Mikhail Gorbachev and the Collapse of Communism

At 54, Mikhail Gorbachev was the youngest Soviet leader since Stalin.Unlike other Soviet leaders, Gorbachev had not needed to blindly follow Stalin’s policies. He could pursue new ideas. The Soviet Union was a totalitarian state, it rewarded silence and encouraged individuals from acting on their own, the Soviet society rarely changed. Gorbachev realized that economic and social reforms could not occur without a free flow of ideas and information.
In 1985, Gorbachev announced a policy known as glasnost, he encouraged citizens to discuss ways to improve their society. Glasnost brought remarkable changes. Glasnost is a Soviet policy which permits open discussion of political and social issues and freer dissemination of news and information. In 1985, Gorbachev introduced the idea of perestroika. Perestroika is an economic policy to decentralize the Soviet economy. The term translates to "restructuring" in Russian.

Collapse Of Communism

The fall of Communism was a major turning point in history. The Cold War ended, Diplomats, finally had an opportunity to enter the Soviet Union without military aid,and the Berlin Wall came crashing down. Communist Governments first lost power in Poland in June 1989. Demands for reform spread across East Germany in the fall of 1989 and led to the destruction of the Berlin Wall and the unification of East and West Germany.

Nelson Mandela and Apartheid

Apartheid is discrimination based on race and the color of skin. Until 1991 the White government of South Africa ran a system of apartheid whereby Black people were given less access to employment, health and education and were kept separate from the White population. South African blacks were segregated into reserves known as ‘homelands’ and subjected to residential and occupational restrictions. Apartheid was maintained by a wide range of laws that included the prohibition of inter-racial sexual intercourse or marriage and outlawed racially integrated political and social organizations.
Nelson Mandela was the first President of South Africa to be elected in fully-representative democratic elections. He was an anti-apartheid activist and leader of the African National Congress. He spent 27 years in prison on convictions for crimes that included sabotage committed while he tried to end apartheid. Among opponents of apartheid in South Africa and internationally, he became a symbol of freedom and equality.

African Independence

Like the Asian countries, the countries of Africa were unwilling to return to colonial domination after World War II.Between the two world wars, an educated middle class had begun to emerge in African cities. French-speaking Africans and West Indians began to express their growing sense of black consciousness and pride in traditional Africa. They formed the Negritude movement—a movement to celebrate African culture, heritage, and values.
The British colony of the Gold Coast became the first African colony south of the Sahara to achieve independence.On receiving its independence in 1957, the Gold Coast took the name Ghana. Ghana became the first nation governed by black Africans
to join the British Commonwealth. Kwame Nkrumah became Ghana’s first prime minister and later its president for life. Nkrumah pushed through expensive development plans and economic projects, new roads, new schools, and expanded health facilities.
Mau Mau, was a secret society made up mostly of Kikuyu farmers forced out of tge highlands by the British. Their aim was primarily to frighten the white farmers into leaving the highlands.
On 1955, most of the countries in Africa were colonies, after 1975, most of these colonies became independent countries.

The Cuban Missiles Crisis

Fifteen years into the cold war, the new American president and the Soviet premier met in Vienna to discuss the east-west confrontation. They resolved nothing. The superpowers continued to increase their military strength. The Soviets felt threatened because the U.S. still had more missiles. Some of those missiles were based in Turkey. These tensions eventually led to a confrontation in Cuba.
The crisis began on Monday, October 15, when photos revealed SS-4 nuclear missiles in Cuba. This confrontation lasted 14 days. On Sunday, October 28, Premier Nikita Khrushchev, announced over the radio that the Soviets would dismantle their nuclear missiles in Cuba.

NATO and The Warsaw Pact

After World War II, the countries of Western Europe found themselves too politically and militarilly weak to prevent the spread of the communist "iron curtain" on a national level. Little time passed before the weakness was realized and Western Europe turned to a more inclusive North Atlantic Treaty. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is an alliance of 26 countries from North America and Europe commited to fulfilling the goals of the North Atlantic Treaty signed on April 4, 1949. The fundamental role of NATO is to safeguard the freedom and security of its member countries politically and military means.
Established 6 years after NATO, the Warsaw Pact was formed as a communist military alliance to maintain power over Eastern Europe. The Soviet Union gained control over both neighboring European nations and indicated to other nations that it was a major miliotary and political force. Although the ground forces of possessed by the Warsaw Pact were far supirior to those of NATO, their technology fell far behind. After many democratic revolutions within the Warsaw Pact it was labeled "nonexistant" in 1991.

"The Right Stuff"

In the film "The Right Stuff", the United States and Russia were always competing against each other to become a better country. In the film, the competition started after the United States broke the sound barrier. After this accomplishment made by the United States, Russia launched the first outer spacesatellite, Sputnik. To make themselves better than the Russians, The United Stated tried to put the first man in space, but failed, and ended up putting the first chimpanzee in outer space. The scenes from the film that will help me remember the Cold War event is the scenes in which we see the planes and the sound barrier being broken.