Brief (mostly), Concise Outline of World History from the Start of WWI to the End of the Cold War

Start of World War I

 Rising Tensions from a century of global expansion of colonies, armies and wealth by European
Empires in Africa, Asia and the Pacific reach a boiling point in 1914:
o Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary. Killed by Black Hand
(anarchist group of ethnic Serb college students in the A-H Empire who hated Austrian
Rule. Not connected to the independent kingdom of Serbia, but Austria blamed Serbia
due to the ethnicity of the assassins and declared war on it)
 Serbia’s ally Russia came to it’s aid. Germany came to Austria’s aid in response.
 Two opposed blocs of nations formed based on webs of alliances:
o Allies: Britain, France & Russia (Triple Entente). Later joined by
Italy, Japan (wanted to take Central nation’s pacific island
colonies) and lastly by USA.
o Central: Germany, Austria (Triple Alliance – Italy left them for
Allies at start of war), Bulgaria and Ottoman Empire (OE’s lands
had shrunk to pretty much just the Middle East (Iraq through
Saudi and Israel and Turkey. They wanted land)
 World War I – Fighting
 Africa: German colonies and troops in central Africa were vastly outnumbered by British and
French in north and southern Africa, resulting in guerrilla warfare from Germans.
o Ottomans kept British and French occupied by dominating the Bosporus strait connecting
Mediterranean Sea to Black Sea and threatening British Egypt, hoping to take Suez Canal
to cut Allies off from India and the Pacific. Direct attacks by Allies failed, but British
Lawrence of Arabia helped start an Arab uprising against Ottomans.
 Asia & the Pacific: Japan and Brit & French colonies here attack German trade centers and
colonies in the Pacific.
 Europe – Eastern Front: Germans army attacked Russia to keep it from helping Serbia against
Austria.
 Europe – Western Front: German forces split, some keeping Russia pinned and pushed back.
Others invading Belgium to use it as a backdoor to invade France (this was the Schlieffen Plan).
It worked frighteningly well.
o French, with Brit support, had been waiting at the French-German border and now
scrambled to French-Belgian border to block further advance of Germans. Neither side
was strong enough to push the other out, so both sides dug trenches
 Trench Warfare: Horribly ineffective, resulting in long, bloody battles with
massive casualties from poison gas attacks (mostly from Central Powers), Air
strikes into trenches, and Machine gun fire from charging through empty “No
Man’s Land” between trenches. Infection & unhealthy conditions killed many.
 Both sides neared exhaustion of troops and resources when the USA joined in with Allies. Why?
o Germany submarines had been attacking all ships trying to trade with Britain, angering
USA when our civilians got killed by this unrestricted submarine warfare
o Germany sent a note (Zimmermann Note) to Mexico asking Mexico to attack USA to
keep US out of war in exchange for USA’s southwest states. Note got intercepted and
published in US newspapers. US was ticked.
o Russia, poor and underequipped, got pounded by Germans, causing unrest in Russia and
a Revolution overthrew the Czar and allowed Bolsheviks (Russian Communists) led by
Vladimir Lenin to take over and make the Brest-Litovsk Treaty with Germany to get new
Soviet Communist Russia out of WWI, letting Germans focus entirely on Western Front.
USA was afraid longer war would cause more radical revolutions
 US provided fresh troops and supplies desperately needed by Allies. Critical to Allied victory.

World War I – Conclusion & Treaty

 11-11-1918: on the 11th hour, Armistice (cease-fire) was declared.
 Allied leaders and invited nations meet at Versailles palace outside Paris. 1st time a US president
(Woodrow Wilson) had ever left the USA to visit another nation.
 Woodrow wanted 14 Points philosophy to be the basis of the Treaty of Versailles to prevent
future war. European leaders didn’t want his “peace without victory” mentality of getting quickly
back to peaceful relations. European leaders wanted to punish Central powers.
 Treaty of Versailles:
o League of Nations was formed to let nations peacefully discuss and resolve conflicts
(Wilson’s only idea to be completely accepted by Treaty)
o Austrian Empire was broken up into new Eastern European states (Czechoslovakia,
Poland, Yugoslavia, Romania, Hungary & and a much smaller Austria)
  Why? Partially to allow these ethnic groups to have their own country (though
Yugoslavia was a mix of over 4 ethnic groups that hated each other; and Czechs
and Slovaks didn’t get their own independent nations until after Cold War) &
Partially to act as buffer states in case the Soviets decided to invade
o Ottoman Empire was reduced to just Turkey. All its other lands (Israel/Palestine, Iraq,
Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Jordan, Syria) were made “Mandates” of the League of Nations.
o Germany was required to:
 Take full guilt for the war, pay MASSIVE war debts, give the Saar region to
France for 15 years (major resource region), Kaiser Wilhelm had to abdicate to a
Republic government, and Germany had to disband their military.
 These harsh terms led to 15 years of economic depression, desperation and
collapse in Germany, and gave Hitler an opportunity to take over.
 USA never signed the Treaty of Versailles nor joined the League. Made separate treaty.

Between World Wars – 1920s & early 1930s

 Britain and France were given control of League of Nation “mandates” in Middle East.
 Rise of “Roaring 20s” jazz culture in USA and spread in Europe. Almost seemed people were
trying to drown memories of WWI’s horrors. No one wanted to fight another World War again.
 A decade of bad loan practices (loaning money for people to gamble with on Stock Markets and
banks loaning more money to business ventures than they had in their vaults), the web of WWI
debt (Brit & French demanded German payments, Germany’s economy dropped trying to pay,
USA loaning money for Germany to pay with but much of it went to Brit & France with little
actually being paid back to US by either Brits, French or Germans), and panic when stock prices
dropped all combined to cause a global Great Depression in USA, Europe & Europe’s colonies.
 Communist Russia (Soviet Union or USSR) blocks WWI Allies from stopping their control of the
country and destroy anti-Communist Russian forces after taking Romanov royal family hostage
and executing the Romanovs.

Causes of World War II – Rise of Fascism (mid & late 1930s)

 Economic hardship from the Versailles Treaty and fear of Communist (extreme left) totalitarian
rule in Russia led to the rise of Fascism (extreme right) totalitarian regimes rising in Germany,
Italy, Spain and Japan.
o Hideki Tojo: Military dictator of Japan. Ruled in the name of Emperor Hirohito
(figurehead king, but believed to be a demigod by Shinto religion). Tojo glorified
Samurai tradition and invaded China’s Manchuria region in the early 1930s. Wanted to
expand for resources. League did nothing. US declared they’d not recognize Japan’s
claim to that land, but only used economic embargos when Japan took Shanghai.
o Benito Mussolini: Dictator of Italy. Glorified Roman military past. Used intimidation
and fanatic core followers (black shirts) to take over Italian government. Invaded
Ethiopia in revenge for past defeats. US passed Neutrality Acts to avoid assisting
Ethiopians or anyone else invaded by others.
o Francisco Franco: Dictator of Spain. Led military rebellion against Spanish elected
government (which had become Socialist, anti-monarchy and anti-Catholic). Both sides
committed atrocities in Spanish Civil War. Hitler loaned Franco new German equipment,
letting Spanish test it before Germany started WWII.
o Adolf Hitler: Dictator of Germany. Modelled himself after Mussolini. Glorified
Germanic military past. Used intimidation and fanatic core followers (Nazis) to take over
 German government. Blamed Versailles, Communists and Jews for Germany’s
problems. Germans against him were too afraid of his Nazis to block him. Annexed
Austria to create a single German speaking nation (3rd Reich). Invaded Czechoslovakia’s
Sudetenland region, but no one challenged him, so he invaded the rest of it. Brits and
French appeased him in Munich Conference and Hitler agreed to stop invading people if
he got to keep what he already took. He lied.
 Sept 1939: Hitler invaded Poland after signing a non-aggression pact with Soviets. This is the
start of WWII
o Outraged Western Europe. Two opposing sides formed:
 Allies (WWII): Britain led by Winston Churchill & France (later joined by USSR
led by Joseph Stalin & USA led by FDR in early 1940s)
 Axis Powers: Nazi Germany, Mussolini’s Italy & Tojo’s Japan
 World War II – Fighting
o Early Action: Poland fell in a month. Allies & Axis next 3-4 months prepping for war.
Newspapers called these months the “Phony War” as no fighting happened.
o Early Nazi Blitzkrieg in Europe: using overwhelming force and momentum tactics
(Blitzkrieg), Nazi Germany took Norway, Denmark, Luxembourg, Belgium & Norway in
6 months.
 France had built a huge armed wall on French-German border. Nazi forces
ignored it and used Belgium as a backdoor again (I know right?). Brits & French
were not able to hold them back and much of the Allied troops had to escape
across English Channel at Dunkirk. All of Western, Central & Europe except
Britain, USSR, neutral Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Vatican & Portugal were
under Nazi or Nazi puppet rule. He tried to bomb Brits and invade them, but
British forces held strong.
 Hitler then broke his pact with Soviets and invaded, starting the Eastern Front
again. Soviets joined Allies in response.
o Axis push in North Africa: Nazi’s controlled French North Africa after France was taken.
Italians, and later Germans pushed into British North Africa, hoping to take Suez and cut
Brit Empire in two.
o Japan’s “Sphere of Influence in Asia: Japan conquered rest of China’s coast and took
French Indo-China (Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia) and made moves into British Burma
(Myanmar). Dec 7 1941, Japan’s navy launched a HUGE simultaneous strike on British
lands (Hong Kong and Malaysia) and US lands (Philippines, Midway, Guam and Pearl
Harbor in Hawaii).
 USA joins Allies in shock and anger over Pearl Harbor attack. Again, USA brought fresh troops
and supplies
o North Africa: US reinforcements took Nazi-held French North Africa and pushed Axis
forces toward British held Egypt, where British Gen. Montgomery defeated German Gen.
Rommel in a tank battle (2nd el Alamain). Allies took all of North Africa. Allied leaders
met in several conferences to plan next steps. Casablanca Conference: Allies
compromised and agreed to invade Italy to make Mediterranean safe before trying to
liberate France & demanded unconditional surrender. Tehran Conference: Allies planned
out D-Day. Yalta conference: Allies planned for end of the War.
o Eastern Front: 1942 - Soviets halt Nazi advance at Stalingrad. Russian winter & Stalin’s
scorched earth tactics decimated Nazi army. Soviets used winter to regroup and start
pushing Nazis back in spring of 1943
o Italy: 1943 - Allied forces used North Africa to launch invasion of Sicily and Italy. Drew
Hitler’s attention a bit from France & Soviets.
o Western Front: Began with D-Day (invasion of Normandy June 1944 led by
Eisenhower). Intense 24 hour invasion and holding of beaches allowed Brit & US forces
to get foothold in France and begin a Western Front and French liberation. Hitler took
troops from Eastern Front to crush Allies in France, but instead was forced into retreat at
Battle of the Bulge.
o Pacific Theatre: Allies had early on decided to focus offensive efforts on Hitler (threat to
Brit & Soviet homeland) and focus defensive efforts on Japan (keep them from
expanding, but not to push back until Europe was partially liberated). US navy blocked
Japan’s expansion at Battle of Coral Sea. US navy victory at Midway put Japan on
defensive and US began attacking using island hopping strategy.
 World War II – Conclusion & rebuilding: the seeds of the Cold War
 Allies formed the United Nations to replace failed League. USA, USSR, Britain,
France & China would lead it.
 After Battle of the Bulge, German forces in both Fronts were weakened, allowing
Allies (including freed French) to push in at all sides. Soviets broke promises
and invaded Berlin alone. Hitler committed suicide and German government
surrendered (V-E day).
 Japan kept fighting for months until 2 atomic bomb strikes (secret weapon
developed in USA – Manhattan project) led to their surrender. Emperor allowed
to keep title, but had to renounce godhood claims (V-J day).
 Allies discovered Hitler hadn’t just persecuted European Jews with
discrimination laws, but had been rounding them up as slave labor in
concentration camps and been actively working toward their genocide in medical
experiments and executions in death camps. War crime trials are held in
Nuremberg and in Tokyo for Japanese war crimes against China and Korea
where slave labor and “comfort women” were common tactics of Japan.
o Progression of Holocaust:
 Nuremberg Laws: remove citizenship and rights of Jews, force
wearing of stars for identification, ban intermarriage
 Kristallnacht: Night of Broken Glass. Nation-wide night attacks
by Nazis on Jewish homes, synagogues and shops. Many died
and disappeared.
 “Relocation” to Concentration Camps: publically done for
“safety” of Jews after Kristallnacht. Really done for slave labor
of Jews
  Extermination: Death squads did mass shootings at first, but
Hitler wanted more efficient methods, so Death Camps with gas
chambers were built.
 Death Toll: 6 million Jews, 7 million non-Jews (Slavs, Gypsies,
political dissidents, disabled, and 2,600 Catholic priests)
 To avoid mistakes of WWI, WWII’s allies began rebuilding their enemies,
making Germany & Japan friends and working together to heal the wounds of
war. Both became democracies and economic powerhouses, friendly to the USA
against Soviets in Cold War. Allies also began freeing their colonies to become
independent nations (not all at once and not overnight, but over the next decades)
in respect for the self-determination of the colonies’ peoples, though some
remained colonies.
 Soviets broke promises from Yalta and refused to leave Poland or their part of
rebuilt Germany. Soviets don’t leave Eastern Europe parts they liberated from
Nazis either, wanting to keep them as buffer puppet states under Communist rule.
US, Brits & French don’t attack as all are recovering from war, but distrust and
fear of Soviets spreads.

Cold War: 1946 – 1992

1946-1949:
 “Cold” War: no direct war between USA & USSR troops or
governments. Why? Both sides had developed nuclear weapons
by 1949. No one wins in nuclear war.
 Germany divided: US, Brit & French parts of Germany & Berlin
form West Germany, ally to USA. Soviet Germany & East Berlin
became East Germany, a Soviet puppet state.
o Soviets blocked road access to West Berlin. US & Brit respond
with Berlin Airlift of supplies. Soviets reopened roads after Airlift
showed US & British commitment.

 USA & its allies began policies of Containment to keep Soviets

from expanding influence:
o Truman Doctrine: US offered political aid to countries harassed
by internal or external Communist pressures.
o Marshall Plan: economic rebuilding of West & Central Europe to
avoid the economic despair that allowed radical revolution in the
1910s.
 Europe divides into two armed political camps:
o NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization): US, Britain, France,
Canada and other Western European nations joined this mutual defense
alliance in case of Soviet invasion
o Warsaw Pact: Soviet controlled alliance of Communist Eastern European
nations for mutual defense in case of Western invasion. (really a puppet
show of Soviet controlled nations).
 New Nation: Israel. United Nations created a Jewish homeland, in part out of
regret that rumors of the Holocaust weren’t believed in early WWII and many
1930s Jewish immigrants from Germany were sent back but US, Brits and others.
European Jewish immigrants already lived in Israel, but land was also taken by
the UN from Palestinian Arabs as well, planting seeds of Isreali-Palestinian
 conflict going on to this day. US was 1st nation to ally with Israel, within hours
of its existence.
 Chinese Revolution: Chinese Communists started revolution against corrupt
Republic government of Jiang Jeshi, and ally of WWII Allies. Mao Zedong,
China’s communist leader, won, forcing Jeshi into exile on Taiwan. Major US
failure of Containment. Both Mao and Jeshi claimed their land was the REAL
China. USA only recognized Taiwan as One True China until 1975.
 Global Divisions of the Cold War:
o 1 World: USA, Canada, western European democracies and NATO
st

members.
o 2 world: Soviet controlled Communist Europe, USSR, Communist
nd

China and Mongolia

o 3rd World: nations that hadn’t sided with either. Often ex-colonies and
developing nations. Lots of proxy wars and spy actions done here to get
support or keep the other side from getting support.

1950s:
The Korean War
 At WWII’s end, Korea got divided like Germany: USA section (South) & USSR
section (North). Both became independent nations allied to their post-WWII
rebuilders.
 Kim Ill Jong (NK’s leader) got Stalin’s permission to invade South Korea.
 US president Truman got United Nations to condemn Kim’s attack and send a
USA-led UN peacekeeping force under Gen. MacArthur to aid SK.
 US, UN & SK forces push NK to China’s border. Chinese ‘volunteers’
o
arrived to aid NK, pushing US, UN & SK forces back to original Korean
dividing line, the 38th parallel.
 Fighting went on from 1950-1953 when new US president Eisenhower hinted at
nuclear use if fighting didn’t stop. Ceasefire Armistice was called, but no treaty
was made between Koreas or between NK & USA in the 20th century or first 17
years of 21st century
 Chinese support of North kept US recognizing Taiwan instead of China. Japan
became USA’s major ally and anti-Communist shield in Pacific and Asia. South
Korea became a close ally of USA. Success of USA containment.

Cuban Revolution
 Longtime Cuban dictator, and ally of USA, Batista was overthrown by
Communist rebel Fidel Castro.
 USA embargoed Cuba as a result. Then Cuba sought and got aid and support
from USSR, making Cuba the only Soviet ally in Western hemisphere. Failure
of USA containment.

Eisenhower’s Policy of Boldness

 Fleet of superbomber planes with nukes is made. Publically proclaimed that
direct action by USSR or China against US allies will result in MASSIVE
(nuclear) RETALIATION
 Not effective in small regional conflicts like when Soviet controlled Hungary
rebelled against USSR (Hungarian Uprising in 1950s). Eisenhower couldn’t risk
nuke war over an “internal” matter of the Warsaw Pact.

Eisenhower Doctrine: Middle East Containment

 Eisenhower sent troops to Lebanon to end civil strife there. Success with little to
no blood shed.
 Proclaimed US would keep Soviet power out of Middle East
o USA backed several rulers and dictators here that didn’t like Soviets,
even if these rulers were not in favor of democracy or rights of citizens.
 Iran: USA kept the Shah in power until late 1970s
 Egypt: When Egypt took Suez Canal from Britain, USA kept
Brits, French and Israelis from invading Egypt.
o USA would follow the same policy of backing harsh rulers in Latin
America and Africa in the rulers were anti-Communist. A “lesser of two
evils” mentality

Vietnam War begins

 France didn’t want to let go of French Indo-China colony at end of WWII. Led
to massive civil war there.
 USA backed French, but Vietnamese defeated French in Battle of Diem Bien Phu
 Geneva Accords: agreement signed in Europe that recognized a free Vietnam and
divided it into a Communist North led by Ho Chi Minh and backed by China and
USSR; and a non-Communist South led by Ngo Dinh Diem and backed by USA.
 The two were supposed to unite after a public vote about whether to be
communist or not.
o USA and South Vietnam didn’t trust North Vietnam. USA refused to
sign and recognized South Vietnam. Eisenhower and Kennedy after him
sent political and military advisors to aid S.V. as S.V. and N.V. started
fighting one another.

1960s:
JFK’s Flexible Response Policy
 JFK added several levels of troop involvement to aid allies to USA’s containment
plans.

Troubled Europe & Middle East

 Soviets and East Germans built the Berlin Wall to isolate West Berlin.
 Marshal Plan succeeded in rebuilding Europe’s economy
o New trade bloc formed: European Economic Community (would become
the European Union in the 90s).
 Middle Eastern Oil producing nations and other oil industry nations formed
OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries)

Bay of Pigs
 JFK backed a CIA plan to train and arm Cuban exiles to go in and overthrow
Castro.
 HUGE failure. JFK cancelled air support at the last minute, leaving Exiles at the
mercy of Castro’s army.

Cuban Missile Crisis

 Soviets started putting nukes in Cuba. USA spotted them from spy planes and
quarantined Cuba, surrounding it with US ships under orders to shoot any ship
that didn’t stop to be searched.
 Soviet leader Khrushchev thought JFK was bluffing and sent a Soviet ship. He
frantically called it back, when it was clear US ships would fire on it. He agreed
to remove Soviet missiles from Cuba. USA had already decided to remove US
missiles in Turkey. Major success for JFK.

Gulf of Tonkin – USA joined Vietnam War

 US ships in the Gulf of Tonkin are shot at by North Vietnamese ships
o New president LBJ (Kennedy had been assassinated) told Congress it
was unprovoked. In reality, the US ships were in N.V. waters trying to
get a S.V. ship out, so it was a provoked attack, but Congress thought it
was a show of force and disregard against USA, so gave LBJ the Gulf of
Tonkin Resolution to have a blank check of power over the US military
actions in the region. LBJ had US troops join S.V. troops as full
combatants in Vietnam War
 USA rapidly become a main fighting force in Vietnam.
 Guerrilla tactics from Viet Cong Communist irregulars, unfamiliarity with the
terrain and use of air mobility without keeping troops on the ground after battles
meant the war in Vietnam was a hard and long one.
 Tet Offensive: major attack by N.V. and Viet Cong forces against US and S.V.
forces occurred during the local lunar new festival of Tet, a traditional time of
truce since the war’s start. Live news video on TV of urban fighting turned many
US citizens against the war. US & S.V. were able to push out the attackers, but
confidence and support were shaken by the attack.

Six-day War
 USSR supported an Arab attack on Israel in 1967.
 Israel’s defenses were ready and it pushed out the attackers and took land from
them: Sinai peninsula (Egypt), Golan Heights (Jordan), West Bank and Gaza
Strip (both Palestinian regions left from Israel’s creation)
 War only lasted 6 days

1970s:
Yom Kippur War
 USSR backed another Arab attack by Egypt and Syria on Israel in 1973, during
the Jewish religious festival of Yom Kippur, a feast of atonement.
 Israelis were caught by surprise this time.
 New US President Nixon sent $2billion in supplies and aid to Israel, while his
advisor Kissinger negotiated a ceasefire.
 The Arab controlled OPEC retaliated by an oil embargo against USA and other
supporters of Israel. Even after embargo was lifted, OPEC quadrupled oil prices.

Détente:
 Nixon’s biggest political achievement was “Détente,” an easing of tensions
between the USA and Communist China; and between the USA and the USSR.
o How? He played the Chinese and Soviets distrust of one another by
visiting them both back to back.
o 1 time a US president had visited Communist China. USA recognized
st

China and gave it Taiwan’s seat on the UN security council, but still kept
ties with Taiwan.
 USSR leader Brezhnev, afraid the USA had a secret deal with China, agreed to a
nuclear limitation treaty (SALT I) to pause nuke building for a short time and
agreed to a limit for how many more both USA & USSR could build. Trade
restrictions eased too.

Sad end of Vietnam War

 Nixon tried to end the Vietnam War quickly due to rising riots and unpopularity
of the war in USA.
o Vietnamization: removal of US troops and replacement of them with
newly trained South Vietnamese troops
 o Nixon Doctrine: “USA will support allies and keep treaty obligations,
BUT WILL NOT FIGHT THE BULK OF THEIR WARS AND
DEFENSE FOR THEM.” Justification for pulling out of Vietnam.
 As US troops began removal, N.V. kept attacking, so Nixon tried to force them
into a treaty by two massive bombing waves on N.V. and an invasion of
Cambodia (led to more protests in USA)
 2 bombing campaign did force N.V. to a Paris Accord ceasefire in 1973,
nd

allowing release of many US Prisoners of War.

o N.V. broke the ceasefire not long after and in 1975, took over Saigon, the
southern capital, creating a single, communist Vietnam.
 Confidence in USA’s role as defender against communism was undermined and
USA became reluctant to involve itself overtly in foreign military action until
Reagan.

Helsinki Accords:
 After Nixon’s resignation due to the Watergate scandal, new president Ford
signed the Helsinki Accords with USSR
o Agreed to honor Soviet borders and influence areas and give more trade
to them, and Soviets agreed to respect human rights. Soviets didn’t keep
their word. Many in USA grew tired of détente.

Carter’s time:
 Next US president Carter tried to get a second SALT treaty with the Soviets, but
Congress refused to sign it as a protest against the USSR’s invasion of
Afghanistan in 1980.
 USSR smuggled Cuban soldiers into parts of Africa to act as their eyes and ears
to help start Communist revolutions there.
 1979-1980: Iranian Islamic Revolution overthrew the Shah and took 66 US
citizens hostage for 444 days. Major failure for Carter. Islamic leaders in Iran
didn’t release them until Reagan was elected.

1980s
Reagan’s Containment:
 New US president Reagan was committed to Containment. Sent troops to:
o Grenada: overthrew leftist assassins that had killed the nation’s leader
and taken over.
o Lebanon: to stop new civil strife. Didn’t work well. Left after a suicide
bomb attack killed 200+ Marines.
o El Salvador: aided anti-revolutionary government against Leftist rebels.
Successful.
o Nicaragua: backed the Contra rebels against the Sandinista party leftist
government until Congress cut his funding.
 Called out USSR as an “Evil Empire” and challenged new Soviet leader
Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall (didn’t get torn down).
 Reagan’s renewed Arms Race:
 USA started a new, expensive round of military development and research, most
famously the Space Defense Initiative (Star Wars program) that researched ways
to use laser weapons on satellites and on the group to destroy incoming nukes.
This TERRIFIED the Soviets, so they tried to make US military spending,
leading to an economic collapse in the USSR.

Reagan & Gorbachev:

 Reagan & Gorbachev did agree to remove all of their Intermediate Range
Nuclear Missiles from Europe in the INF treaty.

Gorbachev’s Reforms in USSR:

 Gorbachev saw the Soviet economy was crippled and tried to use reforms to help
it and Soviet society:
o Perestroika: “Restructuring.” Allowed limited free market economy
o Glasnost: “Openness” Allowed limited free speech
 As the USSR government was totalitarian, giving up even some economic and
political control like this rapidly led to the Soviet government losing a lot of
power and being unable to stop their nation from disintegrating

1989 &1990s: European Communism Collapses

 1989 Poland: Solidarity Movement of workers kicked out Communist
government and held democratic elections
 1989 & 1990: Eastern Europe: Hungary, Romania & Czechoslovakia all threw
off Communism
 Germany: Berlin Wall got torn down by both sides of Berlin.
  1990: West & East Germany reunite as a single democracy.
 1993: Czechoslovakia peacefully divided into Slovakia & Czech Republic.
 Yugoslavia rapidly divided into 5 (later 6 in the 21st century) nations of different
ethnicities that were hostile to each other and ethnic violence began in the former
Yugoslavia in the early 90s.

Soviet Union Falls:

 1991: Hard-line Communists tried to overthrow Gobrachev, but are stopped by
Boris Yeltsin.
 Yeltsin became new Soviet leader and oversaw the dissolving of the USSR into
15 republics, jointly called the Commonwealth of Independent States.
o A new democratic Russia was and is the largest of these republics and
holds the most economic and political power over the others still.
o Yeltsin was the new Russia’s first elected leader.

Cold War Ended. USA & the rest of the Western Democracies won!!! Only 5 self-
identified Communist nations still exist today: China, Cuba, North Korea, Laos &
Vietnam