The Collapse of the Soviet Union: Gorbachev's Reforms & Reagan's Speech

1. Eastern Bloc Union of Soviet Socialist Republics 15 Republics: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan 7 Satellite Countries: Bulgaria, Czech Republic, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia

3. A Home-Grown Insurgency • A massive, home-grown insurgency contributed to the collapse: • Workers • Dissident intellectuals • Advocates of national self-determination • Reformers

4. Gorbachev's Five-Point Plan • The key pieces to Gorbachev's plan for the survival of the Soviet Union were a series of reforms: • Glasnost (openness) – greater freedom of expression • Perestroika (restructuring) – decentralization of the Soviet economy with gradual market reforms • Renunciation of the Brezhnev Doctrine (armed intervention where socialism was threatened) and the pursuit of arms control agreements • Reform of the KGB (secret service) • Reform of the Communist Party

5. The Objective: Survival • Gorbachev knew that the Soviet Union had to change to survive. • Central planning: Inefficient • Factory management system:provided little incentive to make technological improvements • Many incentives to ensure low quotas • Socialist farm system: Inefficient –poor worker incentives and storage and transportation problems. • USSR could no longer afford the high defense spending of the Cold War.

6. Insistent Calls for Change • Gorbachev believed that his reforms were necessary. • Used his power to attempt to implement them. • Glasnost made it possible for people to more freely criticize the government. • People realized it was safe to speak out • Calls for change became more insistent.

7. Reagan’s Brandenburg Gate Speech • President Ronald Reagan called upon Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall: "In the Communist world, we see failure, technological backwardness, declining standards... Even today, the Soviet Union cannot feed itself. The inescapable conclusion is that freedom is the victor. General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace,if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union, if you seek liberalization: Come here to this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!”

8. President Reagan giving a speech at the Berlin Wall, Brandenburg Gate, Federal Republic of Germany. June 12, 1987

9. Wave of Demonstrations September 1989: a wave of demonstrations shook Communist regimes in eastern Europe A massive tide of East German emigrants surged through Czech and Hungary to the West. undermined the authority of the hard-liners who clung to power in the German Democratic Republic (GDR).

10. Think Pair Share Why had citizens not protested or made their voices heard before ?

11. A tram is blocked by East German demonstrators in the center of the city in October 1989. Their banner reads: 'Legalization of opposition parties, free democratic elections, free press and independent unions.'

12. The Wall Came Down • November 9, 1989: East Germans poured through the Berlin Wall. • GDR disintegrated • By the end of 1990, all of East Germany had been taken into Federal Republic of Germany.

13. The Rise of Nationalism • The iron grip of the USSR relaxed • The state to failed to adequately feed and clothe its people • Nationalism in the republics surged • separatist movements threatened the existence of the USSR

14. Events in Eastern Europe • Communist governments either fell or underwent reform. • Czechoslovakia • Hungary • Bulgaria • The dictatorship in Romania fell after a week of bloody street battles between ordinary citizens and police who defended the old order to the bitter end.

15. Independent Republics The Communist party quickly collapsed USSR began the painful and uncertain process of reorganizing as a loose confederation of independent republics.

16. The End of the Cold War The Cold War wasn’t brought to a close by the missiles and tanks of the participants, but by the collective courage and willpower of ordinary men and women.

17. The Collapse of the Soviet Unionand the End of the Cold War John Paul II’sCATHOLICCHURCH East GermanNATIONALISM Lech Walesa'sSOLIDARITY Gorbachev’s REFORMS Eastern Bloc Union of Soviet Socialist Republics Ronald Reagan’s FOREIGN POLICY Glasnost Perestroika EVIL EMPIRESpeech No BrezhnevDoctrine MILITARY BUILDUP Ordinary MEN & WOMEN ReformKGB ARMS RACE COURAGE ReformComm Party WILL POWER

18. Remaining Communist Countries At its peak, communism was practiced in dozens of countries: Soviet Union: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan Asian Countries: Afghanistan, Cambodia, Mongolia, and Yemen Soviet Controlled Eastern bloc countries: Bulgaria, Czech Republic, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia. The Balkans: Albania, Bosnia, Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, and Slovenia. Africa: Angola, Benin, Congo, Ethiopia, Somalia, Eritrea, and Mozambique. Currently only a handful of countries identified as communist remain: Laos, North Korea, Vietnam, China, and Cuba.

19. Yugoslavia UNTIL the fall of the U.S.S.R. in 1989 Satellite Nations? U.S.S.R. East Germany Poland YUGOSLAVIA: Serbia *Belgrade Slovenia Croatia Bosnia & Herzegovina Montenegro Serbia Macedonia Czechoslovakia Hungary Romania Bulgaria Albania

20. Slovene/Catholic 91% Croat/Catholic 3% Serb/E Ortho 2% Croat/Catholic 78% Serb/E Ortho 12% Serb/ E Ortho 63% Montenegrin/ E Ortho 6% Albanian/Muslim 14% Hungarian/Catholic 4% Bosnia: 40% of urban couples ethnically mixed Muslims (43.7%) Croats/Catholic (17.3%) Serbs/E Ortho (31.4 %) Patterns of Ethnic Settlement Facilitated the Conflict and Break-up 66% Macedonian/E Ortho 23% Albanian/Muslim 2% Serb/E Ortho 4% Turk/Muslim

22. Think Pair Share • How do you think the fall of the Soviet Union impacted Yugoslavia?

23. WAR • As communism fell throughout Europe, each of the Yugoslav republics held separate multi-party elections. • Slovenia and Croatia decided to begin to pull away from Yugoslavia and rule themselves completely autonomously. • Serbia and Montenegro favored a united Yugoslavia. • The initial question was – what was the status of ethnic Serbs who were living in Croatia? • Slovenia possessed a population that was less diverse and therefore nationalism came easier.

24. In August 1990 war broke out in Croatia when Croats tried to remove ethnic Serbs from positions in the police and military forces. Border police were dominated by Serbs and the border police also came into battle as Croats tried to remove Yugoslav dominated police along the borders. • Similar events occurred in Bosnia and Herzegovina. • Ethnic Serbs were forced out of sections of Croatia as well as Bosnia – others left because of social pressure and oppression – ETHNIC CLEANSING • 25 June 1991 – Croatia and Slovenia declared independence • 8 September 1991 the Republic of Macedonia declared independence

25. Human Geography of Eastern Europe • History and Government • Eastern Europe is a shatter belt, or region of great political instability, that drove the area’s Balkanization, or the division of the region into smaller hostile regions. • Yugoslavia attempted to reverse this process, since it combined smaller regions into one country, but it fell apart with the collapse of the Soviet Union. • Power struggles led to civil war and ethnic cleansing, or the genocide of an ethnic group, and Balkanization has continued with countries declaring independence.

26. Human Geography of Eastern Europe • Population Patterns • The Slavs are an ethnic group that includes Serbs, Croats, Slovenes, and Macedonians. • The Roma are of Indo-European origin and are the largest minority population in Europe. • The majority of people live in urban areas, although there are large populations along the Danube and Vistula Rivers. • Eastern Europe experienced large migrations during and after World War II with people leaving to escape war and poor conditions.

27. Human Geography of Eastern Europe • Society and Culture Today • Countries have faced economicchallenges in the transition to democratic governments. • The area is marked by many different religious and ethnic groups. • The family is the basic social unit and serves to reinforce social values. • The long history of folk and classicalmusic makes it an important art form among peoples of the region.

28. EU Members • Prospective • Members • Non-members?

29. Think Pair Share • Why would membership in the European Union be attractive to most Eastern European nations? • Would the European Union feel the same way?

30. Human Geography of Eastern Europe • Economic Activities • Over the past 20 years, Eastern Europe has transitioned to a market economy. • The region is known for low-cost, high quality electronic and automotivemanufacturing, but still maintains its agricultural roots. • As political stability has improved, the region has become increasingly linked to Western Europe through trade and, more recently, by joining the European Union.

31. RECAP: • War: April 1, 1992 – December 14, 1995 • Result: Dayton Accords: Internal partition of Bosnia and Herzegovina according to the Dayton Accords • Deployment of NATO-led forces to oversee the peace agreement. • Massive civilian casualties for the Bosniak ethnic group. • At least 200,000 people killed and over two million displaced.

33. Exit Ticket • How did the map of Eastern Europe change after the war? • Why do you think this change occurred?