-Western Renaissance Ends

- Economic Turmoil

-Political and Social Harmony in the West Evaporates

Soviet Union Seemed Stable, but…

Part I. Political Turning Points

• Fall of Khrushchev– Brezhnev and Stalinism Returned to the Soviet Union

• 1968– Prague Spring

– Brezhnev Doctrine

– Tet Offensive

• Watergate

Fall of Khrushchev

• His criticism of Stalin threatens all those in the Soviet Government who got their because they supported Stalin

• Khrushchev’s foreign policy failures weaken him– Cuban Missile Crisis

A Turning Point in the Cold War- 1968

Prague Spring

Soviets crushed a popular reform movement in Czechoslavakia Dubcek and “Socialism with a face”

Attempted to win reform without a direct confrontation with Soviets

Failed Brezhnev Doctrine Turning Point- Demonstrated that Eastern Europe

Would Not Get Freedom Uprisings in Hungary also put down violently

Prague- 1968 Soviet Use of Force…

The Vietnam War- Simple Version U.S. Tries to Prevent A Communist Takeover in South Vietnam

Shows that Even the American Economy is Mortal brings down a U.S. President and breaks the U.S. confidence in its

foreign policy Becomes a flashpoint in generational struggle, particularly in 1968

Turning Point- Even the U.S. has its limits

The Vietnam War- more complicated U.S. Tried to Prevent A Communist Takeover in South Vietnam

Lyndon Johnson- “I will not be the president who let Southeast Asia go the way of ________”. Domino Theory

Korea (1950-1953) Tet Offensive (1968)

U.S. “We’re About to win” Umm… nope Johnson refused to run for a second term

Vietnam War also highlights Generational divide in America Silent Generation (‘50s)

America is great- beat the Nazis, stand against Communism… supoort it!

Counterculture/Beat/Hippie (’60s) American ain’t perfect- Civil Rights Movement Vietnam War is American Imperialism

Vietnam War was the first ‘television war’ In the end, the U.S. backed out and ceded Vietnam to Communism Turning Point- Even the U.S. has its limits

The Tet The Tet OffensivOffensiv

ee

Watergate Didn’t Help American Confidence Much

Part II. Economic Turning Points

Move off of the Gold Standard I’m not covering this one in this lecture

No More Cheap Energy

Energy Crises U.S. economic system, which has been the

foundation of the world economy since WWII, faltered

Energy Prices Soared OPEC

Egypt and Syria attacked Israel Yom Kippur War

Iranian Revolution

Part III. Détente – the 1970s

• A cooling of Cold War Tensions

• Led by West German Chancellor Willy Brandt

• Helnsinki Conference – Signed by all European nations– reinforced existing European borders

and placed a premium on human rights in Europe

IV. Détente Fell Apart- 1980s

• Many in the West felt that the Soviets were taking advantage of détente to improve their positions in the 3rd World – Remind anyone of the Catholic and Protestant

Leagues?

• War in Afghanistan was another trouble spot – Soviets invaded– Was aggressive and threatened Middle East– U.S. supplies Afghanis with weapons

• Irony?

• U.S. President and Jimmy Carter and especially Ronald Reagan sped up the arms race once again – ‘Star Wars Program’ -- Space lasers – Evil empire

V. The Common (European) Market

• Survived Tough Economic Times• Renamed European Economic Community (EEC) • ‘Welfare State’ in the 70s kept things from getting

too bad for the poor • However, the welfare states did build up big

deficits, and so in the 80s and 90s, there was a swing towards conservative economics… smaller government, less spending – Margaret Thatcher in England– Reagan in the U.S.

• Reagan had trouble cutting spending because of his massive arms build up

– Move away from ’60s counter-culture

VI. The End of the Cold War

Boo, hoo. I miss it soooo

much. Oh, boo, hoo,

hoo…

Unrest in the Soviet Union

• In the 70s and 80s, the Soviet Union seemed brutally repressive, but stable. It surprised Western experts when it crashed in the late ‘80s. (I was in High School!)

• Gorbachev, who took over after Brezhnev, was the leader at the time and largely responsible for the collapse of the Soviet Union

Gorbachev- Key points: • Gorbachev (1985) • Tries to ‘reform Communism to save it’

– Perestroika • ‘Economic Restructuring’ • A move towards Western style free market• Like Khrushchev… doesn’t want to abandon

Communism, but cat in the bag issue…• Not very successful economically

– Glasnost • ‘Openness’ • Very successful • Demonstrated in Chernobyl disaster • Don’t forget cat in the bag issue

• In the end, the Soviet system collapsed… • Eastern Europe (not the Soviet Republics, yet…) rejected Communism and

Gorbachev refused to use the Soviet military to stop them – Poland

• Large struggle against Soviet domination• Solidarity Movement

– Labor Union – Didn’t try to immediately overthrow the gov’t… moderation

• Many of these countries made a rapid transition from communism to capitalism…– Privatized business– Released price controls – Ended censorship

• Most went through a turbulent transition, but then had economic recoveries

• Germany was reunified in 1990

Revolutions of 1989

• The Soviet Union itself fell apart in 1991 as the former Republics had mostly peaceful nationalist revolutions

• The Soviets had much more trouble going to a market economy… – basically an elite grabbed all of the property being

privatized and a gigantic class gap formed – Large criminal element in Soviet society/business

19891991

U.S. Triumphant- Lone Superpower

• EEC EU (European Union) survives… mainly bonded economically

• Germany reunites and becomes a major European power again– Never will develop nuclear, biological, or

chemical weapons – Fall of the Berlin Wall

VII. Continuing Problems

• Nationalist Tensions in the Balkans– NATO sent in troops and fairly effectively quieted ethnic tensions (1992)

• Russia desires role as superpower but isn’t in European Union and doesn’t westernize well

• Nuclear threat – Leftover nuclear materials – Rogue states – Libya, North Korea, Iran, Iraq

• Immigration into Europe • Clash of Christian and Islamic Cultures

– Al Qaeda

• Middle East = New Powderkeg