The End of the USSRGoal: I can identify key figures and dates about the end of the USSR

and relate them to figures and dates from the U.S.

USSR: The Beginning

1917: The Russian Revolution ends the reign of the Tsar and Russian involvement in World War I

1922: The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics emerges from a bloody civil war.

Russia and several other territories nearby merge into a country ruled by the Bolshevik Communists centered in Moscow.

Lenin

Professional Revolutionary

Leader of Bolsheviks and the first head of government of the USSR

Died in 1924

Stalin

Became head of state in USSR, 1924-53

Led USSR through WWII

The U.S. and the USSR were allies through most of the war

Had millions of his own people killed in prisons, by assassination squads, starvation, etc.

May have been worse than Hitler

Make a Connection

Which of our presidents do we perceive as strong? Which presidents did immoral or illegal things?

The Cold War

1945(ish)-1989(ish)

Tension between the U.S. and the USSR after World War II

Arms Race (especially nuclear weapons)

Proxy wars (Vietnam, Korea)

Both sides very suspicious and belligerent towards each other

The End of the Soviet UnionGorbachev became leader in 1985

He introduced some reforms:

Perestroika--restructuring, opening the economy to some market systems

Glasnost--openness, less censorship, more transparency in government actions

Mikhail Gorbachev: last leader of USSR

Make a Connection

What changes was the United States experiencing during the 1970s and 1980s?

Fall of the Berlin Wall

1989--the Berlin Wall comes down when Gorbachev will not keep it up by killing protestors

Basic cause: USSR no longer has military might or will to impose rule on a Eastern Europe

Soon after, West and East Germany reunite, no longer under Soviet influence

Disintegration: The Baltic States

Lithuania, Estonia, and Latvia made moves towards independence in 1989-91

They were "absorbed" by the USSR in the leadup to WWII

The West acknowledges their independence in August 1991

Cause: Many people still remembered life before Soviet rule, ready to revolt, the West willing to help

Thought question

If the US fell apart, which states or territories would leave first? Why?

This is a hypothetical question. There are no right or wrong answers.

Disintegration: The Coup

August 1991: Military and intelligence officers stage a coup against Gorbachev

They want to return to a more authoritarian government

The coup fails, and Gorbachev remains head of state

Boris Yeltsin becomes a hero for standing up to the military

But many people know that without military crackdown, the USSR cannot survive based on democracy

Disintegration: The End

December 25, 1991: Gorbachev resigns

The USSR is dissolved since Moscow no longer has legitimacy, money, or force to hold the union together

About 15 independent countries emerge from the former Soviet Union

Fifteen New Countries

Thought question

If the US military thought the president was weak, what would they do? Why?

Effects in the 90s

Rapid changes in the economy caused runaway inflation

Most people's standard of living declined a lot

Some people, called the oligarchs, got very rich

Many new countries had ethnic tensions that led to discrimination, killings, "cleansing," small and local civil wars

SOME greater freedoms of press, speech, assembly...more choices for most people

Secondhand Time

In her book Secondhand Time, Svetlana Alexievich interviews hundreds of people who lived through this time and records their reactions to these enormous changes in their lives.

We will read parts of her book that have to do with the internal unrest that people felt and that tell about a couple caught in ethnic tension.

Exit Ticket: 3-2-1

On your index card, list

3 events that led to the end of the Soviet Union

2 reasons that the Soviet Union collapsed

1 strange thing you think would happen if a large country collapsed