Mikhail Gorbachev and the collapse of Communism

The definition of Glasnost is the declared public policy within the Soviet Union of openly and frankly discussing economic and political realities: initiated under Mikhail Gorbachev in 1985. Perestrokia was an economic and political reform in the USSR which occurred during the Russian Revolution. Upon being elected Gorbachev followed and pursued his own ideas. He followed his own ideas and demonstrated what a real government should be while straying away from Stalins ideas. Russia's history was ran by totalitarian rulers Gorbachev represented a turning point because he didn't follow this way of government. In 1985 he announced a glasnost, this marked a turning point because churches were opened, books were published and freedom of the press rised. Perestrokia was another policy Gorbachev brought to the Russian economy. This policy allowed people to own their own small businesses which weren't owned buy the government. This in a way marked the end of Communism, it proved that Communism wasn't affective and small businesses were needed for the success of the economy. He also introduced democratization, this allowed people to elect their own national leader through a list of candidates. Mikhail Gorbachev was one of the first leader who slowly strayed away from communism.He opened up the economy and allowed for positive change in Russia.

Collapse of Communism

The collapse of communism was a result of the end to the cold war. Russians did not have enough money to support other allied communism countries like Cuba. The arms race had taken the little money they had. The people of Germany were long separated due to their different political and economic systems. When the Berlin wall was torn down East and Western Germany once divided by communism and democracy were now able to reunite, join together and form social and economic ties. The reason the wall was torn down was because people began to want to travel more to eat and western Germany. Roads were being built, but the people became tired and attacked the wall and destroyed it. Communism became so unpopular because of leaders who took advantage of their positions like Stalin. There was a lot of money being robbed and dictatorships being formed. Communism was suppose to be an equal government and way of life for everyone, instead of having everyone be in the middle class, people just became very poor, this decreased the popularity of communism tremendously. After the fall of Communism The Soviets had to start all over again. Communism weighed down the USSR, and its collapse made the United States one of the biggest powers in the world.

Nelson Mandela and Apartheid.

Apartheid was a racial segregation policy in Africa. It ran from 1948 to 1994. This policy did not give any rights to the black, mixed or Indian population of Africa.
Nelson Mandela was tired of the Apartheid policy, he wanted the liberation of Africans and minorities in Africa, throughout his life he constantly fought for the unity of the people, because this was the only way to beat the Europeans. His constant plea and struggles for freedom, lead him to jail which gave him more popularity and lead him to presidency in Africa. He was a good president who's 27 years spent in prison allowed him to become stronger and wiser creating journals and books of idea for his people and the road to independence. His ideas of "civil disobedience" were inspired by Ghandi and used by Martin Luther King Jr. and other leaders such as AL Sharpton. His mission was to free the "oppressed and the oppressor". Which is why he is so admired by thousands of books and sites. Nelsons and Ghandi's ideas served as the basis for other black or national leaders. Promoting civil disobedience and eliminating the need some people have of getting physical or killing others as a way to prove their point. All his struggles awarded him the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993.

African Independance

Africa changed so much during 1955-1975, the African to began to study and become more educated. Many young men were enrolling and collage and a steady middle class began to emerge.They made the negritude movement, celebrating all Africans. One African leader who really made a difference was Kwame Nkrumah. He studied in the United States and went to the University of Pennsylvania. He often held boycotts and strikes and was often imprisoned by the British. Other leaders included Leopold Senghor, he was a poet and a politician. Through his poetry he was able to support African traditions and emphasized the need for Africa to separate from Europe.He later on became president of Africa. Finally in 1957 Africa gained its independence and established one of its first nations ran only by blacks, which was Ghana. The Africans were regaining power of Africa and slowly becoming stronger. The Africans were creating a middle class, people began to advance. Other African leaders included, Marcus Garvey, who although being Jamaican born focused on having Africans rise to full power of Africa. Jomo Kenyatta was another African leader, who studied and educated himself in London. He was a nationalist who led the African people toward independence.

The Cuban Missile Crisis

After the Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961, Fidel Castro and many other governmental officials in Cuba felt that another attack was inedible. Cuba felt threatened by America and was looking for a way to defend themselves in case of an attack from the United States. Russia on the other hand, was considerably behind in Nuclear arms, during the Arms race. The United States quickly became a country to be feared. With their overwhelming amount of nuclear arms, we could easily attack anyone, and other countries like Russia had great to fear.
In order to protect themselves, Russia came up with a plan to put missiles in Cuba. Do to Cubans proximity to the United States this location was ideal. This would serve as one of Russia's strategic plans against the U.S in case of an attack. Fidel Castro quickly agreed to the missile plan from the Soviets, do to their need of protection as well. This way both Russia and Cuba would have benefits from the missile. The Cuban missile crisis became the closest time in period were Nuclear war became possible, this is why it is considered the hottest moment during the war.
When Kennedy found out about the missiles being built in Cuba, which was suppose to be a secret, he immediately launched the EX-COMM. It was a group of 12 important advisers who were capable of handling and managing the crisis. Kennedy's main focus now became to prevent more Soviets from arriving on the island of Cuba. On October 28th, teh situation was finally resolved, after a long time of tension, the United States finally came to an agreement with the Soviets, promising not to attack Cuba. Once the Russians felt sure of this promise they returned the missiles back to Russia.

NATO and the Warsaw Pact

The NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) was established April,4,1949. It was an agreement which involved 12 nations, some of these nations included the United states and the United Kingdom.The NATO was established with the singing of the North Atlantic Treaty. The NATO was basically a defensive system of alliance for some European countries and North America. The system was used as defense against the soviets and other countries, stating that if any country in the NATO, had to go to war, the other countries of the NATO would come to their aid. The NATO became very important the to the U.S, as the Soviets expanded in territory and spread communism, the NATO became an even greater symbol of the Unites States power.
The Warsaw pact was made up by the Soviet Union and its Satellite Countries. Satellite Countries were bordering countries around Russia. They were a method of protection for the Soviets. The Warsaw pact like the NATO was the Russians defense system. The Soviets kept military in their other countries, this was the Soviets first attempt to strengthen themselves after the war.

The right stuff

The United States and the Soviet Union were competing during the space race in the movie. When Russia sent the first satellite into space, America was infuriated. We wanted to win this race and by them putting the first satellite, it showed them to look better. The United States needed something more powerful, but putting a person in space was to risky, so instead we decided to send out a monkey into space. We looked really foolish when right after Russia followed up by sending the first Man into space. Although they seemed to be the victorious ones, at the end we one the space race because we were able to send the first man to the moon. The scene that I will most remember about the movie was when the man was trying to break the sound wave. I thought this scene was an important part of the movie because it showed the frustration of the US trying to break the sound barrier, and also our reaction when we were able to actually break it. This is the beginning of the movie and I feel it sets the tone for the rest of the film. The Warsaw pact was successful in showing neighboring European countries that they in fact were the biggest military and political power.