Tag: the world after 1945

• Mikhail Gorbachev introduced ‘perestroika’ meaning restructuring, so that the Soviet government would no longer control all the economy and industry.
• With the introduction of ‘glasnost’ which meant openness, it became easier to speak out without fear of arrest in the Soviet Union.

• Mikhail Gorbachev was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1990. He had advised the East German leaders to allow people to cross the Berlin wall freely during the Berlin war conflict.
• Some historians claim that this marked the real end to the Cold War.

• Mikhail Gorbachev advised the East German leaders to allow people to cross the Berlin wall freely.
• Some historians claim that this marked the real end to the Cold War.

• In October 1989, the East German government was threatened by crowds of 300000 East Germans demonstrating in the cities of Leipzig and Dresden.
• The crowds demanded an end to the communist rule.

• From 1956 relations with the US became difficult when the Soviet Union invaded its ally, Hungary.
• The invasion was done to stop the country’s leaders from giving more freedom to their people.

• In October 1989, the East German government was threatened by crowds of 300000 East Germans demonstrating in the cities of Leipzig and Dresden, demanding an end to communist rule.
• The East German leader was Egon Krenz.

• In 1985 Mikhail Gorbachev became leader of the Soviet Union.
• He was a firm communist but knew that his country was lagging behind the rest of the world and could no longer afford the expense of the Cold War.

• Relations with the USA worsened, especially in 1971 when US President Nixon visited communist China.
• China was an enemy of the Soviet Union back then. This worried the Soviet leaders.

The primary purpose of the European Common Market was to establish a tariff-free flow of goods among member nations. In 1957, the European Common Market was formed by six industrialized Western nations to expand trade by ending tariffs and allowing capital and labor to move freely across the borders of these European nations. The Common Market was a trade agreement, not a distribution center for goods. It was only for Western industrialized countries. The Common Market did not reduce dependence on foreign oil reserves as the Arab Embargo of the 1970s demonstrated. The Common Market was for industrialized and diversified economies.