Mikhail Gorbachev and the collapse of communism

Mikhail Gorbachev was the youngest leader of the Soviet Union since Joseph Stalin. He gained many supporters not only with his age, but with his social skills and overall aura. He started making improvements and changes with his forms soon after he took office. You can say that Gorbachev lead the way for the defeat of communism. Glasnost,was openess and freedom in the Soviet Union. Glasnost brought many changes and amazing things. "Peristrokia," was an economic reform that tried to reconstruct and revive the Soviet economy that took a dip during the war.

Collapse of Comunism

Communism started to collapse in Eastern Europe because there was a lack of support. Everyone who lived in a communist nation comprehended that things would never be unfair, but those who were wealthy started to not like the fact you got the same check as everyone else. The goverment also started to turn communism into a dictatorship. No one thought that communism would ever become anything like this. Many countries were on the brink of leaving behind communism. The news of this soon reached germany, leading to the demolition of the Berlin wall. this was an act to symbolize Germany's abolition of communism. With communism nearning a reputation, reforms were put in place. One popular person known, for his reforms was Mikhail Gorbachev. They were called perestroika and glasnost. He was also known for broadcasting the Russian elections on TV for the first time. After Gorbechev signed all his reforms, communism finally fell.

Nelson Mandela and Apartheid.

Apartheid was a raciast policy that segragated not only blacks and whites but mixed and indian natives.Nelson Mandela was a man that fought for Africa to be unified. He wanted to stop all the , whether it be white on black or interacial. He was tired of all theracism. Nelson Mandela, went to jail for 27 years fighting for his beleifs. Throughout his time in prison, he thought about the freedom he wanted for his country. These thoughts led to many more ideas. He used civil disobedience and served as president, for the countries he freed. He risked his life for thousands of african citizens to have the rights they deserve. He is looked upon as a insperational leader and a great man.

African Independence

Africa changed alot between the 1960's and the 80's. The people of Africa began to study and become more inteligent people. More and more people began to go to college and ge there education. The african people started to rise up and become a nation. Cultures started to emerge and the nations of Africa were finally being recognized. In the result of this there were many different leaders that sprang out of this uprising. Some leaders would be Leopold Senghor, who leaded Sengal and later became president, Kwame Nkrumah who was Ghana's first prime minister, Marcus Garvey, whos goal was to lead Europeans out of Africa and have Africa ruled by Africans. Jomo Kenyatta led Kenya through a very hard earned independence.

The Cuban Missle Crisis

During the Cold War, their was a time where nuclear war seemed inevitable. This was called the Cuban Missile Crisis. During this time, Russia knowing their missiles would never reach the U.S, placed land-based missiles in Cuba. Cuba is only a few hundred miles away from American beaches, leaving their medium ranged missiles in perfect range to launch an attack. This was allowed by Cuban dictator Fidel Castro because this was a perfect way to protect his island from a U.S. invasion. To confront this very lethal threat, President John F. Kennedy made a deal with Russia to remove all missiles and weapons in Cuba if The U.S. guaranteed not to attack Cuba and remove missiles from Turkey, which is relatively close to Russia. This was known as the hottest part of the Cold War because this was the closest eather side came to launching an offensive move.

NATO and the Warsaw Pact

After World War II and the collapse of Germany, The United States and The Soviet Union, once allies, bumped heads. The reason for the conflict was due to military advancements and governmental disputes. After the war, The U.S and The Soviet Union competed for technological superiority. These advancements lead to the mass production of nuclear weapons and to the creation of hydrogen bombs, a deadlier nuclear weapon. Reckognizing the powers of both sides, no weapons were actually fired. This is why this time was called the Cold War. Also, the opposing sides disagreed on veiws on government. The U.S. beleived in capitalism and democracy while Russia beleived in communism. Because the U.S. wants the world to be free and democratic, it formed NATO, or the North Atlantic Treaty Orginization. This was a treaty that stated that any member of NATO would be joined in arms if attacked by outside members. The pact included The U.S., Canada, and Western European countries including Great Britain. Six years later the Warsaw Pact was formed in Eastern Europe. This was formed in response to NATO by Russia with other eastern euopean countries.

Film Lessons " Schindlers List"

In Schindler's List, the director displayed the Holocaust in a very realistic way. Even though this movie was made in Hollywood, the movie was far from fake. All of Speilberg's scenes gave you a different look at what happened during the genocide. Some scenes really stood out to me. For example, the scene where the german soldiers found around a dozen hiding jews in one spot. That showed me that many jewsish people tried to hide together in their assigned houses. Another scene that caught my attention was when they were burning the bodies. That scene showed me that the germans had no feelings or concerns towards what they were doing, considering the fact that they transported the bodies into the fire via conveyerbelt.