Mikhail Gorbachev and the Collapse of Communism

Mikhail Gorbachev was a very different type of leader from the rest of the leaders who controlled USSR before him. His ideas and beliefs were very different from the ideas of Stalin, and other former leaders. Mikhail Gorbachev was tired of communism, and followed his own ideas and demonstrated what a real government should be. Russia's history was ran by totalitarian rulers. The people of Russia were also tired of the corrupted government, and its leaders.They needed someone to start reforms to make the USSR capitalist, or at least show that capitalism was a good thing. Mikhail Gorbachev along with partners, started these huge reforms called the "Glasnost" and "Perestrokia". In 1985 he announced a glasnost, this marked a turning point because churches were opened, books were published and freedom of the press rised. Perestokia was a policy that allowed people to own their own small businesses which weren't owned buy the government. This in a way marked the end of Communism, it proved that Communism wasn't affective and small businesses were needed for the success of the economy. Mikhail Gorbachev was one of the first leader who slowly removed communism from USSR. He opened up the economy and allowed for positive changes in Russia. He is one of the most important leaders for the USSR because he brought capitalism, and removed communism from USSR.

The Collapse Of Communism

The communism collapse in Eastern Europe and in USSR because the Communist party leaders ruled with absolute power.They took control of farms and factories, workers did not become more prosperous as they had expected and, instead they were treated harshly and punished cruelly. The economy worsened in communist countries. Workers who were still poor were no longer motivated to work hard. Not enough products were being made, and not enough food was being grown. People could not buy the things that they needed. The situation went from bad to worse. The Berlin Wall was the big gigantic wall that seperated East Germany from West Germany. It was a political boundry between USSR and US. East Germany was part of the Warsaw Pact, and West Germany was part of the NATO. Anyone who tried to cross the wall was shot and killed.At least one hundred people were mercilessly shot at the Berlin wall.In November, 1989, demolition work began. At first, the goal was to built a road designated for private trips between the two sections of Germany. Then they decided to make several border crossings so more people could travel across. Soon, they were cutting holes for pedestrians. Some people came at the wall with rock hammers to gather souvenirs of the wall. Soon, hundreds stormed the wall with sledgehammers and attacked the graffiti-coated structure. After the collapse of communism the Soviet Union split up into many other countries. The Soviet Union was in economic recession because they lost alot of money during the space race. The Soviet Union. split up to many different countries. It become a Democratic Nation as well as all of the other parts that split up. They even changed the red hammer and it became the original flag with with three stripes. That was the collapse of communism and the Soviet Union, and the US won the cold war.

Nelson Mendela and Apartheid

Apartheid was a racial-segregation policy. It divided the black, mixed and Indian natives from the white. It ran from 1948 to 1994. Nelson Mandela was a man who wanted to abolish the apartheid, and was tired of apartheid policy. Nelson Mandela fought for Africa to gain unity and liberty. Throughout his life he fought for the people of Africa, and used civil disobedience just like (Mahatma Gandhi) to beat the Europeans. His constant plea and struggles for freedom, lead him to jail for 27 years. After being in jail for 27 yrs for his native people, allowed him to become stronger and wiser creating journals and books of idea for his people and the path to independence. He gained trust of his people and was elected to be the president of South Africa. That was the first time ever where free elections were held. Since South Africa had more population of african american people, they supported Nelson Mandela, and voted him to be the president. He is admired by thousands of books and sites because he is among those people who can give up his life for thousands. He is also famous because he did not give up serving for his country even after being punished for 27 years He is also a hero because used peaceful means to achieve his goals for his country. He is also amongst one of those individiual who lives for others, and his country.

African Independence

African Independence was a period when African colonies gained its independence from the European countries. During the mid 1950's the continent of Africa was being ruled by European countries, because the Europeans wanted the natural resources that were stored in Africa. After 20 years Africa was a whole different continent, because the colonies gained independence from the Europeans and went on to become independence countries. It was easy for the African countries because the European countries were weakened after WWII. The Europeans did not want to deal with their colonies, because it was very expensive to run colonies when countries are far away. They wanted to express their traditions, Europe was ready to let go of Africa after WWII. Many Africans became well educated. Creating a middle class and following the independence of many other nations. People were sparked by outsiders to make sure Europeans were wiped out of Africa.Africa had many leaders because there were so many provinces. These leaders were inspired by African-American leaders.They had Leopold Senghor, who leaded Sengal and later became president. Kwame Nkrumah became Ghana's first prime minister. Marcus Garvey was jamaican born, but his goal was to lead Europeans out of Africa and have Africa ruled by Africans. Jomo Kenyatta led Kenya through a harsh independence. And many others.