Learning Objective 2

To distinguish important facts of the Soviet Union and Europe to

understand how Soviet power ended.
 People in the Eastern Hemisphere
Europe

On May 1945, in the city of San Francisco, California, a group of diplomats from 50 nations made a plan for a
new world group: the United Nations.

* A diplomat is a person who works to handle business between his or her nation and other nations.*

World War II had ended in Europe in May. The leaders of many nations wanted to find a way to stop future
wars. They thought that if the nations of the world could talk and work together, peace might be possible.
 At the end of the World War II, the Soviet Union was
the strongest nation in Europe. Joseph Stalin was the
Soviet leader. He wanted to spread communism.
*Communism is a form of government in which
everything is owned by the government. The people can
not choose their leaders*.
The spread of
Communism Before the United Nations meeting in San Francisco,
Stalin agreed to let the people of Eastern Europe
choose their leaders. However, Stalin did not keep the
agreement. He wanted the Eastern European nations to
become communist.
By 1947, U.S. President Harry Truman said the
United States would help the nations of the
Western Europe to stopped the Soviets.
 A cold war is not a war that people fight with
weapon. The nations involved in a cold war do
not trust each other.
After Germany lost the World War II,
the United States, France, Great Britain, and the
The Cold War Soviet Union divided Germany into four zones.
The United States, France, and Great Britain
decided to rejoin their three zones into one
country West Germany Democracy
 The Soviet Union formed a separate country with its part of Germany
East Germany Communist government
The city of Berlin was in East Germany it was split into two halves
one half Communist , other half was a Western democracy.
People were crossing from East Berlin to West Berlin to escape communism
the East German government built a wall dividing East and West to stop
this Any person trying to cross the Berlin Wall was shot by guards.
 Protesting Communism

1 2 3 4
Throughout the 1940s and In 1956, people in Hungary In 1968 people in In 1981 Polands workers
1950s the nations of East protested for more freedom Czechoslovakia wanted to formed a union called
Europe remained poor Soviet tanks moved to change their government Solidarity. A union is a group
when people protested stop it. Once again the Soviets of workers who get together
against communism, they moved in and stayed in for a special reason. They
were put in jail. power. wanted higher pay and free
elections in Poland.
 Protesting communism
A man named Lech Walesa was the leader of Solidarity he led the workers
of the city on a strike. In a strike, people refuse to work until they get what
they want In 1989, Poland had a new government. The communists were
no longer in control.
In 1989, parts of the Berlin Wall were taken down, communism had ended in
East Europe the Cold War was almost over.
 The fall of Communism
Why, after 40 years, did the Soviet Union suddenly allow noncommunist
governments in Eastern Europe?
Many people think Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev was responsible.
When Gorbachev became the Soviet leader in 1985, the Soviet Union faced
many problems:
The economy was in trouble.
People wanted more freedom.
 He thought that the Cold War was one of the biggest problems. The Soviet
Union spent huge amounts of money on soldiers and weapons and the
people were poor.
So he decided to spend less money on weapons. At the same time he
announced a new plan called glasnost.
Glasnost means openness or more freedom.
But by 1992, people voted Gorbachev and the communists out of power.
The Cold War was over.
 Russia today
Following the fall of communism Russia had many changes:
Boris Yeltsin replaced Gorbachev and became the president of Russia.
Instead of just one political party (the Communist Party), there were many
political parties.
The Russian government sold government-owned businesses to private
citizen. The Russian government hoped that these changes would help the
Russian economy get stronger.
 At the end of 1999, Boris Yeltsin resigned. Vladimir Putin was elected
president of Russia in 2000.
Russian economy began to recover.