The Break-up of the Soviet Union

And why it matters

1988-1992

It’s the Economy, Stupid!

Mikhail Gorbachev had a BIG problem in his communist nation of the Soviet Union. His country was running out of money. To save the economy, this Soviet leader instituted perestroika and glasnost

Perestroika? Glasnost? What’s that?

Perestroika is a Russian word meaning restructuring. Gorbachev wanted to allow some private enterprise and profit-making to help alleviate his country’s economic problems.

Gorbachev’s other idea was to instill a new openness in Soviet society. It allowed more freedom of religion and speech. This was called Glasnost.

REVOLUTION IN EASTERN EUROPE

While the Soviet Union was going through tough economic times and also having some freedom to complain about their society, the Eastern European satellite nations of the Warsaw Pact began to have peaceful revolutions which replaced the Communist Party! Countries like Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Romania, Bulgaria, and East Germany all threw off the yoke of Soviet Oppression!

The Berlin Wall Falls!

Comrades! Play Berlin Wall Video Now!

Wow! I’m REALLY depressed!

*RUSSIAN HEADLINES*Gorbachev has to Go!Soviet Military is Ticked!Russian People are hungry!The Buffer zones of Eastern

Europe are Leaving the Soviet Sphere!

Boshe Moi! (Good Gosh!)

A COUP ENSUES!

• In August 1991, Soviet officials and military officers arrest Gorbachev and send troops to Moscow!

• Russian President Boris Yeltsin defies the coup and 50,000 Russian civilians surround his offices to protect him from Soviet Troops.

• President Bush pledges support• The Coup Collapses and Gorbachev returns to

power.

I Don’t Want to Play Anymore!

• After the defeat of the coup, all 15 Soviet republics declare their independence from the Soviet Union.

• President Boris Yeltsin outlaws the Communist Party! (Take that Karl Marx!)

• By late December 1991, Gorbachev announced the end of the Soviet Union.

• Most of the former Soviet Republics join the new Russian Commonwealth of Independent States

Capitalists! Play End of Soviet Union Video Now!

This flag becomes ---------------------- This flag!

Some Good things for you and your future children

• No more cold war. The threat of global destruction is reduced.

• No more KGB secret police terrorizing the Russian People.

• A Greater variety of Goods for Russians which means a better trading partner for America.

• More Russian immigration to America! Yeah!• Greater Religious Freedom for Russians

... And now some bad things

• Russian Mafia in the old Soviet Union has taken over where central authority does not exist. Yeah, this is where the old KGB guards ended up!

• More alcohol and drug abuse for Russian youth.• Greater threats from Czechan Rebels and

Fundamentalist Muslims. (like the Subway Attack of last week)

• It seems that Putin is leaning towards the old ways of the Soviet Union...as his attacks in Georgia show. BIG BAD SOVS ARE BACK!

Restructuring Our World

• The Break-up of the Soviet Union directly led to a shift in the politics of Europe.

• The Eastern European countries had for over 45 years been poised to attack American forces in West Germany. This is no longer the case. In fact, many of our allies who helped us in our wars in the Middle East were former enemies belonging to the Warsaw Pact.

• Old Friends Become New Enemies and vice versa. (France and Germany gave us no support; yet, Poland, Czechoslovakia, and Romania has!)