4.3 The Iron Curtain Falls

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The Iron Curtain falls

Iron Curtain

* Churchill 

* Iron Curtain -> Boundry between 

* Democratic/capitalist West  <-> Communist East

Berlin Wall

* Closed gap in the Iron Curtain

* Fled through Berlin to West Germany

- Dissatisfied with communism

- Freedom and welfare

* Symbol of the Cold War

Resistance against communism

* No freedom

* Planned economy 

* Critical people punished 

* Spied on

East Germany

Planned economy

West Germany

Free market economy

East Germany

Trabant (2 collors)

West Germany

Volkswagen and BMW

Butcher selling meat products

Rebellion rose

1. Hungarian students rose up against communist control

* 1956

* Reaction: Warsaw pact reintroduces strict communist regime

2. Communist leaders in Czechoslovakia began allowing more freedoms

* 1968

* 'Prague Spring'

* Reaction: Warsaw Pact sent tanks

3. Polish workers set up a non-communist trade union

* 'Solidarity'

* 1980

* Mass movement demanding reforms

* Reaction: Polish government suppressed the rebellion

Gorbachev

* Leader of SU 1985

- Not enough money for arms race

- Economy stayed behind the West

* Prevent communism from collapsing

* Reforms

Gorbachev's reforms

1. Reconstruction the economy -> Perestroika

* small privately-owned companies

* No state companies

Gorbachev's reforms

2. More openness in governemnt -> Glasnost

* Freedom of speech

* Political parties allowed

Gorbachev's reforms

3. Less aggressive foreign policy

* Treaty with US 1987

* Limiting nuclear weapons

* More freedom for countries 

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Assignments

Make the assignments of paragraph 4.3

Fall of communism

* Reforms accelerated the downfall of cummunism

* People wanted more freedom and democracy

* 1989 Hungary opened the Iron Curtain

East Germany

* Demonstrations

* Free elections

* Freedom to travel

* November 9, 1989 -> Berlin Wall opened

* Communist government collapsed

German reunification

* Fall of the Berlin Wall

* Germany reunited

* East Germany could benefit from the West

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Fall of Soviet Union

* More countries wanted freedom from the SU

* 1991 the end of SU

* Planned economy -> free-market economy

* Political and cultural freedom increased

* Democratic elections

Vladimir Putin

* 2000 came to power

* Slowely reversed the political freedoms

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