Ch+31+Post+Cold+War

= Ch. 31 Revolution, Rebuilding, New Challenges: 1985-Present =

//BE SURE TO READ THE INTRODUCTION TO THIS CHAPTER THAT BEGINS AT THE TOP OF 1019 and goes over to 1020. GET THE “BIG PICTURE” IN YOUR HEAD BEFORE ANSWERING THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS. (You will remember far more of the information.)//

//Solidarity in Poland// 1. The Soviet Union crushed all reform efforts in its Eastern European satellites in the period from 1968 to 1985. Who was the new Soviet leader who then came into power and changed policies to embrace reforms? 1020 2. Poland was the first satellite nation to gain independence from Russian control. Why did the Polish communists fail in their efforts to collectivize Polish farms in the 1950’s? 1020 3. Communism is officially atheistic. How was Poland different? What religious “miracle” occurred in 1978 that electrified the Polish sense of national pride? 4. What was the name of the labor movement that began in the Gdansk [Danzig] shipyards in 1980? Who led that movement? What was the name of the agreement when the Communist government gave in and granted the workers many of their demands in 1980? 1020 5. A year later, how did the Polish leader, General Wojciech Jaruzelski respond to the growing power of that movement? 1021
 * 1019-1024: Decline of Communism in Eastern Europe**

//Gorbachev’s Reforms in the Soviet Union// 6. How much control did the old Communist Party elite have over Russian society at the beginning of the 1980’s? 1022 7. Gorbachev and his influential wife Raisa both believed in Communism, so why did they feel compelled to make big changes? 1023 8. One of Gorbachev’s major reforms was to restructure the economy. What was this plan called? What specific changes did he advocate? 1023 9. Why did these modest economic reforms fail at that time? 10. Gorbachev’s “Glasnost” campaign was a much more successful set of reforms. Explain how it worked. 1023 11. Gorbachev’s third area of reform was called _. What group did this reform target for the most changes? _ This process led to the first in the Soviet Union since 1917. 1023 12. How did this change the Soviet Union’s political culture? 1024 13. Gorbachev’s fourth area of reform made a major change in what Soviet policies?


 * 1024-1030: The Revolutions of 1989**

//The Collapse of Communism in Eastern Europe// 14. After 60 years of Communist rule in eastern Europe, the collapse of the old system happened very quickly in 1989. What were the four big consequences of these largely peaceful revolutions? 1024-1025 15. What group won an unexpected victory in the 1989 Polish elections? Who became the new leader of that country? 1025 16. Although Solidarity moved cautiously in terms of political changes in Poland, it made radical economic changes that abolished the old communist price controls and command economy. What was this policy of radical privatization called? 17. After the Hungarians tore down their barbed wire borders with East Germany and Austria, thousands of East Germans fled their country for the west. In a desperate attempt to stabilize the situation, what bold move did the East German Communist government make in November 1989? 1025 18. A poet named Vaclav Havel became the leader of _ in a gentle ouster of the old Communist bosses. This change of power was called the “_ Revolution.” 1025 19. Only in the eastern European country of _ was there a bloody and violent revolution because the old dictator, Nicolae Ceausescu, ordered his security forces to slaughter thousands of protestors. 1026

The Disintegration of the Soviet Union 20. What two events in 1990 undermined popular support for Gorbachev? 1027 21. Who developed as a popular rival for Gorbachev’s job? What policies did this rival advocate? What position did he hold in the summer of 1991? 1027-1028 22. Who led an unsuccessful coup d’etat against Gorbachev in August 1991?

German Unification and the End of the Cold War 23. What was the “third way” that East German leaders tried to follow after the old communist party was ousted in 1989? 1029 24. Why was West Germany able to move so quickly to absorb its old rival East Germany? (3 reasons) 1029-1030 25. What was the name of the “treaty” that validated the reunification of Germany? 1030

The Gulf War of 1991 26. Why didn’t the United States topple Saddam Hussein’s regime after it defeated his army in 1991? 1030 27. What did President George Bush (senior) mean by a “new world order”? 1030

=**The first reading assignment stops here!**=


 * 1030-1041: Building a New Europe in the 1990’s**

//Common Patterns and Problems// 28. What were the 3 big trends that opened a new era in European history in the 1990’s? 1030 29. Describe the shift in economic ideas that European leaders embraced in the 1990’s. 1031 30. What were the two factors that explain why Europe shifted away from welfare state activism toward tough-minded capitalism in the 1990’s?. 1031 31. The emergence of a freer global economy was called 1031 Why was this method criticized by many people, especially in France and Germany? 1031 32. What political trend led Francis Fukuyama in 1992 to claim that there had been an “end of history”? 1032 33. The EC or European Community was renamed in 1993. Becoming known as the ___ p.1033.

//Recasting Russia// 34. What policy change caused the Russian economy to collapse between 1992-1997? p. 1033 35. Runaway inflation and greedy privatization in the 1990’s brought about a profound social revolution in Russia. Which people ended up on the top of new society? p. 1033 In that same time period, what happened to the life expectancy of a Russian male? 36. Between 1992 and 2000 did Boris Yeltsin strengthen or weaken Russian democracy? 1034 37. What is “managed democracy”? 1034

//Progress in Eastern Europe// 38. As Western-style political and economic reforms took place in eastern Europe after the fall of Communism, who were the big winners and who were the big losers? 1035 39. Which three of the former Russian satellite states in Eastern Europe were most successful in the 1990’s in making the transition from Communism to liberal democracy and free market capitalism? 1035 40. What was the “velvet divorce”? 1035 41. What popular goal reinforced for many Eastern Europeans the idea of political moderation and compromise (which Russia sorely)? 1035

//Tragedy in Yugoslavia// 42. Your text refers to Yugoslavia as “the great postcommunist tragedy.” Who was the Communist dictator who had firmly ruled Yugoslavia from WWII until his death in 1980? 1037 43. In a burst of ultra-nationalism, what Balkan country tried in the early 1990’s to take over all the states that used to make up the old country of Yugoslavia? 44. Who was the leader of that country (see #44) who aggressively sent his armies into Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo? 1037-1038 45. What caused the Serbs to back off in 1995? 1038

//Unity and Identity in Western Europe// 46. What were the terms of the 1991 Maastricht Treaty? 1039 47. The ratification votes for the Maastricht Treaty were close in various nations. In general, which groups opposed the treaty? 1039 48. What were the major objections to European unification? 1039 49. In June 2004 a new constitution was proposed for the European Union. It would create a more centralized political system while giving individual countries veto power over three sensitive areas: taxation, social policy and foreign affairs. What happened when this was voted on by the member states? 1041


 * 1041-1042: New Challenges in the 21st Century**

//The Prospect of Population Decline// 50. Why is the dramatic decline in European birth rates described in this section as a “ticking time bomb under our social welfare system and entire economy”? 1041-1042