Mikhail Gorbachev and The Collapse of Communism

Mikhail Gorachev was a young leader Russia. His new ideas and theories seemed to have formed a loop-hole around their nations economy problem. He introduced a policy of glasnost which was a policy of openness / freedom of speech. Under the old government, this was impossible. With the thoughts of his people in his mind he had passed the policy of perestroika which gave people to own and open small private businesses. This was the plan of Economical Reconstruction. With this new system, the nation was able to loose satellite states.

The Collapse of Communism

During the time of the Cold War, the United states and Russia were the worlds main superpowers. After WW2, these two nations were neck-and-neck in various types of competition. Even though they had the largest and strongest armies, they never had a battle during the Cold War. The mere cost of keeping up with each other was high for both countries. However, Russia soon collapsed, along with communism. The collapse of the USSR destroyed many economies around the world. The fall of the Berlin Wall raised the iron curtain that had fallen on Europe ever since WW2. The collapse made the U.S. the world's only leading superpower and reshaped Europe once again.

African Independence

During European imperialism, the European countries came to Africa and started declaring their own colonies. This upset the African people because their borders were being defined by the will of those new to their countries. The Africans also had no say in their own government. This was one of the more critical parts that had affected the African people because they were supposed to abide by laws that they had no say in. After WW2, the Africans had little money left. This resulted in the formation of many new African nations.
Many African countries demanded thier independence. These countries fought hard. For example, Nelson Mendela was famous for this. He felt it was his duty to free his country, but do this without any means of violence. In the end many of their efforts had worked and their countries were free.

Nelson Mandela and Apartheid.

Apartheid is a policy of legal racial segregation.
Nelson Mandela was raised in South Africa. He lived in a part under the Apartheid system. This meant that he would be treated unfairly just because of the fact that his skin was black. People were treated very unequally. For example, if a white man and a black man had the same job. The white man could possibly make more money in a week than the black man could make in an entire year. Living conditions were harsh in South Africa.
Nelson Mandela lead an underground movement. However, it didnt last long because he was sentencedf to life in prison in 1964. 27 years after his imprisonment, he was freed. Less than five years later, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, and elected president of South America.
Did you know?
In 2001, Nelson Mandela was diagnosed and treated for prostate cancer.

"The Right Stuff"

During the Cold war, the United Statesm and Russia competed in different ways. One way was called the 'Space Race'. Both nations were trying to succesfully launch to outer space. Russia was always one step ahead, and won this race. They even made a fool out of the U.S.
The United States were sending chimpanzees in the rockets to go outer space. However, they failed. Russia went into outer space first, and with a human.

On the contrary, the United states did eventually catch up and surpass the Russians by sending the first man in the moon - Neil Armstrong.
Did you know?
The first human to travel in space was Yuri Gagarin, in April of 1961.

NATO and the Warsaw Pact.

NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) is a military alliance. Everyone in this alliance agrees to mutual defense in response to any outside attack. This system was known as 'Collective Defense'. Some countries in NATO today are; United States, Germany, France, Greece, Italy, Romania, Spain, Turkey, and even the United Kingdom.
However, in response to this alliance, the communists were competing as well. Shortly after, they created a similar group known as the Warsaw Pact. Some members are as followed; Albania, Bulgaria, Poland, and Hungary.
-Did you know?
As of today, NATO has 26 members.

The Treaty of Versailles.

Historians say that The treaty of Versailles led to the rise of Fascism and Adolf Hitler. I think that this is true only because of the obvious facts, and logical common sense. First off, if the Treaty of Versailles was never enforced, then Germany would have never went through a depression. If they never went through a depression, they probably wouldn't be open for a new leader to guide them. Therefore, Hitler might not have ever been the dictator of Germany- and would you look at that; millions more Jews might actually be alive right now. Germany was in a desperate time of need. They blindlessly followed Hitlers orders, as their new leader.
After the end of World War 1, Germany was greatly affected. They were affected so greatly, that they would never be the same for about another 10 years. The treaty of Versailles basically blamed Germany entirely, for the war. The treaty held Germany responsible for that damages that resulted from the war, iron costs, it limited their army to 100,000 soldiers, and they even took away about 10% of their territory.
This treaty was not fair. It didn't make much sense, and it was just wrong to blame one nation for the entire war. Some of the causes of World War 1 leads to Germany- but not every last one. Therefore it is uncalled for to blame them for the war. It is actually quite childish to do something like that. Also, Germany was struggling to even recover. Germany went into a depression, leaving thousands of citizens unemployed. Their economy dropped, and people were left with no homes. This is an unfair punishment to the Germans.

Did you know?
-Hitler's staff secretly made films for him of torture and execution of political prisoners, which he very much enjoyed viewing. His executive assistants also secured pornographic pictures and movies for him.