The End ofThe Cold
War
Communism Fails• Failures of Communism–Most Communist countries
were struggling by the 1980’s• Economic failures–Extreme poverty–Food shortages
• Political (government) failures–Corruption–Harsh treatment of people»Very few freedoms
Reform in the Soviet Union (1985-1991)
• Mikhail Gorbachev: leader who reformed the Soviet Union– Perestroika: restructuring of Soviet economy and
government• Allowed some private ownership and profit• Created a Soviet Parliament
– Glasnost: openness of government and freedom of speech• Allowed people to openly criticize or disagree with the
government– Self-determination: people of Eastern Europe could
choose their own governments• The Soviet military would no longer be used to keep
Communist governments of other nations in power
The Collapse of Communist Governments• Changes in Europe–Anti-Communist Revolutions
begin in Eastern Europe (1989)– The Fall of the Berlin Wall (1989)–Germany is reunified under a
democratic government (1990)– The Breakup of the Soviet Union
(1991)• The Soviet Union split into 15
countries (Russia is the largest)
Changes in China• By the 1980s, many people in China were
unhappy with the ruling Communist government–Tiananmen Square Massacre (1989)• Hundreds of pro-democracy demonstrators
were massacred by Chinese military• China has relaxed its communist
economic policies but it remains a totalitarian nation
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