Essay
Collapse of the USSR Extended Writing
- Course
- History
- Institution
- Elkanah House
Detailed essay, easy to read and understand, created by pupil who got an 'A' in history for final Matric exam 2019.
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Collapse of USSR Extended WritingA)The Cold War started in 1945 and continued for more than 40 years as a battle for global
dominance between superpowers USSR and USA. In 1985, a new Soviet leader, Mikhail
Gorbachev, introduced reforms to solve serious economic problems in the Soviet Union.
However, Gorbachev's reforms had far reaching, unintended results. 1989 was a year filled with
many events that have changed the course of history today. Furthermore, 1989 is seen
represented as the year for the fall of the Cold War.
Firstly, the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Eastern Europe served as a major turning point in
1989. People in Eastern Europe satellite states had been given new hope by Gorbachev's
reforms in the Soviet Union. They wanted glasnost as well. The serious economic problems in
the Sovit Union meant that the military was no longer able to intervene and uphold Soviet
control over the satellite states. In March, 1989 Gorbachev told the leaders of the Eastern
Eutoperan communsit governments that they could no longer depend on the Red Army to keep
them in power. This was seen as the ultimate downfall of the Brezhnev Doctrine.
Additionally, Eastern satellite countries were allowed access to their own freedom. During 1989,
people all over Eastern Europe took part in massive demonstrations and demanded change.
Their actions were effective in bringing an end to communist rule. The changes of the Eastern
Satellites started in Hungary and Poland. In May, 1989 the Hungarian government quickly
acknowledged the need for reform. It started dismantling the Iron Curtain which separated
Hungary from non-communsit Austria. The Communist Party renamed itself the Spocialsit Party
and announced that freedom of speech and movement would be allowed, as well as the fact
that democratic elections would be held. In June 1989, in response to the demands from Polish
people, the government agreed to hold free elections.
Furthermore, the collapse of the Berlin Wall was a major turning point of 1989. After reforms in
Hungary, the border between Austria and Hungary was opened to allow freedom of travel. Many
East Germans used this opportunity to travel through Hungary, through Austria to escape into
West Germany. Over 50 000 people within three weeks made their way out of East Germany
and the government responded by closing the border which led to enormous demonstrations in
East Berlin, Dresden and Leipzig. In November, 1989 thousands of people in East Berlin
, marched to the Berlin Wall. The East German guards refused to open fire on the crowd and the
people started chipping away at the wall by hand. Afterwards, bulldozers were brought in to
dismantle the wall completely. The wall which had become a symbol of the cold war, no longer
existed.
1989 also saw the end of the South African Border War (Namibian War of Independence). This
was followed by Namibia's independence granted in March, 1990. Moreover, the Tiananmen
Massacre of 1989 when after several weeks of mass demonstration, Chinese troops entered
Tiananmen square and opened fire on civilians on June 4th. Several hundreds to thousands
were killed in this massacre. Additionally, the Hillsborough tragedy at Hillsborough Stadium in
Sheffield, england for the FA Cup Semi-Final football match between Liverpool and Nottingham
Forest. In order to relieve a bottleneck of Liverpool fans trying to enter the venue before kickoff,
the police opened an exit gate and people rushed to get inside. More than 3,000 fans were
funneled into a standing-room-area with a safe capacity of 1, 600. The crush in the stands
promoted organizers to stop the game after six minutes.
The changing situation and pressure from mass protests in South Africa led to tensions within
the National Party. This led to a change in leadership in AGust 1989 after with F.W. De Kelrk
decided to embark on a policy of reform. During 1989 several political trialists (mostly from the
Rivonia Trials) were released. This eventually led to the release of Nelson MAdela in 1990.
Thus the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe was a critical factor that led to change in
South Africa. A speech made by De Klerk in 1990 announced a fundamental change in policy
which was made less than two months after the fall of the berlin wall in November 1989.
Lastly, the creation of the World Wide Web, global information medium in Marsh 1989 by British
Scientist Tim Berners-Lee.
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