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The Collapse of the Soviet Union

The Collapse of the Soviet Union. And the world watched with wonder …. Eastern Bloc. Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. 15 Republics: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan.

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The Collapse of the Soviet Union

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  1. The Collapse of the Soviet Union And the world watched with wonder …

  2. 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. Was the Collapse Due to Force? No • The Cold War cost more than $11 trillion. But the collapse of the Soviet Union and its satellites was not a result of force. • No NATO tank fired a shot. • No bomb fell on the Kremlin.

  4. A Home-Grown Insurgency • A massive, home-grown insurgency, led by a number of different participants, contributed to the collapse: • Workers • Dissident intellectuals • Advocates of national self-determination • Reformers

  5. Polish Trade Union: Solidarity The downfall began in 1980 when striking Polish workers organized Solidarity, an independent trade union of nearly 10 million members. *Led by Lech Walesa, Solidarity was one of the first groups to defeat communism

  6. Support from Catholic Church Solidarity, which had strong support from the powerful Polish Catholic Church, demonstrated how a working-class movement could offer an entire nation moral and political leadership. *Walesa led the people of his nation toward a more democratic government

  7. The Gorbachev Revolution • Mikhail Gorbachev, who came to power in 1985 as the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU), recognized that the Soviet Union could not remain politically and economically isolated and *he encouraged many political changes.

  8. Gorbachev's Five-Point Plan • *The key pieces to Gorbachev's policies to reform the Soviet Union politically and economically for the survival of the Soviet Union were the following • *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

  9. Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!”

  10. 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!”

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

  12. Wave of Demonstrations • Beginning in September 1989 demonstrations shook Communist regimes; undermining the authority of the Communist hard-liners who still clung to power in the German Democratic Republic (GDR).

  13. 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.'

  14. The Wall Came Down • *Finally, on the night of November 9, 1989, ordinary Germans poured through the Berlin Wall. • *This act was symbolic of the end of Soviet domination in Eastern Europe

  15. The Rise of Nationalism • With the iron grip of the centralized Soviet state relaxed and the growing failure of the state to adequately feed and clothe its people, nationalism in the republics surged and separatist movements threatened the very existence of the Soviet Union. Super Cute Protesters: Moldova: The hot, angry face of nationalism - Apr 13, 2009

  16. Events in Eastern Europe Communist governments in Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and Bulgaria either tumbled or underwent reform. The Communist 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.

  17. Radical Change Radical change finally reached the Soviet heartland in August 1991, when thousands of Russian citizens poured into the streets to defeat a reactionary coup d'état.

  18. Independent Republics The Communist party quickly collapsed, and the Soviet Union began the painful and uncertain process of reorganizing itself as a loose confederation of independent republics.

  19. Nobel Peace Prize • Gorbachev won the 1989 Nobel Peace Prize. He brought a peaceful end to the cold war, and dramatic change to his country's economy, though not in the way he intended.

  20. The End of the Cold War The Cold War was over, brought to a close not by the missiles and tanks of the principal participants, but by the collective courage and willpower of ordinary men and women.

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