Fall of Communism in Eastern Europe

Fall of Communism in Eastern EuropeThe Fall of The Soviet UnionCausesGlasnostPerestroikaEconomic problemsFreedom movement in Eastern Europe92 nationalities and 112 languages spokenEthnic conflictsFall of the Soviet Union 1991EffectsFormation of the Commonwealth of Independent NationsEnd of the Cold WarEconomic HardshipsMinority revolts/civil conflictsConflicts between pro-communist and pro democratic groupsRise of Boris YeltsinYouTube - The Fall of Communism - 1991 - part 1 of 6!

December 1991 Collapse of Soviet Union15 Republics are formedCommonwealth of Independent States (CIS)Boris Yeltsin Becomes President of RussiaShock Therapy sharp switch from a command to a market economyThe Yeltsin EraSwitch too quickly to a market economy/economic instability1993/ 1994 hyperinflation 800%High unemploymentSevere shortages/high crimeBombing of legislative Building1991 War in Chechnya/demanded independence/rebel battles/still going on today1999 Replaced by Putin/new president former KGB agent

PutinEconomic reformsContinuation of the war in Chechnya/Grozny capital destroyedEthnic conflicts throughout RussiaRussians become a major oil producer and exporter.Relations become tense between the Russians and the AmericansMedvedev handpicked by Putin Wins 2008 election

Alexander Litvinenko, former KGB spy, before and after the thallium poisoning

Post Soviet Republics1989 Berlin Wall torn down.1990 free elections in East and West GermanyUnification of Germany in 1990Effects Of Reunification of GermanyLeader Helmut Kohl taxed the Germans to modernize East GermanyWest German Economy hurt by reunificationMany West Germans resented East GermansMajor recessionRise of Neo Nazis: 1970s 1980s guest workers/Germany for GermansGerhard Schroder elected Chancellorhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jnCPdLlUgvoEastern EuropeCzech Republic and Slovakia1918 united Czech and Slovak lands into Czechoslovakia1989 freed from Soviet controlPresident Vaclav Havel1993 divided into Czech Republic and Slovakia

Eastern EuropePolandSolidarity: trade union that demanded freedomsLed by Lech Walesa/arrested1989 free elections1990 Lech Walesa elected presidentEconomic problems similar to RussiaShock therapy/communists gained seats in parliamentWalesa loses presidency to Aleksander Kwasniekskihttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1WOGCDZrzkhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qTpc2iy9AI&feature=relatedEastern EuropeBetween 1989 to 1991 Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Albania, and Bulgaria held free elections.Romania overthrew and executed their brutal president Nicolae Ceausescu who refused to have free elections.In 1991 the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland joined NATO.The former Soviet Republics of Ukraine, Belarus, and Kazakhstan destroyed their nuclear weapons. Paid by US.Chernobyl nuclear accidentAll eastern European nations as well as the Soviet Republics had great difficulty switching from communism to capitalism: high inflation and high unemployment.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wrU2duoNMlIStart of the New Cold Warhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L11PfHJGAoo&feature=PlayList&p=4CF5B7FE5FAF6758&playnext_from=PL&playnext=1&index=44War in Bosniahttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8T_uAs40Aa4BalkansEthnic Cleansing19GENOCIDEGenocide: An attempt to eliminate, in whole or in large part, a particular group of people (such as national, ethnic, racial, religious, social, or political groups).

Mass Murder: The intentional killing of a large number of people who are either unwilling or unable to defend themselves.

Ethnic Cleansing: The attempt to remove a particular group of people from a particular geographic area through the use of terror.

19YugoslaviaEight Major ethnic groups: Serbs, Croats, Muslims, Slovenes, Macedonians, Albanians, Hungarians and Montenegrins.Ethnic and religious differences for centuriesAfter WWII: Yugoslavia became a federation of six republicsRuled with an Iron hand by Josef TitoCommunist and nonalignedChanging of Leadership1980 Tito diesSlobodan Milosevic takes overSerb Leader

Ethnic Cleansing1991 Slovenia and Croatia declare their independenceSerbian led Yugoslav army invades both republicsBosnia and Herzegovina joined Slovenia and Croatia in declaring independenceDuring the War Serbians used ethnic cleansing against Bosnian MuslimsEthnic CleansingForced migration of MuslimsViolence, rape, killing

Kosovo1998 Kosovo violence again eruptsSouthern Serbia Ethnic Albanians were killed, raped and forced to leave their homes by the SerbsNATO intervened on the side of the AlbaniansPeace 1999

Slobodan MilosevicExtradited to stand trial at the Hague in the NetherlandsWar crimesDied March 11, 2006 without a verdict being handed down.General Ratko Mladi still remains at largeBosnian Serb president Radovan Karadzic remains at largehttp://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/bosnia502/video_index.html#