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Aim: What were the causes and effects of the fall of the Soviet Union?. Mikhael Gorbachev ’ s attempts to solve the problems of the Soviet Union. Pulls out of Afghanistan and reduces military spending Gives up military control of Eastern Europe Announces “ Perestroika ” and “ Glasnost ”
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Aim: What were the causes and effects of the fall of the Soviet Union?
Mikhael Gorbachev’s attempts to solve the problems of the Soviet Union • Pulls out of Afghanistan and reduces military spending • Gives up military control of Eastern Europe • Announces “Perestroika”and “Glasnost” • Perestroika – encouraging a free market, not a command, economy • Glasnost – openness and political freedom; non-communist political parties allowed
Eastern European nations turn West • Communist governments resign, usually peacefully • Eastern European nations leave the Warsaw Bloc, open borders with Western Europe • Berlin Wall falls, Germany re-united http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4434331027793809225&q=berlin+wall+video&ei=-bg4SAuU-OICi87U4gM&hl=en http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-181898405138602708&q=berlin%20wall%20video&hl=en
Soviet Union splits up; Communist government collapses • Dissension within Communist Party about Gorbachev’s path leads to attempted coup • Soviet government falls • Soviet Union splits into many different nations, by nationality group http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8953962851459266994&q=soviet+union+leaders&ei=HLs4SNfZKpm05AKXgqXfAw
The Soviet Bloc’s demise • Most Eastern European nations (including Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia) join NATO and the European Union • Central Asian states – “stans” – stay allied to Russia - “Commonwealth of Independent States” - but also look east and south • Which way to turn? Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia
Boris Yeltsin and the Fall of Russia • 1990s: Privatization of the “means of production”: State property handed over to those with political connections • Boris Yeltsin presided over a decade of • democratization • economic collapse • removal of communist “safety net”
Vladimir Putin and the Rise of Russia • Vladimir Putin: President 2000-08 • Stability for Russian economy w/ help from high oil prices • Return of authoritarian government, Russian nationalism • Attempts to recreate sphere of influence in Commonwealth of Independent States (the “stans”) • Disputes with Ukraine and Georgia when they “look West”