Gorbachev

Soviet Union itself showed just how strong and determined America was and still is. The fall of the Soviet Union was caused by various reasons and produced changes and major effects to the whole world, especially the United States. Mikhail Gorbachev, the last leader of the Soviet Union, came into power in 1985. The economy that he acquired made further damage just about impossible. Because of this problematic economy and the growing political fever, he introduced two new reforms. One of these

The Collapse of the Soviet Union The Soviet Union was a global superpower, possessing the largest armed forces on the planet with military bases from Angola in Africa, to Vietnam in South-East Asia, to Cuba in the Americas. When Mikhail Gorbachev succeeded Konstantin Chernenko as General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in March 1985, nobody expected than in less than seven years the USSR would disintergrate into fifteen separate states. Gorbachev's

• Event Name Type of Event Causes Course Consequences 1980 Election This was a political event because it caused a change in the government. Americans wanted a firm, patriotic leader who had a plan to fix the economic problems carrying over from the 1970s. Jimmy Carter was running for reelection, and Americans overall were very unhappy with his leadership. Ronald Reagan emerged as his challenger, a former actor with great public skills and a plan. They elected Ronald Reagan in 1980 who had a controversial

Gorbachev was the final leader before the USSR completely dissolved; his policies were not authoritative as Brezhnev, rather he wanted to promote a more “open” society and change the form of tradition in the USSR. The policy he imposed was his dual program called Glasnost and Perestroika. To begin, Perestroika referred to a sweep or reconstruction of the entire systems that the earlier regime had in place. All the economic and political policies completely changed in order to give more freedom to

the actions of Gorbachev that held lead to the end of the Cold War. During 1940-1991 the Soviet Union was already facing economic problems, in which once Reagan raised the amount of money for the arms race, the Soviet union began to struggle.Not only that but, “The conflict was a geopolitical and ideological struggle, which not only involved armies and resources, but ideas and values”(Gurney pg.1).The Cold

Rhetorical Analysis of Ronald Reagan’s “Tear Down this Wall” Ra’Shell Ford Due 7/24/2011 Rhetorical Analysis of Ronald Reagan’s “Tear Down this Wall” On August 15, 1961, Communists began building a wall to keep Germans from escaping Communist-controlled East Berlin to West Democratic Berlin. There were guards, electric barbed wired fences, and of course the twelve foot concrete wall that prevented Germans from escaping. After the wall was built many Germans still tried to flee the west but

people. Gorbachev knew that the country was spending too much on the military and that it didn’t produce enough food to feed its people. He knew the answer was to change the system. He knew that he had to open relations with the west and have a more open political system (Ratnesar Pg. 74-74). When Gorbachev met U.S. Secretary of State, George Shultz, he told him “The USSR has never intended to fight the United States and does not have such intentions now”. George Shultz told Gorbachev,

seriously discuss a possible peace. This initiative took the Reagan administration completely by surprise, but Reagan quickly responded in kind” (“Spark Notes”). Finally after a long time of negotiating and dealing with the Soviets Reagan got his way, ¨Gorbachev and President Reagan themselves sat together in both Washington and Moscow on a number of occasions to hammer out agreements”. (“Spark Notes”). Reagan negotiating with the Soviets really was what brought the Cold War to an end. If Reagan was not

Ronald Reagan California proved divided on state political issues in 1964. The state needed a Republican candidate with an inspirational personality that could humanize conservatism within the state. Ronald Reagan fit the criteria (DeGroot, 1997). Reagan a former actor, and president of the Screen Actors Guild was not a politician by Washington standards. However, Reagan had been on the campaign trail with Barry Goldwater, delivering inspirational speeches at various campaign stops. Reagans

factors that lead to perceptions of legitimacy within a government. Responding to fears that the Soviet Union was disintegrating, Gorbachev increased the number of conservative Communists in his inner circle and reduced the number of departments and personnel in the Secretariat (Suny 505, 506). Unfortunately, he was not able to replace these positions; instead, Gorbachev formed the Council of the Federation and a Cabinet of Ministers in an attempt to improve the situation in the Union. Eventually it