1985 General Secretary--last leader of USSR
glasnost
perestroika
results:
Soviet problems:

10. Foreign Policies cut defense spending arms reduction (w. Reagan)
1988 withdrawal from Afghanistan
1989 first free elections in the USSR
1989 reversal of Brezhnev Doctrine

11. Soviets did not intervene
Afghanistan problems and western support of Solidarity
Solidarity was outlawed--Walesa jailed
civil liberties were limited
institutions required “verification” test of loyalty to government
schools closed/censorship of press

12. extreme economic difficulties
Gorbachev rejected Brezhnev Doctrine
Polish Communists approached Solidarity to begin talks
Solidarity legalized in 1989
1989--first free elections in 40 years--voted out the communists

13. Hungary
Poland inspired Hungary--led to reforms (constitution and free elections)
Communists in Congress dissolved itself
1989 Hungary took down barbed wire border with Austria
A flood of East Germans crossed into Austria and then West Germany
“people power”
1990--first non-Communist government in power

14. Czechoslovakia Angry university students “1989 is 1968 upside down”
Vaclav Havel elected president
“velvet revolution” separated the Czech Republic from Slovakia peacefully

15. Poland
1970’s Poland borrowed heavily from the west to invest in economic expansion
By 1970 its debt was $17 billion
high interest payments led communist government to raise food prices
Solidarity trade union organized under Lech Walesa
Pope John Paul II supports Poles
strikes
advocated non-violence

16. Unification of Germany
East Germany’s Erich Honecker refused reforms
October--Honecker closed all borders -- demonstrations--police refused to fire-- Honecker resigned
November 9, Berlin Wall opened-- east and west Berlin celebrated
October 3, reunification

17. Romania Only country to have a bloody resistance
Nicolae Ceaucescu would not tolerate dissent
December--ordered troops to fire on protesters--set off a major revolution
Ceaucescu and wife were captured and executed
TV news

18. Collapse of the USSR Eastern Europe ripple effect.
100 nationalist groups in USSR--ethnic unrest
First challenges came from Baltic States
Stalin had annexed them in 1940
March 1990 Lithuania acted first

19. Lithuania Lithuania declares independence
Gorbachev blockades the county
feared:
January 1991 Soviet army kills 14/wounds more than 150
Gorbachev’s reputation hurt

20. Results
Boris Yeltsin criticizes crackdown in Lithuania and slow reforms→catalyst toward collapse of USSR
Hard-liners acted against Gorbachev→loss of power
August 18, 1991 they detained Gorbachev and demanded he resign
tanks→to Moscow as show of force
Soviet people protested and Yeltsin climbed on a tank
army refused orders to attack parliament--August 21 the military withdrew and Gorbachev returned

21. The End of the USSR Estonia and Latvia declared independence
By December all 15 republics had declared independence
CIS formed (Commonwealth of Independent Nations)
Gorbachev resigned on Christmas Day 1991
End of the Soviet Union

22. Boris Yeltsin June 1991 Yeltsin→Russia’s first elected president
bold economic plan was called “shock therapy”→abrupt shift to market economy
more shock than therapy
inflation of 800% (end of 1992 it was 2,600%!)
corruption--privatization of economy went to cronies--Russian mafia hijacked the economy
Chechna war declares independence--40,000 Russian troops invade
December 31, Yeltsin resigns→Vladimir Putin era begins

23. Yugoslavia
Made up of 6 republics--Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia- Herzegovina (largest)
1991 Balkan wars begin between Serbs and Coats in multi-ethnic Bosnia Herzegovina
Catholic Croats vs. Orthodox Serbs
long-standing grievances erupted
Muslim population complicated matters (9% of Yugoslavia/majority in Bosnia)
1992 ethnic cleansing
1995 NATO intervenes
Dayton Peace Accords signed in December
1998 Kosovo “Yugoslav” Republic

24. Slobodan Milosevic Leader of Serbia responsible for ethnic cleansing
October 6, 2000 protesters seize Parliament
Milosevic captured and put on trial in The Hague for “crimes against humanity”
died in 2007→The Hague, Netherlands