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I. Post-war problems facing Europe:
A. Widespread poverty and devastation created unrest
B. Post-war division of Europe into two parts:
1.Western Europe - democratic governments established by Western Allies (U.S., Britain, & France)
2. Eastern Europe - cut off by an "Iron Curtain" (when Stalin refused to allow free elections, as promised at Yalta Conference in 1945)
a.) cut off from trade and contact with Western Europe
b.) communist "puppet" governments established by the USSR under Stalin
C. Communism becomes the chief threat to world peace
II. Containment of communism in Europe:
A. Marshall Plan:
1. U.S. gave massive amounts of aid to Western European nations to help them rebuild
2. Stalin refused Marshall Plan money for Eastern European nations
B. Truman Doctrine - U.S. states it will "contain" the spread of communism:
1. USSR supported communist revolutionaries seeking to overthrow the gov'ts in Greece and Turkey
2. Truman sent military aid and military advisors to aid Greece and Turkey
C. Berlin Airlift - U.S. supplies West Berlin with food and fuel in response to Soviet blockade
D. NATO - military alliance links Western European nations and U.S.; U.S. promises to protect Europe from Soviet attack
1. USSR creates "Warsaw Pact" in response to NATO
I.
European Economic
Unification
A. With aid from the Marshall plan, Western
European countries recovered quickly from WWII. They promoted their prosperity through cooperation.
II.
The common Market (
European Community- EC)
A. formed in 1957- included France West
Germany , Belgium, Italy, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. Denmark and Ireland
joined later.
B. Abolished tariffs taxes on imports so that
there would be free trade between member nations.
III.
European Union
A. As the EC expanded in the 1980’s and1990’s
and they began to call themselves the E.U.
Since the collapse of
communism in the late 1980’s and 1990’s several Eastern European nations have
since joined. Instead of separate
currencies member nations adopted a single currency, the EURO
Failures of Communism in the USSR:
A. Severe restrictions on political freedom - millions sent to the Gulag (Siberia) by Stalin
1. Popular revolts against communist gov'ts in Hungary and Czechoslovakia later crushed by Soviet troops
B. "Command economy" (gov't controlled economy) - emphasized industrial development; did not produce many consumer goods
C. "Arms race", then "space race" set off by Sputnik satellite (1957), proved to be very expensive
D. Limited attempts to pursue "détente" (lowered tensions) with the U.S. failed when USSR. invaded Afghanistan
II. Attempts to reform USSR by President Gorbachev (1985-1991):
A. Attempted to improve relations with the West:
1. Ended "Brezhnev Doctrine" - promised not to invade Eastern European nations
2. Signed arms control treaty with the U.S. and pulled troops out of Afghanistan
3. Result - Baltic republics (Estonia; Latvia; Lithuania) and Eastern European nations became independent of Soviet control
B. Attempted to improve the Soviet economy:
1, Glasnost - encouraged open criticism of the economy
2. Perestroika - restructuring of the economy attempted by allowing limited free market reforms and reduction of government bureaucracy
3. Result - turmoil as factories failed to sell goods and laid off workers
III. New Russian Revolution (1991):
A. Coup led by angry "hard-line" Communists (Aug. 19-Aug. 23)
B. Boris Yeltsin (head of the Russian Federation) called for a general strike; without the support of the military, the coup ended in three days
C. Gorbachev returned to office but by Dec. 16 all non-Russian republics had declared independence, and by Dec. 25 Gorbachev had resigned
D. Yeltsin became the new head of “Russian Republic”
I. Democracy Movement in Poland:
A. Led by Lech Walesa - leader of the Solidarity (Labor Union) Movement
1. Wanted political and economic reforms
2. Wanted the overthrow of the communist-led government
B. Opposition to the government supported by the Catholic Church which opposed "Godless communism"
C. Democratic elections held in 1989 after Gorbachev announced he would not interfere in Eastern European reform movements (ending the "Brezhnev Doctrine")
D. Walesa elected President of Poland; Poland began adopting free-market (capitalist) reforms
E. Poland has been accepted into NATO and is seeking admission into the EU
II. Re-Unification of Germany:
A. Soviet leader Gorbachev reduced numbers of Soviet troops in Eastern Europe (1988)
1. Gorbachev announced he would not use troops to crush democracy movements
B. Steps toward re-unification:
1. East Germany opened Berlin Wall to unrestricted foot traffic (Nov. 9, 1989); jubilant people quickly began to tear down the wall
2. East Germany held free elections (1990)
3. German people voted for re-unification (Oct. 3, 1990)
C. West Germany accepted the challenge of rebuilding East Germany, which had many out-dated factories and highly polluted areas; unemployment remains high in East Germany
I. Crisis in Yugoslavia:
A. Democracy movement in Yugoslavia led to the formation of new nations in the Balkans based on religion and cultural identity:
1. Yugoslavia & Montenegro - led by Serbs (orthodox Christians)
2. Bosnia - led by Bosnians (majority were Muslims but also included Serbs and Croats)
3. Croatia & Slovenia - led by Croats (Roman Catholics)
B. Political and economic problems:
1. Economic reforms led to high unemployment and rising crime waves; angry people followed leaders who promised easy solutions
2. Ex-Communist leaders, who had lost power when communism became unpopular, used propaganda to create "ultra-nationalism" to win popularity and regain control over the people
C. Result - ethnic violence:
1. Serbia supported attacks against Bosnia to annex lands in which Serbs still lived
2. People were "scapegoated" and attacked in attempts to achieve "ethnic cleansing" (genocide)
3. Thousands of men were massacred and many hundreds of women were raped to frighten people into leaving their ancestral homelands
II. UN and NATO moved to stop the violence:
A. Peacekeeping forces were sent in to protect minority populations (mostly Muslims) from Serbian violence
1. European and American forces remain in many areas to keep the peace and prevent bloodshed
B. UN Court is attempting to try Serbian leader Milosevic for "war crimes" against humanity
