Overview
• From 1945 to present the western world
has undergone some changes. Europe
was destroyed and its economy suffered,
which affected the world. Communism was
on the loose and the United States
entered the Korean War.
Global History II
Chapter 33
Section 1: The Western World
: An Overview
• After the cold war, Europe was split into two
parts. The eastern part which was dominated
by Communism formed the Warsaw Pact. The
western part which were mostly democracies
formed NATO.
The Berlin Wall
• The Berlin Wall divided Germany into two a
democratic West Germany and Communist East
Germany.
• Thousands of East Germans frustrated with
Communism and how it has affected them, fled
to West Germany. To prevent any further
defectors, in 1961 the Soviet Union built a wall
topped with barbed wire and patrolled by
guards.
Nuclear Threat
• The Cold War triggered an arms race, with
both sides producing a mass amount of
nuclear weapons. They agreed to an
agreement. The Nuclear Test Ban Treat,
made in 1963 banned the testing of
nuclear weapons in the atmosphere.
End of the Cold War
• The new Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev
eased the Soviet grip on Communist
Eastern Europe countries. As time went on
Communist governments across Europe
fell and broke away from the Soviet Union
to form independent states.
European Union
In 1957, France, West Germany, Belgium,
Italy ,the Netherlands, and Luxembourg
signed a treaty to form the Common
Market. The Common Market was to
expand free trade. In the 1980s and the
1990s the Common Market expanded and
took the name of the European Union. In
1999 the European Union issued the euro
to all the members of the European Union.
Section 2: The Western European
Democracies
• In 1969 West Germany’s chancellor Wily Brandt
attempted to ease tension with East Germany.
He called his policy Ostpolitik, or eastern policy.
He created economic ties with eastern Europe
and signed a treaty of mutual recognition with
East Germany. In 1989, as Communism faded
Germany was able to move closer to unification.
East Germany’s Communist leaders were
ousted. In both Germanys, people began to
move to the wall and tear it down. In 1990,
German voters approved unification.
Section 3: North American
Prosperity
• In 1945,America had the world’s greatest military and
was the only country to posses the atomic bomb. But
America felt threatened by communism in the Soviet
Union as they developed their own atomic bomb.
• America started building bases overseas and organized military
alliances from Europe to Southeast Asia. To contain communism,
America aided emerging European democratic nations.
• In Korea and Vietnam communism was on the rise. In 1950
communist North Korea invaded free South Korea, and so the
Korean War began. By the early 1960’s, the United States became
involved in Vietnam. In 1968 Richard Nixon was elected
President. He promised to end American involvement in
Vietnam.
The Civil Rights Movement
• In the mid 1950’s, the Civil rights began to set out to end
discrimination. Although slavery was abolished a century before,
some states denied equality to minority groups. They faced Jim
Crow laws and segregation. Segregation is separation in which
minorities were separated from whites. After World War II Harry
Truman desegregated the armed forces. In 1954 Brown vs. Board of
Education declared segregated schools were unconstitutional.
• By 1956, gifted preacher, Martin Luther King, Jr. emerged as a
leader of the civil Rights Movement. king organized boycotts and led
peaceful marches throughout the 1960’s that ended segregation. In
1963 he led a huge rally in the nation’s capital and gave his
infamous “ I Have A Dream” speech. He stated that all men should
be created equal. On April 4, 1968 King was assassinated in
Memphis, Tennessee.
Section 4 : The Soviet Union: Rise
and Fall of a Superpower
• In 1956 Nikita Khrushchev succeeded Josef Stalin. He
shocked communist leaders when he denounced Stalin’s
abuse of power. He called for a peaceful coexistence
with the west.
• In 1985, a new leader emerged in the Soviet Union.
Mikhail Gorbachev came to power. He called to
reconstruct the economy and government. He backed
free market and limited enterprise. Gorbachev’s plan
backfired and caused economic turmoil. As more Soviet
states declared independence and the economy
collapsing, the Soviet Union was gone literally overnight.
Section 5: A New Era in Eastern
Europe
• For centuries Eastern Europe was dominated by the Ottoman
Empire, Austria, Germany and Russia. In 1989 the nations won their
independence.
• In 1989 a “Democratic Movement” was sweeping through Eastern
Europe. One by one communist governments fell.
• Yugoslavia as created after World War I as a haven for Slavs. It
consisted of various republics- Serbia, Croatia, Macedonia,
Slovenia, and Herzegovina. There were several ethnicities as well
as religions. There were Muslims and Orthodox Christians and
Roman Catholics. Josip Tito, the leader of Yugoslavia ruled the
country with an iron fist. He jailed critics and silenced nationalist
movements. With his death, Communism fell and nationalism ran
rabid. In Kosovo and Bosnia, Muslims were brutally treated and
killed. Slobodan Milosevic, an extreme Serbian nationalist supplied
Serbs with weapons and money. Tens of thousands of Bosnian
Muslims were killed.