World History Test III Terms (Ch 32)

· Failure of communist regimes in E. Europe and USSR to produced economic prosperity or political liberalization led to growing unpopulatiry
· Soviet economic difficulties led to Mikhail Gorbichev to institute liberal reforms that led to collapse of communist rule first in Eastern Europe, then the USSR itself
· Dissappearance of USSR led to independence for much of former USSR empire
· Russia itself has experienced Social, economic, and political turmoil under presidents Boris Yeltsin and Vladimir Putin

· NATO has endured and grown, but its mission is unclear
· The Bush administration’s unilateralism has alienated traditional American allies
· Environmental policy is another area of disagreement between Europe and U.S.

(def) The ideological and geographical struggle between the U.S and its allies, and with the USSR and its allies that began after WWII and lasted until the dissolution of the USSR in 1989

(def) The U.S program, named after Secretary of State George C. Marshall, that provided economic aid to Europe after WWII.
-encouraged international cooperation

· April 1949--Belgium, Britain, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, and Portugal signed a treaty with Canada and the U.S. that formed the North Atlantic Treaty Organization for mutual assistance in case of attack.
· Formed the West into a bloc.

· A few years later Greece, Turkey, and W. Germany joined the Alliance
· May 1955-The Warsaw Pact, which included Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania and USSR—merely gave formal recognition to the existing system: Europe stood divided into two unfriendly blocs.

· 1959: Fidel Castro comes to power as a result of the Cuban revolution
· 1962: Khrushchev orders construction of missile bases in Cuba
· Tense negotiations resulted in the Soviets backing down and removing the missiles.

· 1963-the two powers concluded a Nuclear Test Ban Treaty—this agreement marked the start of a détente, or lessening of tensions between the US. And USSR that intensified during the presidence of Nixon.
· This policy involved trade agreements and mutual reduction of strategic armaments.
· But the Soviet invasion of Adghanistan in 1979 hardened relations between Washington and Moscow, and the U.S. Senate refused to ratify the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty in 1979.
· Later, Reagan and Gorbachev held friendly meetings in ’85 – the U.S. and USSR agreed to dismantle more than 2,000 meduim and shorter-range missiles. The treaty provided for mutual inspection. This represented the most significant agreement since WWII by the 2 superpowers

· (def) The new name given to the EEC in 1993- It included most of the states of Western Union
· EEC (European Economic Community) (def) The economic association formed by France, Germany, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg in 1957. also known as the Common Market.
· Sought to achieve the eventual elimination of tariffs, a free flow of capital and loabor, and similar wage and social benefits in all participating countries.
· In 1988 the leaders of the EEC decided to create a cirtual free-trade zone throught the member community.
· 1991- The Treaty of Maastricht called for a unified currency and a strong central bank. The European community was named the EU.
· The most striking instance of expanding economic cooperation was the adoption of the Euro.
· In 1994—accepted ten new members; this expansion has posed many difficulties, because the economies of the new members are much less developed. They are permitted to adopt Euro once their economies have become sufficiently strong.

· Western Europe’s economy emphasized consumer goods in the second half of the twentieth century
· Soviet bloc economies focused on capital investments and the military
· Discrepancy in Western and Eastern European standards of living caused resentment in the East

· Many Muslims immigrated to Europe as “guest workers”
· Assimilation rates are low
· Unemployment rates are high
· Islamic radicalization affects Muslim immigrant communities

· Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka, 1954
· Montgomery Bus Boycott, 1955
· Little Rock schools integrated, 1957
· Civil Rights Act, 1964

· 1965-Johnson had decided to send American troops to Vietnam; policy led to longest of American wars
· At home-war and military draft provoked large-scale protests
· The Vietnam War divided the nation as nothing else had since the Civil war
· Nixon came to presidency—most important act: to establish diplomatic relations with People’s Republic of China
· Although half of the casualties of the Vietnam War occurred under Nixon, but concluded the war in 1972.

· Khrushchev and Brezhnez Years
· Communism and Solidarity in Poland
· Gorbachev attempts to redirect the Soviet Union

· No single leader immediately replaced Stalin—but by 1956, Khruschev became premier, but without the extraordinary powers of Stalin
· The 20th Congress of the Communist Party, Kruschev denounces Stalin and his crimes
· The “Secret Speech” shocked party circles and opened a way for limited internal criticism of the Soviet government
· Under Krushcev—somewhat freer to express opinions
· Moderate efforts to decentralize economic planning, but consumer sector improved only marginally
· Ever-growing defence budget and space program made major demands on the nation’s productive resources.
· Redirected Stalin’s agricultural policy, and removed many restrictions of private cultivation, but agriculture problem continued to grow; USSR couldn’t feed own people, by 70’s they imported vast quantities of grain from US and others
· 1964-Communist party leaders concluded that Khruschev had tried to do too much too soon, and done it poorly
· His foreign policy, culminating in the backdown over the Missile Crisis appeared to be a failure
· October 16, 1964—forced to resign, and Brezhnev was his successor.

(def.) Meaning “restructuring.” The attempt in the 1980’s to reform the Soviet government and economy
· Under gorbachev and his supporters
· They proposed major reforms—the centralized economic ministries were streamlined
· Early 1990—Gorbachev had even begun to advocate private ownership of property, tried to move to free market
· However, the Soviet economy, instead of growing, stagnated and even decline
· Shortness of food, consumer goods, and housing became chronic
· Old fashioned communists blamed these results on the abandonment of centralized planning, while democratic critics blamed them on overly slow reform

Meaning “openness.” The policy initiated by Mikhail Gorbachev in the 1980’s of permitting open criticism of the policies of the Soviet Communist Party.
· In factories, workers were permitted to criticize party officials and the economic plans of the party and the gov’t.
· Censorship was relaxed and free expression was encouraged
· Dissidents were released from prison
· 1988-a new constitution permitted contested elections; 1989—Gorbachev was formally elected as President
· Quickly brought to the fore the discontents of all such peoples.
· Gorbachev proved inept in addressing these ethic complaints.

· November 1989
· The most dramatic moment in the weeks of the collapse of communist regimes in Eastern Europe
· Crowds destroyed the Berlin Wall, the most prominent symbol of the Cold War divisions in Europe
· The government of East Germany ordered the opening of the Berlin Wall and thousands of East Berliners crossed into West Berlin
· By early 1990, reunification had become a foregone conclusion, accepted by France, Great Britain, the Soviet Union, and the U.S.

· Late 1989
· In the “Velvet Revolution” communist rue in Czechoslovakia unraveled
· In November, under popular pressure from street demonstrations and well-organized political opposition, the Communist Party began to retreat from office
· The patterns were similar to those occurring elsewhere: Old leadership resigned, the younger communists replaced them, but the changes they offered were still inadequate
· Popular new Czech leader was Vaclav Havel—renouned playwright who the government had imprisoned
· Havel and his group, called the Civic Forum, negotiated changes with the government that included an end to the political dominance of the communist party and the inclusion of non-Communists in the government—was elected president

· Central Russian government faced war in province of Chechnya
· Yeltsin resigned and Putin was his successor
· Putin renewed the war against the rebels in Chechnya, which resulted in heavy casualties and enormous destruction there, but also strengthened political support within Russia
· After 2001 terrorist attacks on U.S., Putin cooperated with the American assault on Afghanistan because the Russian government fears the spread of Islamic extremism beyond Chechnya
· The Chechan war spawned an appalling terrorist act.
· In September 2004, a group of Chechans captured an elementary school in Beslan, in the north Caucasus.
· Approx. 1,200 students, teachers and parents wer held hostage for several days—gov’t stormed the school and 330 were killed
· Putin pursued policies of strong governmental centralization, taking power from local political units and also moving against citizens who have accumulated great wealth in the past decade.