Collapse of the Soviet Union

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Chapter 19-3 and 19.4

• Collapse of the Soviet Union
• I) Unrest in the Soviet Union
• II) The Yeltsin Era
• III) Yugoslavia Falls Apart
• IV) Eastern Europe Faces Problems

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Gorbachev Moves Toward Democracy

• Mikhail Gorbachev- young Soviet leader elected in
  1985.
• Pursued Glasnost, which means openness. Allowed
  churches to reopen, publish banned books,
  released dissidents from prison.
• Perestroika economic restructuring. Locals got
  more control over their farms, small private
  businesses allowed.
• Democratization opening up the political system.
  People actually got to vote for candidates other
  than the communist party picked candidates.
• Foreign policy Soviets could not compete with
  the arms race against the U.S. Signed a treaty
  reducing the intermediate range missiles (INF
  Treaty) 300-3400 miles

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I) Unrest in the Soviet Union

• As Eastern Europe gained freedom from Soviet
  control, various nationalities in the Soviet
  Union began to call for their own freedom.
• While Russians were the most powerful ethnic
  group in the USSR, there were more than 100
  ethnic groups living in the Soviet Union and they
  formed a majority in the 14 Soviet republics
  other than Russia. See pg. 615

Mikhail Gorbachev
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• The 1st challenge to the Soviet Union came from
  the Baltic nations when Lithuania declared its
  independence.
• When Gorbachev ordered troops to attack, Boris
  Yeltsin criticized Gorbachev over the crackdown,
  promising quicker reforms, and in June 1991
  became Russia's 1st directly elected president

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I) Unrest in the Soviet Union

• In August of 1991 hard line communists attempted
  a military coup, but troops refused to attack the
  parliament.
• They detained Gorbachev at his vacation home on
  the Black Sea
• The coup sparked anger against the communist
  party, and Gorbachev resigned
• The communist party collapsed and all 15
  republics declared their independence.
• Yeltsin and leaders of the other republics met
  and agreed to from the Commonwealth of
  Independent States or CIS, which meant the end of
  the Soviet Union.

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II) The Yeltsin Era

• Boris Yeltsin take charge in Russia and began a
  process of shock therapy to move the economy
  towards capitalism
• When his plan caused severe inflation and
  unemployment it caused a political crisis after
  Yeltsin ordered troops to bombard rebel
  legislators.
• When Chechnya, a largely Muslim area in
  southwestern Russia declared its independence in
  1994, Yeltsin ordered Russian 40000 troops to put
  down the uprising.
• With the war still raging in 1999, Yeltsin
  resigned and named Vladimir Putin as acting
  president, who was elected in 2000 after quashing
  the rebellion.

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19-4

• Poland begins Soviet opposition in 1980.
• Lech Walesa voted president 1990. Beats
  communists.
• Hungary- radicals dissolve the communist party in
  1989. 1990 elect a non communist government in
  power.
• Germany Nov. 9, 1989 Germany opens the border and
  tears down Berlin wall. Germany unifies on Oct. 3
  1990

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III) Yugoslavia Falls Apart

• Ethnic conflict had plagued Yugoslavia since it
  was formed after World War I, with six major
  groups vying for control.
• Communist dictator Joseph Tito held the country
  together until his death in 1980, when Serbian
  leader Slobodan Milosevic asserted Serbian
  leadership over Yugoslavia.
• When Slovenia, Croatia, and Bosnia-Herzegovina
  declared their independence in 1991, the Serbian
  used a policy of ethnic cleansing to rid the
  country of Muslims.
• Violence erupted again in 1998 when ethnic
  Albanians demanded independence in Kosovo, a
  province in southern Serbia.

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IV) Eastern Europe Faces Problems

• Czechoslovakias economy also falters, and the
  country splits into the Czech Republic and
  Slovakia. Jan 1, 1993.