Fall of Communism

seemed to be moving away from communism.
-Invasion of Czeckoslovakia in

1968.

the 1970s

Ended in 1979
Soviet support of anti-western movements
Neither nation

willing to give up nuclear weapons.
Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

failures
-Inadequate transportation
-Outdated factories
-Heavy military spending
-1982: Breshnev dies (need for economic

reform was clear)

by reducing military spending
Pulled troops out of Afghanistan

Must make an

agreement with the United States about nuclear weapons

freely and read whatever they wanted.
Perestroika
Restructuring of the government and

economy
Reduced size of bureaucracy
“essence of communism”
State still owns factories, but managers make decisions
Land is still owned by state, but farmers can have more for personal profit

to sign several arms-reduction agreements

Perestroika mad more consumer goods available,

but there were still shortages of basic necessities

Freedom of speech provided by glassnost increased tensions between various Soviet ethnic groups and nationalities. Rival groups could now express opinions.

Ethnic fighting broke out between the Muslim Soviet republic of Azerbaijan and the Christian Soviet republic of Armenia.

gov. help, factories closed, increasing unemployment

Discontent spread
Independence for many Bloc

nations (Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia)
Dec., 1991: Gorbachev resigns.

Communism dead after 74 years.

Communism fell, but so did Gorbachev.

Russia (largest and most powerful of the newly independent states)
1993:Dissolves

legislature
Privatization of state-run industries and farms
Orthodox church regained strength
High unemployment and prices
Led to organized crime, prostitution, and corruption

in oil)
Many ethnic groups, but mostly Muslim
1996: Peace treaty (International

criticism and heavy casualties)
1999: Terrorist activity in Moscow by Chechen rebels
1999:Russian troops invade again=Stalemate
2000 and on: Vladimir Putin hard line against Chechnya.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07zq8fiG1J0&feature=fvsr

a strong supporter of Democracy.

Acting president in 1999 when

Yeltsin resigned, elected in 2000

Unable to stop terrorist activity by Chechen rebels

Corruption is still a problem

(Serbs, Croats, Slovenians, Macedonians, Albanians)
Different religions:
Serbs: Eastern Orthodox
Croats and

Slovenians: Roman Catholic
Bosnia and Herzogovina: Muslim
When Communism fell: Serbia under President Slobodan Milosevic tried to dominate all of Yugoslavia.
1991: Slovenia and Croatia declared independence
Serbia and Croatia went to war ending in a truce mediated by the UN.

single religious group. (did not form a majority)
-1/3rd of population

identified themselves as Serbian
-1/5 claim to be Croatian.
-Many Bosnian Serbs wanted to remain part of Serbian-dominated Yugoslavia.
-Receiving aid from the Yugoslavian government in Belgrade, Bosnian Serbs began a program of ethnic cleansing: a campaign of terror and murder intended to drive the Muslims out of areas Bosnian Serbs claimed.

region. (Actually made it harder for Muslim-controlled Bosnian gov. to

fight off better armed Serbs.)
UN set up protected safe havens (did not stop Serbs who continued to bomb the capital of Sarajevo as well as safe havens)
At least 30,000 Bosnian Muslims were executed, tortured, or made into refugees
1995: NATO airstrikes against the Bosnian Serb military
Dayton Accord
Gave Bosnian Serbs control over certain areas while still recognizing the overall sovereignty of Bosnia’s Muslim led government.

down and sent troops in. (Ethnic cleansing part 2)
1999: NATO

bombed for 11 weeks:
Serbian forces withdrew.
Kosovo placed under UN control
-Feb, 2008: Kosovo declared itself indepenent
(Security council members: USA, France, and UK recognize them. Russia and China do not.)

seceded

Milosevic accused and set to be tried for war crimes.

Died before sentencing.