1 / 9

Cold War Debacles, Glasnost, and Perestroika

Cold War Debacles, Glasnost, and Perestroika . 7.6 | US – Iran, USSR – Afghanistan, and the Collapse of the Soviet Union. The Hostage Crisis. 1979 The hated Shah is overthrown Pro-Islamist forces occupy American Embassy 52 hostages are held for 444 days 1980 Rescue attempt… fail.

yale
Download Presentation

Cold War Debacles, Glasnost, and Perestroika

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Cold War Debacles, Glasnost, and Perestroika 7.6 | US – Iran, USSR – Afghanistan, and the Collapse of the Soviet Union

  2. The Hostage Crisis • 1979 • The hated Shah is overthrown • Pro-Islamist forces occupy American Embassy • 52 hostages are held for 444 days • 1980 • Rescue attempt… fail

  3. Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan 1979 – 1989 The Soviet Union’s Vietnam | The Bear Trap Osama bin Laden and the Mujahidin Withdrawal

  4. Mikhail Gorbachev • Under pressure from the failing Soviet state (socially and economically), reforms the USSR • Glasnost (openness) • Aimed at reducing corruption and the abuse of power • Less censorship and some freedoms (fed the social dissidence) • Increased regional independence

  5. Perestroika • Perestroika is seen as the catalyst that ended the Soviet Union • Rather than having a single, unified communist idea – Perestroika made freedom out to be the escape of all constraints • This would vastly undermine the communist (and Soviet) ideology • This decentralized central power (14 republics) • Regional autonomy led to a decrease in central authority and power • Production altered greatly, and rather than streamlining the system, Perestroika bottlenecked the economy (supply and demand regulation)

  6. Mr. Gorbachev: “Tear down this wall” June 12, 1987

  7. “We want out!” East Germans gather around the wall – late 1989 The DDR refused to order lethal force to stop them The guards submit to the people The East Germans rush through the gates, met by West Germans Massive celebration The Berlin Wall is torn down

  8. POLAND LEADS THE REVOLUTION All caps, because they’ve earned it 1989 – the Soviet bloc begins to crumble – Poland leaves first | Romania By 1991, the Soviet Union disintegrates Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan all become independent countries

  9. What do we learn from the Cold War? Communism does not work (China’s reforms and success) Capitalism is still a problem – Karl Marx is still right about the social divide Governments are capable of evil things (USA being no exception) People do not trust their governments anymore Dr. Strangelove

More Related