Mikhail Gorbachev and the Collapse of Communism

Mikhail Gorbachev was one of the leaders of Russia while it was still Communist, and he helped the country tuen Democratic and Capitalist in a big way. He decided that keeping the country in the dark wasn't helping anyone, so he started the policy of "glasnost". Basically this let people let their ideas be heard, and it stopped the silence of opinions. He also introduced another policy called "perestroika". That basically means that people could speak freely about what they thought about the economy and the country. He also gave the people much more power, he stopped the government from regulating everything that workers and farmers did, and he let them be on their own. He also introduced the policy of letting the people vote for their leader, something that really helped the country become Democratic. Without Mikhail Gorbachev, the people in the Soviet Union would have had a lot less power, and Communism would have gone on for much longer.

The Collapse of Communism

Communism collapsed in Eastern Europe and the USSR because of knowledge. People were realizing that communism wasn't working well, and they wanted a change.The Soviet Union stopped being Communist after many many reforms and years of protesting citizens, the totalitarian government ended, and in its place a democracy was made. Also the Berlin Wall, the wall separating East and West Germany. was destroyed. After seeing the Soviet Union become democratic, other countries took their example and overthrew their governments and became democratic as well. If you think about it, it's like the opposite of containment, instead of Communism spreading, Democracy was.

Nelson Mandela and Apartheid

Apartheid was a policy of segregation in South Africa. Basically, in a country where the majority of people were black, the black people were treated worse than the white people. Black people couldn't vote, marry someone who was white, or even use public places for white people. Nelson Mandela is a South African who was in jail for almost 30 years, just because he wanted to help his people. He hated the unequal treatment in South Africa, and fought to change it. But even with him in jail, no one forgot him, and when South Africa finally did become independent, the people voted Nelson Mandela, a man who had just gotten out of 30 years of prison, as their leader. Not even in prison could he be silenced, and he truly changed the world by showing one person really could make a difference.

African Independence

The biggest reason for Africa's change in the 20 year period between 1955 to 1975 was because most African countries had gained their independence in that time. In 1955, only 4 countries in Africa were independent. They were Libya, Ethiopia, the Union of South Africa, and Egypt. Ghana was one of the first countries to succesfully become free of England, they achieved freedom under the leader Kwame Nkrumah. After WWII was when a lot of African countries wanted their freedom, and under the guidance of Kwame, Ghana achieved freedom, and inspired other countries to do the same.

Film Lesson: "The Right Stuff"

In the film "The Right Stuff", both the USSR and US were competing against each other trying to make the technology to go into space. Russia was the first country to go into space, much to America's dismay. After that America tried to send many rockets into space, but most of them failed. After a while though, America felt confident, and wanted to send people into space. Because of the slight chance of something going wrong though, America sent a monkey into space. 2 weeks later Russia successfully sent the first man into space. This both made America look bad, and it made Russia look superior to America. The monkey going into space will definitely help me remember the Cold War.

NATO and the Warsaw Pact

NATO stand for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. NATO was an alliance between several European and North American countries, where each country promised to help the other countries when they were in need. This alliance was very helpful to some smaller countries in Europe that felt threatened by large Communist countries, such as Russia. The Warsaw Pact was the Communist response to NATO. It was an alliance formed by the USSR and several other Communist countries in Europe. It, like NATO, was an alliance where the countries promised to help each other out when they were in need. Unlike NATO though, the Warsaw Pact slowly disappeared, where NATO is still an active organization today.

Film Lesson: "Schindler's List"

Schindler's List, in my opinion, illustrated the Holocaust in a dramatic way that showed fully how horrible the Holocaust was. For me, the most powerful scene in the movie was when you see the dead body of the little girl in red being carried away, it made me feel sad for all the children that were killed. Another powerful scene was when the little boy was looking for a place to hide, and literally every place was taken, it goes to show just how many people were victims of the Holocaust. I think Schindler's List was the more powerful film. It really showed how sick and indifferent the Nazi's were to the Jewish people.