CHAPTER 28— The Contemporary Western World

7/31/2019 CHAPTER 28 The Contemporary Western World

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From Cold War to Post-

Cold War

By the 1970s, American-

Soviet relations had

entered a new phrase,

known as *dentente

relaxation of tensions and

improved relations

between the two

superpowers

1979new period of East-

West confrontation

The Cold War Intensifies

Soviet Union invaded*Afghanistanwanted to

restore a pro-Soviet regimethere, which the United

States viewed as an act ofexpansion

Jimmy Carter placed anembargo on the Soviets

*Ronald Reagan (1980)evil empire and a

military buildup and a newarms race and gave military

aid to the Afghan rebels

End of the Cold War

The accession of *Mikhail

Gorbachev New

Thinking

His willingness to rethink

Soviet foreign policyled to

stunning changes

Agreement with the United

States in 1987 (Intermediate-range Nuclear Force Treaty)

to eliminate intermediate-

range nuclear weapons


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By 1990, both countries

knew that their military

budgets would cause

internal problems

Peaceful revolutionary

movement swept

through Eastern Europe

in 1989

Reunification ofGermany on Oct. 3, 1990

a symbol of the Cold

War

Upheaval in the

Soviet Union

The Brezhnev Era

Alexei Kosygin and *LeonidBrezhnev replaced him

The right of the Soviet Unionto intervene if communism

was threatened in anotherCommunist state (*Brezhnev

Doctrine)

The Soviet Union began toallow more access to Westernstyles of music, dress, and art

*dissidentsspoke outagainst the regimewere still

punished

Continued to emphasize

heavy industry

Collective farmers had

no incentive to work

hard

Unequal system: Party

and state leaders

leaders of the army and

secret police (KGB)enjoyed a high standard

of living


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Gorbachev and

Perestroika

Gorbachev began anew era ofglasnost, or

openness in publicdiscussions of Soviet

problems

The basis of thesereforms was

*perestroika, orrestructuringaneconomic policy

Communist Partyconference elected aparliament (1988)

Congress of PeoplesDeputies

Allowed non-Communistparties to organize.

Constitutional provisionfor Communist Party as

leading role

Soviet Union Presidency

The End of the Soviet Union

92 ethnic groups and 112different languages

Nationalist movementemerged throughout the

republics of the SovietUnion

Army, government, KGB,

and military industriesthe possible breakup of theSoviet Union would meanan end to their privileges


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Arrested Gorbachev (1991)

Russian Republic formed

for complete independence

*Boris Yeltsin, the new

president and was

committed to a free market

economy (2 terms)

*Vladimir Putin (2000)

launched reforms to boost

growth and budget

revenues

Objectives:

1.Discuss how the Cold War endedafter leadership changed in the

Soviet Union

2. Identify policies of Gorbachevthat contributed to the

disintegration of the Soviet Union

3. Explain how conversion from asocialist to a free-market economy

created many problems in theformer Soviet states

COLD WAR


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Eastern Europe

Objectives:

1. Describe Gorbachevs

policy of not givingmilitary support to

Communist governments

and how it created the

opportunity for revolution

2. Characterize the massive

demonstrations thatpeacefully ended some

Communist regimes and

the violence that ended

others

Revolutions in

Eastern Europe

After Gorbachev

refused to intervene

militarily in Eastern

Europe, revolutions

broke out

throughout Eastern

Europe


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Poland

In 1980, a worker named*Lech Walesa organized a

national trade unionknown as Solidarity

After a new wave ofdemonstrations in 1988,the Polish regime agreed

to free parliamentaryelections

A new government waselected, ending 45 years

of Communist rule inPoland

1990, Walesa was chosenas presidentRapid free-

market reforms led to

severe unemployment andpopular discontent

1995, AleksanderKwasniewski (a formerCommunist) defeated

Walesa and becamepresidentcontinued

movement to free market

Czechoslovakia

Soviet troops crushed the

reform movement in

Czechoslovakia in 1968

1988 and 89, mass

demonstrations took place

throughout

Czechoslovakia

In December 1989, the

Communist government

collapsed


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*Vaclav Havel, a writer who

had played an important

role in bringing down the

Communist government

became new president

Czechoslovakia faced old

ethnic conflictsCzechs

and Slovaks agreed to

peaceful division of the

Country

Czech Republic and

Slovakia

Romania Nicolae Ceausescu ruledRomania with an iron grip, usingsecret police to crush all dissent

He pushed for rapid

urbanization, especially aprogram that called forbulldozing of entire villages

In 1989, the secret policemurdered thousands of men,

women, and children who werepeacefully demonstrating

Ceausescu was captured andexecutednew government was

quickly formed

German Reunification

Communist

government

surrendered to

popular pressure by

opening its entire

border with the West

The Berlin Wall wastorn downa symbol

of the Cold War


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The Disintegration of

Yugoslavia

At the end of the

1980s,

Yugoslavia was

caught up in the

reform

movements

sweepingEastern Europe

Calls for Independence

In 1990, the Yugoslavrepublics of Slovenia,

Croatia, *Bosnia-Herzegovina, Macedonia

began to lobby forindependence

*Slobodan Milosevic whobecame leader of the

Yugoslav republic of Serbiain 1987

Serb minorities persistedYugoslavian army began afull assault against Croatia

The War in Bosnia Early in 1992, the Serbs turned theirguns on Bosnia-Herzegovina

Many Bosnians were Muslims andthus experienced *ethnic cleansing

By 1995, 250,000 Bosnians had beenkilled and two million others wereleft homeless; 1995, NATO beganbombing Bosnian and Croatian

forces

Serbs signed a formal peace treaty,splitting Bosnia into a loose unionof a Serb republic and a Muslim-

Croat federation


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The War in Kosovo

A new war erupted in 1998over *Kosovo. In 1974, thecommunist leader Tito had

made Kosovo an *autonomousor self-governing province

within Yugoslavia

In 1989, Slobodan Milosevicstripped Kosovo of its

autonomyKosovo LiberationArmy (KLA)

Serb forces began to massacreof ethnic Albanians

Objectives:

1. Describe Gorbachevs

policy of not givingmilitary support to

Communist governments

and how it created the

opportunity for revolution

2. Characterize the massive

demonstrations thatpeacefully ended some

Communist regimes and

the violence that ended

others

Europe and North America


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Objectives:

1. Discuss how Western

European nations moved

to united their economies

after 1970

2. Identify the domestic

problems that arose in the

United States, GreatBritain, France, Germany,

and Canada

Winds of Change in

Western Europe

Between the early 1950s and late

1970s, Western Europeexperienced virtually full

employment

By the early 1980s, an economic

downturn led to dramatic

increase in the price of oil

following the Arab-Israeli

conflictinstability in the

Middle-east


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The Western European

nations moved toward a

greater union of their

economiesEEC

expanded including

dozens of other countries

In 1994, the EEC turned

into the principle

organization within the

even more solidifiedEuropean Union (EU)

and use of the Euro

Uncertainties in France

Frances deterioratingeconomic situation in the 70s

led to a shift to the leftpolitically

The Socialist leader, FrancoisMitterrand led this change;

In 1993, Frenchunemployment stood at 10.6

percent

The move to the right inFrance was strengthened

when the conservativemayor of Paris

From West Germany to

Germany

In 1969, the Social Democrats(Moderate Socialist party),

replaced the Christian Democratsas the leading party in West

Germany

With a population of 79 millionpeople, the new Germany became

the leading power in Europe

Eastern Germany cost moremoney to rebuild than the Western

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The collapse of the

economy also led to

increasing attacks on

foreigners

In 1992, over 440,000

immigrants came to

Germany seeking refuge

Attacks against foreigners

by right-wing extremists

especially young neo-Nazis who believed in

Hitlers idea of pure

Aryan race

Great Britain and Thatcherism

Between 1964 and 79, GreatBritains Conservative Party andLabour Party alternated being in

power

Intense fighting between Catholicsand Protestants in *Northern

Ireland

In 1979, the Conservatives came topower under *Margaret Thatcher

*Thatcherism improved the Britisheconomic situationattempt at a

flat-rate tax

The US Domestic Scene

Nixon and Watergate

*Richard Nixon (1968)

believed that law and order

issues and a slowdown in

racial desegregation wouldappeal to southern whites

Used illegal methods to gain

political information about his

opponentsNixons zeal ledto the Watergate scandal

(installing electronic listeningdevices)


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The Carter Administration

Vice President Gerald Fordbecame president when Nixon

resigned

Jimmy Carter was electedfollowing the Nixon debacle

Crisis erupted when 52Americans were held hostage

by Iranian government of

Ayatollah Khomeini

He was unable to gain therelease of the American

hostages

The Reagan Revolution

Reagan cut back on the welfare

state by decreasing spending

on food stamps, school lunchprograms, and job programs

Led to the largest peacetime

military buildup in US history

The spending policies of theReagan administration

produced record government

budget deficits*budget

deficit

The Clinton and Bush Years

George Bush, Reagans vicepresident, succeeded him as president

Democrat Bill Clinton to be electedpresident in 1992

but his second term wasovershadowed by changes of

presidential misconduct

George W. Bush, son of the first

President Bush, won the presidencyin 2000 in a very close electionfollowing 2001, he directed hisattention to fighting terrorism


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Canada

In 1993, Canada approved

the North American Free

Trade Agreement (NAFTA)

along with the United

States and Mexico

The purpose was to make

trade easier and more

profitable by establishingguidelines for cooperation

between the countries

Objectives:

1. Discuss how Western

European nations movedto united their economies

after 1970

2. Identify the domestic

problems that arose in the

United States, Great

Britain, France, Germany,

and Canada

Western Society and Culture


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Objectives:

1. Relate how

technological and

scientific advances have

created a global society

2. Discuss artistic trends

that reflect how the

emerging global societyled to a blending of

cultural forms and ideas

Changes in Womens Lives

Since 1970, the number of womenin the work force has continued to

rise

Greater access to universitiesenabled more women to pursue

careers in such fields as law,medicine, and government

1960s and 70s, the womensliberation movement

Gender stereotyping,Contraception, and social and

economic equality

Women joined the

antinuclear movement

chaining themselves

to the fence of an

American military

base

In the 1990s, backlash

advocated a return to

traditional values and

gender roles

feminism


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The Growth of Terrorism

Acts of terror have become aregular aspect if modern

Western society; killing civiliansto achieve their political goals

Militant nationalists who wantto create their own state orexpand national territory

Irish Republic Army (IRA),

whose goal is to unite*Northern Ireland which was

under the control of GreatBritain

State-sponsored terrorismoccurs when one state openly

supports terrorism againstanother: Iraq, Syria, North Korea

Some states secretly financeorganizations or provide a safe

place for terrorists to hide ortrain

September 11, 2001al-Qaedaand the four hijacked plane

Osama bin Laden; strictinterpretation of the Quran trying

to create a pure Islamic society

George W. Bush vowed to

fight terrorism and led a

coalition of nations in a war

against the Taliban in

Afghanistan

Afghan forces opposed to

the Taliban led the ground

attack and and helped force

it out of the capital, Kabul

The united nationssponsored talks among rival

Afghan groups to decide a

new government


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The Department ofHomeland Security

created to protect the unitedStates from terrorism and

respond to any futureattacks

During 2002, the Bushadministration focused on

the dangers from *weaponsof mass destructionnuclear, chemical, and

biological weapons

Iraq had repeatedly violatedthe required UN resolutions

Saddam Hussein had to giveup the nations weapons of

mass destruction in the early90s and had to submit to

inspections in 2003

Iraq was not meeting theUNs terms, resulting in the

war in Iraq

Baghdad fell quickly; theprolonged stay by American

and British troops to establisha interim government andcombat guerrilla warfare

embittered some

Objectives:

1. Relate how

technological and

scientific advances have

created a global society

2. Discuss artistic trends

that reflect how the

emerging global society

led to a blending of

cultural forms and ideas

CHAPTER 28— The Contemporary Western World

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