Mikhail Gorbachev and The Collapse of Communism

Mikhail Gorbachev contributed many reforms. Glasnost meaning openness and Peristrokia meaning economic reforms. He encouraged Soviet Union citizens to discuss ways to improve their society. In 1986, He made changes and revived the Soviet Union local gained power over their farmers and factories. People were also allowed to open their own private business. People now can choose from list candidates for each office. He also didn't want a nuclear arm race so he signed a treaty with the U.S. Glasnost allowed people to do things freely such as write whatever they want on the newspaper. Reading newspaper people now know the truth of the economic problems they are facing. Religious people wanted freedom of religion. People were also against Gorbachev. Many events occurred such as the Hungarian Communist Disband and The Fall of the Berlin Wall.

Collapse of Communism

In 1985, Mikhail Gorbachev became leader of the Soviet Union. He relaxed Communist strictures and rules with reform policies of glasnost(openness) and perestroika(restructuring). Another cause was the rise of nationalistic resistance of the ideology of communism, attempts of increasing democracy. Berlin a giant wall that separated East Germany from West Germany came down. This was necessary because East Germany was a Communist Society and West Germany was a Capitalist. Many people tried to cross the wall, however got killed. When the wall came down this was the beginning of The Collapse of Communism. This opened up a lot of opportunities for the people that are sick of Communism. They now can also visit their family's that don't live in a Communist Society.

Nelson Mandela and Apartheid

Apartheid is a racial segregation policy of South Africa from 1948 - 1994. In the Apartheid system, nonwhites were referred to as Bantu meaning blacked or colored. Also the wealth class between the blacks and whites were very different. Whites got paid well, while the Blacks don't. Nelson Mandela stood up to Apartheid to make a difference. He influenced the people the support him. Later, society feared that he was capable of starting a revolution so they sentenced him to jail for 27 years. When he was released his people wanted to immediately elect him. He became president. He also won a noble prize

African Independence

African Independence occurred not that long ago. Kwame Nkrumah was a non- violent protester and wanted Africa to have it's independence. He led strikes and boycotts in Africa. He was also often arrested. His efforts were very successful, thus getting Africa it's Independence. He was the main reason Africa got their independence. The only independent countries in 1955 were Egypt, Libia, Ethopia, Liberia, South Africa. Jomo Kenyatta was also a protest leader. Peopl respected him so much they named a Africa country after him named Kenya. In 1975, all countries were independent except , Rhosedia, South-West Africa and Afars Issas Territory, and the Spanish Sahara.

The Cuban Missle Crisis

The Cuban missile crisis was the closest we ever came into having a war with The Soviet Union. Thanks to the cooperation and help of John Kennedy and Nikita Khrushchev, the war was avoided. Nikita Khrushchev had conceived the idea of placing missiles in Cuba so if they ever needed to go to war with the U.S, they can release the missiles. In the summer of 1962, They had started placing the missiles in Cuba. After President John F. Kennedy, had found out about the installments of the Cuban missiles, he immediately organized The EX-COMM, consisting of 12 of his most important trustworthy advisers to handle the crisis. Kennedy imposed a quarantine on the island. After Kennedy pulled back the quarantine, Nikita sent a letter stating that if the U.S never invades Cuba they will get rid of the missiles, then another letter came from Nikita stating that if they remove the missiles from Turkey they would remove the missiles from Cuba. Two options. One was chosen, which was the first proposal. That was the end of the Cuban missile crisis

Nato and Warsaw Pact

The Nato Pact consists of The United States, Canada, Portugal, Italy, Norway, Denmark, Iceland, and Turkey. The main purpose for this alliance was defense. It stands for North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Also since the western European countries were a little beat up after WW II, The US covered them by applying The Marshall Plan. Nato started a new program in 1979, which would help build up defense, as well as new efforts towards stopping the Soviet Union from building up their nuclear weapons. The Soviet Union then felt that Nato was a threat so they forged the Warsaw Pact. This pact consisted of mostly of The Soviet Union and it's satellite countries. The Soviet Union wanted to strengthen it's hold on it's satellite countries. This program was taken over by Nikita Khrushchev and Nikolay Bulganin in the early 1955.

Film Lesson: "The Right Stuff"

The US and USSR were competing in many different unique concepts. The US were the first to break the sound barrier and Russia were the first to send a satellite and a man to space. The US then felt embarrassed and with hard work they pulled of their own space program and sent a monkey to space, while the Russians sent a man to space.The US felt very embarrassed sending a chimp to space. The US afterwards gained the upper hand by sending a man to the moon. The movie showed scenes where doctors were testing the men, to see if they're capable to go to space and handle the stress. There were also scenes were it took the US many tries to build a successful space rocket.