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Cold War Debacles, Glasnost, and Perestroika

7.6 | US – Iran, USSR – Afghanistan, and the Collapse of the Soviet Union

The Hostage Crisis

1979 The hated Shah is

overthrown Pro-Islamist forces occupy

American Embassy 52 hostages are held for 444

days 1980

Rescue attempt… fail

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Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan

1979 – 1989 The Soviet Union’s Vietnam | The Bear Trap

Osama bin Laden and the Mujahidin Withdrawal

Mikhail Gorbachev

Under pressure from the failing Soviet state (socially and economically), reforms the USSR Glasnost (openness)

Aimed at reducing corruption and the abuse of power

Less censorship and some freedoms (fed the social dissidence)

Increased regional independence

Perestroika

Perestroika is seen as the catalyst that ended the Soviet Union Rather than having a single, unified communist idea – Perestroika

made freedom out to be the escape of all constraints This would vastly undermine the communist (and Soviet) ideology

This decentralized central power (14 republics) Regional autonomy led to a decrease in central authority and

power Production altered greatly, and rather than streamlining the

system, Perestroika bottlenecked the economy (supply and demand regulation)

SMr. Gorbachev:

“Tear down this wall”June 12, 1987

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“We want out!”East Germans gather around the wall – late 1989

The DDR refused to order lethal force to stop themThe guards submit to the people

The East Germans rush through the gates, met by West GermansMassive celebration

The Berlin Wall is torn down

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POLAND LEADS THE REVOLUTION

All caps, because they’ve earned it1989 – the Soviet bloc begins to crumble – Poland leaves first |

Romania By 1991, the Soviet Union disintegrates

Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan,

Ukraine, and Uzbekistan all become independent countries

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What do we learn from the Cold War?

Communism does not work (China’s reforms and success)Capitalism is still a problem – Karl Marx is still right about the social

divideGovernments are capable of evil things (USA being no exception)

People do not trust their governments anymore

Dr. Strangelove