Modern Europe

1. Modern Europe • The Second World War cost Russia almost one-third of her wealth • They launched a new Five-Year Plan • Stalin died in 1953 • In 1955 by Nikita Khrushchev • Khrushchev was ruthless but he was never able to achieve the same success as Stalin • He consolidated collective farms and increased the amount of agricultural land

2. 1957 Russia launched Sputnik and greatly increased prestige, especially in the Third World • “The Thaw” he tried to make amends for Stalin’s atrocities • Boris Pasternak wrote Dr. Zhivago – showed the limits of the thaw – received the Nobel Prize • He tried to ease the tension with the west – but tension with China increased • Opposition to Khrushchev increased and he was replaced in 1964 by Alexei Kosygin

3. 1977 Leonid Brezhnev assumed control • 1982 Brezhnev died and was replaced with Andropov and the Chernenko and finally Gorbachev • During the war Poland, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, and the Baltic States fell under soviet control • The soviets controlled these countries by Moscow-trained Communists • 1948 communists had a coup in Czechoslovakia • The countries were placed on Five-Year Plans

4. The first major figure to declare independence from Moscow was Tito of Yugoslavia • 1953, after Stalin’s death, riots broke out in Berlin – quickly suppressed • 1956 revolts in Poland and Hungary • In Hungary they were led by Imre Nagy • The Russian put down the revolts with tanks and showed the world the ruthlessness of the soviet system • “The Prague Spring” - The unsuccessful revolts did change the culture of Hungary and led to a loosening of soviet ties

5. In 1968 the communists ended the “Prague Spring” by brutally suppressing a revolution in Czechoslovakia • “Brezhnev Doctrine” allowed for Russian intervention in Eastern European affairs • However, Poland was economically successful as was The German Democratic Republic

6. 1989, perhaps as important as 1789 • Mikail Gorbachev became the head of the Soviet Union • Perestroika – the economic restructuring of the country based on decentralization and self-management • He needed western help so implemented glasnost (openness) which allowed for free speech • Gorbachev even criticized Stalin but did not challenge the power of the Communist party • Once soviet control was released longstanding ethnic hatred flared up in many places

7. Gorbachev traveled a great deal promoting peace and an end to the Cold War • In 1980 shipyard workers at Gdansk, Poland went on strike – against Communist laws – they were led by Lech Walesa • The union movement – Solidarity became so popular in Poland and around the world the Polish government was forced to back down • As the unrest continued the Communists arrested leaders, including Walesa • Pope John Paul II, a Pole, urged the people to protest • Walesa won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1983

8. By 1985 the Brezhnev Doctrine was dead • 1988 Hungary was seeking ways to get western help for reform allowed vacationing East Germans to enter Austria • 1989 East German leader Erich Honecker also gambled, but believed if Germans could travel they would return • The trickle became a flood 350,000 East Germans left by 1990 • Gorbachev told Honecker that soviet troops would not help him • So in November 1989 the East Germans opened the Berlin Wall

9. Only in Romania did the government forces fight back • Ceausescu ordered his troops to open fire on protestors • 1991 the Soviet Union sent troops to Lithuania to stop protestors • Russian politician became alarmed – made Yeltsin the new leader • 1991 Yeltsin became the first Russian leader to be elected by popular vote • Leningrad became St. Petersburg • Yeltsin wanted autonomy for the Baltic States and self-government for the other provinces

10. A small group of old hardliners staged a coup • Gorbachev disavowed the rebels and Yeltsin rallied the legislature • Gorbachev returned to private life • Yeltsin agreed to dissolution of the old USSR

11. European Union • Churchill urged European cooperation – but nothing happened • 1947 Marshall Plana) very generous - $15b in aidb) helped combat Communismc) first step toward European cooperation • 1948 10 countries met to create a Council of Europe – the British refused to cooperate • Also in 1948 three countries: Belgium, Luxembourg and Holland created a customs union called Benelux

12. 1951: France, West Germany, Italy, and the Benelux countries formed the European Coal and Steel Community under the presidency of Jean Monnet of France • 1957 the same six signed the Treaty of Rome creating a large trade free area called the European Economic Community (EEC) or Common Market headquartered in Brussels • They wanted:a) Elimination of internal tariffsb) same social and economic policiesc) the movement of people

13. The Treaty of Rome also created the European Atomic Community (Euratom) to coordinate non-military atomic research • 1960 Britain created the European Free Trade Association with Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Austria, Switzerland, and Portugal • The two groups seemed like rivals but they weren’t • Britain started to fall behind other countries and in 1963 they sought entry into the Common Market (although they were twice vetoed by French President Charles De Gaulle)

14. 1967 the three organizations: Euratom, ECSC, EEC formed the European Community • 1968 the six countries negotiated the GATT agreement • 1969 Britain joined • 1985 The Single European Act • 1991 The Maastricht Treatya) common currencyb) common policies • Today there are 12 countries

15. The Balkans had been part of the Ottoman Empire • After 500 years Serbia freed from Muslim rule • Shared Eastern Orthodox Christianity with Russia • 1914 the struggle independence led to the assassination in Sarajevo of the heir to the Austrian throne • Independence came after World War I • Serbia was Eastern Orthodox: Croatia, Slovenia, Roman Catholic: many Bosnians were Muslims • 1929 Yugoslavia was created - Yugoslavia means South Slavs

16. Yugoslavia was occupied by Germany in World War II • But there was a civil war with the Communists led by Marshall Tito • 1946 Yugoslavia was Communist with 6 republics • Tito believed that only Communism could stop the ethnic rivalries • 1980 Tito died – separatist movements appeared • 1987 Milosevic became the head of the Serbian Communists

17. 1990 Yugoslavia started to dissolve • 1991 war broke out between Serbia and Croatia • NATO sanctioned air strikes against the Serbs • 1995 Dayton Peace Accords – brought ‘peace’ to the region • Serbs and Croats tried to create enclaves in Bosnia-Herzegovina • Ethnic cleansing