By Katie Snyder
The Brezhnev Years
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Leonid Brezhnev took over the Communist Party and state after the overthrow of Khrushchev in
1964.
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Brezhnev didn’t want to change the Soviet Union. He lived by the slogan, “No experimentation.”
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Brezhnev Doctrine: the right of the Soviet Union to intervene if socialism was threatened in another
Soviet state.
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Détente: the relaxation of tension between the Soviet Union and the United States that occurred in
the 70s.
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A symbol of Détente was the Antiballistic Missile Treaty in 1972 in which the U.S and the Soviet Union
decided to limit their systems for launching antiballistic weapons
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The Soviets enjoyed a sense of external security during Détente. They permitted more access to
Western art, dress, and music styles, though dissenters were still prosecuted.
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Brezhnev emphasized heavy industry in his economic policies. However, overall industrial growth
declined. The government’s insistence on central planning led to complex bureaucracy and reduced
productivity.
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After droughts, bad harvests, heavy rains, and early frosts, the Soviets were forced to buy grain from
the West and became more and more dependent on capitalist nations.

By 1980, the decline in the economy, rise in infant mortality rates and alcoholism, and deterioration of
working conditions were taking their toll on the Soviet Union.
Leonid Brezhnev
The Andropov Years
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Yuri Andropov was from a small group of reformers in the Communist Party and the leader of the KGB
(secret police). He took over after Brezhnev’s death. However, he was old and unable to make any
significant changes. He supported Mikhail Gorbachev, who became the Party secretary.
The Gorbachev Years
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Gorbachev eventually became the new ruler of the Soviet Union. He wanted to conclude the earlier
reforms of Khrushchev.
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The cornerstone of these reforms was perestroika, or “restructuring”.
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He reordered economic policy by calling for the beginning of a free market and limited free enterprise
and some private property.
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An important instrument of perestroika was glasnost, or “openness”. People were encouraged to
openly discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the Soviet Union.
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Newspapers were now allowed to include reports on protests, official corruption, and factory
sloppiness. Also, Western music styles such as rock and jazz were allowed to be preformed openly.
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In 1987, Gorbachev initiated a agreement with the U.S. to eliminate intermediate range nuclear
weapons.
Yuri Andropov
Mikhail Gorbachev
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In 1988, Gorbachev called for the creation of a new Soviet parliament, the Congress of the People’s
Deputies, whose member’s would be chosen in elections. It convened in 1989.
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In 1990, Gorbachev legalized the formation of other political parties and eliminated Article 6 which
guaranteed the leading role of the Communist Party.
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Gorbachev also tried to create a new state presidency. The new position was a consequence of the
separation of state from the Communist Party.

In 1990, Gorbachev became the Soviet Union’s first president.
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As Gorbachev tried to ease ethnic tensions, they only grew. People began to protest what they
believed to be ethnic slights. When violence broke out, the army had trouble controlling the situation.

From 1988-1990, the Soviet Union witnessed the appearance of nationalist movements that were
motivated by ethnic concerns. These movements sprang up first in Georgia, then in Latvia, Estonia,
Moldavia, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, and Lithuania.
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In 1990, Lithuania became an independent state.
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During 1990-1991, Gorbachev struggled to deal with Lithuania and other problems unleashed by his
reforms.
Gorbachev had a difficult time trying to please both the conservatives who complained about the
growing disorder in the Soviet Union and the liberals who favored a new kind of decentralized Soviet
Federation.
 Gorbachev labored to cooperate more closely with Boris Yeltsin, who was elected president of the
Russian Republic in 1991.
 By 1991, the conservative leaders of the traditional Soviet institutions (the army, the government,
KGB, and military industries) had grown increasingly worried about the impending dissolution of the
Soviet Union and it’s impact on their fortunes.
 On August 19, 1991, a group of these discontented rightists arrested Gorbachev and attempted to
seize power. However, because of Gorbachev not cooperating and the brave resistance in Moscow of
Yeltsin and thousands of Russians who had grown accustomed to their new liberties, the coup
disintegrated fast.
 Soon, the Soviet Republics began to move towards independence.
 Ukraine voted for independence on December 1, 1991, and a week later the leaders of Russia, Ukraine,
and Belarus announced that the Soviet Union had “ceased to exist” and would be replaced by the new
and voluntary Commonwealth of the Independent States.
 Yeltsin was committed to introducing a free market economy.
The Yeltsin Years
 Economic hardships and social disarray gave way to a dramatic rise in the activities of organized crime
mobs.
 Yeltsin won reelection as Russia’s president in 1996.
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Boris Yeltsin
The Putin Years
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At the end of 1999, Yeltsin was replaced by Vladimir Putin who was a former member of the KGB.
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Putin vowed to return the breakaway state of Chechnya to Russian authority and to adopt a more
assertive role in international affairs.
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Fighting for Chechnya in 2000 nearly reduced the republic’s capital city of Grozny to ruins.
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In July of 2001, Putin launched reforms, which included the unrestricted sale and purchase of land and
tax cuts aimed at boosting economic growth and budget revenues. However, the economy continued
to rely on imports of natural gas, oil, and metals .
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About 40% of Russia’s population still lived in poverty.
Vladimir Putin
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Under Wladyslaw Gomulka, Poland had achieved stability in the 1960s, but economic problems led to
his replacement in 1971 by Edward Gierek.
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Edward Gierek attempted to solve Poland’s economic problems by borrowing heavily from the West.
However, this increased food prices in an effort to pay off their heavy Western debt.
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The high prices of food led to protests. The revolutionary demands of the workers led to the rise of an
independent labor movement called Solidarity.
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This movement was headed by Lech Walesa and represented 10,000,000 of Poland’s 35,000,000
people.
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Solidarity was supported by the Catholic church, workers, and intellectuals and was able to win a
series of concessions.
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The government seemed powerless until in 1981, when they arrested Walesa and other Solidarity
leaders, outlawed the union, and imposed military rule.
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This didn’t solve their economic problems though, and in1988, new demonstrations led the Polish
regime to agree to having free parliamentary elections. These were the first free elections in Eastern
Europe in40 years.

The military regime allowed the newly elected Solidarity coalition to form a new government. This
ended the 45 years of Communist rule in Poland.
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Walesa was elected president of Poland in 1990.
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However, rapid free market reforms led to severe unemployment and popular discontent and in 1995,
Aleksander Kwasniewski, a former Communist, defeated Walesa and became president.
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He continued to move toward a better free market economy and was reelected in 2000.
Wladyslaw Gomulka
Edward Gierek
Lech Walesa
Aleksander Kwasniewski
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The process of liberation from Communism in Hungary started in 1989.
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Remaining in power for over 30 years, the government of János Kádár enacted the most far-reaching
economic reforms in Eastern Europe.
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Kádár legalized small private enterprises, such as retail stores, restaurants, and artisan shops in the
early 1980s.
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His reforms were termed “Communism with a Capitalist facelift”.
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Hungary went on to establish friendly relations with the West.
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Kádár fell from power in 1988 due to a sagging economy.
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In 1989, the still Communist government tried to make reforms, but were too late as new political
parties called for Hungary to become a democratic republic.
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In 1990, elections were held and the Communist Party only won 8.5% of the vote.
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The Democratic Forum, a right-of-center, extremely patriotic party, won the election and formed a
new government that committed Hungary to a democratic republic and the institution of a free
market economy.
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Since 1997, Hungary’s economy has grown 5% per year, though inflation and budget deficits remain a
problem.
János Kádár
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Communists in Czechoslovakia under Gustav Husák purged the Communist party and instituted a
policy of massive repression to maintain their power after Soviet troops had crushed the reform
movement in 1968.
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Attempts to suppress gigantic demonstrations in Prague and other cities in 1988 and 1989 only led to
larger demonstrations and by November of 1989, the Communist government had collapsed.
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President Husák resigned and was replaced by Vaclav Havel, a dissident playwright.
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In 1990, Havel declared amnesty for 30,000 political prisoners and set out on a goodwill tour to various
Western countries. He proved to be a good spokesman for Czech democracy and a new order in
Europe.
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There were still problems though, as Czechs and Slovaks disagreed over the makeup of the new state.
However, they were able to agree on a peaceful division of the country.
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On January 1, 1993, Czechoslovakia was split into the Czech republic and Slovakia.
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Havel was elected as the first president of the Czech Republic and it soon became one of Europe’s
most prosperous and politically stable countries.
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Slovakia suffered, though, and had an unemployment rate of almost 20% by 2002.
Gustav Husák
Vaclav Havel
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In 1948, the Communist People’s Democratic Front assumed complete power in Romania.
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In 1965, Nicolae Ceauşescu and his wife, Elena, established a dictatorial regime and they ruled
Romania with an iron grip using the secret police force, the Securitate, as a weapon against dissent.
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As Ceauşescu rejected the reforms promoted by Gorbachev in Eastern Europe, opposition grew and
Ceauşescu’s regime stood aloof from the Soviet Union, especially in foreign policy.
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Extreme measure to reduce Romania’s external debt led to economic issues, although Ceauşescu was
successful in reducing foreign debt. However, a sharp drop in the standards of living as a result of
those hardship measures angered Romanians.
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Despite food shortages Ceauşescu insisted on exporting such goods.
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Ceauşescu’s plan for rapid urbanization, including the bulldozing of entire villages, further angered
Romania’s population.
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The ruthless crushing of a demonstration in Timisoara in 1989 led to other mass demonstrations and
after the dictator was booed at a mass rally on December 21, 1989, the army refused to support
further oppression.
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Ceauşescu and his wife were captured December 22 and were executed on Christmas Day.
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The National Salvation Front won elections in 1990.
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Although it has maintained democratic institutions, Romania has experienced political corruption and
a weak economy. It’s rate of inflation has grown to 60%.
Nicolae Ceauşescu
Elena Ceauşescu
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In 1954, Todor Zhivkov became the leader of the Bulgarian Communist Party.
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In the late 1980s, a small number of opposition groups began to form.
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In 1989, antigovernment demonstrations were held in Sophia and a month later, Zhivkov was relived
of his post as general secretary of the Communist Party, a position he had held for 35 years.
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In 1991, elections were held. They brought about a new government coalition led by the United
Democratic Front.
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The Socialist Party remained a potent force in Bulgarian politics.
Todor Zhivkov
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In the 1950s, East Germany was still under the Communist leadership of Walter Ulbricht.
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Industry was nationalized and agriculture was collectivized.
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After a workers’ revolt in 1953 was crushed by Soviet tanks, many East Germans fled to West Germany.
This outpouring of mainly skilled laborers resulted in the construction of the infamous Berlin Wall in
1961.
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After it’s construction, East Germany succeeded in developing the strongest economy among the
Soviet Union’s Eastern European satellites.
Walter Ulbricht
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In 1961, Erich Honecker succeeded Ulbricht.
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Honecker made use of the Stasi, the secret police, to rule with an iron fist for the next 18 years.
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By 1989, there was 1 Stasi officer for every 165 people in East Germany, and prosperity and repression
were the 2 mainstays of East Germany’s stability.

In 1988, popular unrest fueled by the economic slump of the 1980s as well as the ongoing
oppressiveness of Honecker’s regime caused another mass exodus of East Germans. Thousands
moved toward the West.
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Violent repression and Honecker’s refusal to institute reforms only made the exodus larger.

On November 4, 1989, thousands of people flooded the cities of Dresden, Berlin, and Leipzig and in
East Berlin, 500,000 people gathered in the streets shouting “The wall must go!” The government
opened the boarder to the West and hundreds of thousands of Germans ran past the boarder.
Erich Honecker
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On March 18, 1990, in East Germany’s first free elections, the Christian Democrats won with almost
50% of the vote.
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The Christian Democrats supported rapid monetary unification and on July 1, 1990, the economies of
East and West Germany were reunited with the West German deutsche mark becoming the official
currency of both countries.

After negotiations between West and East German officials and the original four post war occupying
powers (the United States, Great Britain, France, and the Soviet Union), political unification took place
on October 3, 1990.
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In 1969, The Social Democrats became the leading party in Germany. They did so by forming a
coalition with the Free Democratic Party and were in power until 1982.

The first democratic chancellor was Willy Brandt who was known for Ostpolitik or “opening toward
the East”.

Brandt made a Basic Treaty with East Germany which called for “good neighborly relations” which led
to greater cultural, economic, and personal contact with East Germany. This won him a Nobel Peace
Prize in the same year.

Helmut Schmidt was Brandt’s successor and concentrated mainly on economic problems caused by
high oil prices in 1973-1975. He eliminated a deficit of 10,000,000,000 marks in a 3 year period.
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In 1982, when the coalition of Schmidt’s Social Democrats and the Free Democrats took a downhill
turn due to the reduction of social welfare expenditures, the Free Democrats joined the Christian
Democratic Union of Helmut Kohl.

The reunification of Germany was achieved during Kohl’s administration and was helped largely by his
efforts. However, he would have to raise taxes in order to revitalize East Germany.

There was a collapse in the East German economy that led to high levels of unemployment and
discontent.
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It is for these reasons that the Social Democrats came back into power under the leadership of Gerard
Schroeder who had little success with the economy. Though, the Social Democrats are still in power.
Willy Brandt
Helmut Schmidt
Helmut Kohl
Gerard Schroeder
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The peace treaties at the end of WWI combined the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes into the new Slav
state that was Yugoslavia.
After WWII, the dictatorial Marshal Tito had managed to hold 6 republics and 2 autonomous provinces
that constituted Yugoslavia together.
Tito died in 1980 and no strong leaders emerged to take his place. His responsibilities were passed on
to a collective state presidency and the League of Communists of Yugoslavia.
By the end of the 1980s, reforms in Yugoslavia had caught up with the rest of Eastern Europe.
The League of Communists collapsed, and new parties emerged.
In 1990, the republics of Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Macedonia began to lobby for a
new federal structure for Yugoslavia that would fulfill their separatist desires.
In 1987, Slobodan Milošević had become the leader of the Serbian Communist Party. Milošević
emphasized Serbian nationalism and rejected the efforts of the republics, saying that in order for
them to become independent, they would need to have boarders that accommodated the Serb
minorities.
Serbs constituted 11.6% of Croatia’s population and 32% of Bosnia-Herzegovina’s in 1981.
After negotiations among the s6 republics failed, Slovenia and Croatia declared their independence in
1991.
The Yugoslavian army, which Milošević controlled, slowly became the Serbian army.
Milošević sent an army into Slovenia without much success and then began a full assault against
Croatia. Before a cease-fire was arranged, one-third of Croatia’s territory had been captured.
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By 1993, Serbian forces had captured 70% of Bosnia.
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Ethnic Cleansing: the policy of killing or forcibly removing people of another ethnic group; used by the
Serbs against the Bosnian Muslims in 1990.
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Almost 8,000 men and boys were killed in the Serbian massacre at Srebrenica, but European
governments still failed to take a stand against the Serbs.
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By 1995, 250,000 Bosnians had been killed and 2,000,000 others were homeless.
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Muslim Bosnian and Croatian forces regained territory.
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Air strikes by NATO bombers that were advocated by Bill Clinton were launched in retaliation of Serb
attacks and weakened Serb military positions.
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All sides met in Dayton, Ohio in 1995 for negotiations. A peace treaty was signed in Paris that split
Bosnia into a loose union of a Serb republic. And a Muslim-Croat federation.
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NATO agreed to send a force of 60,000 troops to monitor the new political entities.
Marshal Tito
Slobodan Milošević
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In 1999, a new war erupted in Kosovo which had been a autonomous province within Yugoslavia in
1974.
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Kosovo’s populous was mainly Albanian, but also it also contained a Serbian minority that considered
Kosovo to be sacred territory because it contained the site where Serbian forces had been defeated by
the Ottoman Turks.
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In 1989, Milošević stripped Kosovo of it autonomous status and outlawed any official use of the
Albanian language.
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In 1993, ethnic Albanians formed the Kosovo Liberation Army and campaigned against Serbian rule.

A settlement was sought by NATO and the U.S. after the massacre of Kosovo Albanians by the Serbs
who wanted to crush the Kosovo Liberation Army.

After much negotiation, a peace plan was agreed upon that would give the ethnic Albanians in Kosovo
broad autonomy for a 3 year interim period. However, Milošević refused to sign the agreement, the
U.S. and NATO began a bombing campaign that forced him to comply.

Since 1991, Yugoslavia had been engaged in a war caused largely by the destructive policies of
Milošević.
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By 2000, the Serbian people had tired of the violence and ousted Milošević from power.

The new government under Vojislav Kostunica cooperated with the international community and
began to rebuild the Serbian Economy.
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Milošević has been put on trial for his crimes against humanity and his fate had not yet been decided.

30,000 NATO troops remain is Bosnia, and more than 30 international organizations are rebuilding
infrastructure.
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NATO troops have been brought into Kosovo to maintain the uneasy peace.
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In 2004, the last political vestige of Yugoslavia ceased to exist when the Kostunica government
officially renamed the truncated country Serbia and Montenegro.
Vojislav Kostunica
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Europe experienced severe economic recessions in 1973-1974 and 1979-1983.

Unemployment and inflation rose and an increase in the price of oil in 1973 was a major cause of the
first downturn.
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A worldwide recession had led to a decline in the demand of European goods.
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The reconstruction of buildings after WWII was largely completed.
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The economies of the Western European states recovered in the 1980s, although the unemployment
rate in France was 11.7% in 1995 and in Germany it was 12.8% in 1997.

In 1964-1979, the Conservative and Labour Parties in Great Britain alternated in power.

Neither could solve the fighting problem between Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland and
the Irish Republican Army staged terrorist acts in response to the suspension of Northern Ireland’s
parliament in 1972 and the establishment of direct rule by London.
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Britain’s economy wasn’t doing well and failure to modernize made British industry less and less
competitive. There were also frequent labor strikes the caused conflicts between unions.
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In 1979, Margaret Thatcher came into power as a conservative with a long list of things to do such as
lower taxes, reduce government bureaucracy, limit social welfare, restrict union power, and put an end
to inflation.
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Nicknamed “The Iron Lady”, Thatcher did break the power of labor unions, however she didn’t
completely get rid of the social welfare system. She also used austerity measures to control inflation.
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“Thatcherism”: Thatcher’s economic policy.
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“Thatcherism” helped the south of England, but the north had high unemployment, poverty, and
sporadic violence. Also, her cutbacks in education hurt the quality of British education.
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Thatcher oversaw a large military buildup whose aim was to replace old technology.
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In 1982, Argentina tried to take control of the Falkland Islands which were one of Britain’s only
remaining colonies. Though, the British repelled them successfully.
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Thatcher continued to dominate politics in the 1980s the Labor party offered little opposition.
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In the 1990s, Thatcher attempted to replace local property taxes with a flat-rate tax. Though, many
argued that this would be a poll tax that would enable the rich to pay the same rate as the poor.
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Anti-tax riots broke out and by November of 1990, Thatcher resigned and was replaced by John Major.
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Major was voted out in 1997 and was replaced by Tony Blair who was one of the major leaders in
forming a coalition against terrorism after 9/11. Then, he supported the U.S. war in Iraq which caused
his popularity to plummet.
Margaret Thatcher
John Major
Tony Blair
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France’s economy wasn’t doing well in the 1970s, causing a shift to the left politically and by 1981, the
Socialists had become the dominant party in the National Assembly.

François Mitterrand was elected president in 1981 and his first concern was France’s economic
difficulties.
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In 1982, Mitterrand froze prices and wages hoping the reduce the large budget deficit and high
inflation.
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Mitterrand increased minimum wage, expanded social benefits, added a mandatory fifth week of paid
vacation to all workers with salaries, added a thirty-nine-hour workweek, and made the rich pay
higher taxes.
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His administrative reforms included both the nationalization of banks and industry and the granting of
greater powers to local governments. These were called centralization and decentralization.
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The Socialist policies largely failed and caused the government to turn portions of the economy over
to private enterprises.
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In 1993, France’s unemployment rate was at 10.3% and the conservative parties had 80% of the seats.
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The move to the right was aided by the mayor of Paris, Jacques Chirac, who was elected president in
1995 and reelected in 2002.
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He pursued a plan to send illegal immigrants back to their home countries and was an outspoken
opponent of the U.S. invasion of Iraq.
François Mitterrand
Jacques Chirac
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In the 1970s, Italy suffered from a severe recession caused by the steep increase in oil prices in 1973.
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Student unrest, mass strikes, the Mafia, and terrorist attacks were also issues.
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In 1978, a former prime minister, Aldo Moro, was kidnapped and killed by the Red Brigades, a terrorist
group.
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Communists were included in the government in the 1980s and these Communists were advocates of
Eurocommunism.
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Eurocommunism: a form of communism that dropped it’s Marxist ideology.
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The Communist Party’s popularity went down, however they did win a number of local elections and
took charge of municipal governments in some cities.
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In 1991, Italy installed their 50th postwar government, and their new prime minister, Giulio Andreotti,
had served six times in that office.
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Italian governments consisted were mainly led by Christian Democratic coalitions.
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In 1993, many politicians and business leaders were under investigation for involvement in a scheme
that involved using political bribes to secure public contracts.
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Public disgust with government corruption caused voters in 1996 to give control to the left of center
that included Communists.
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Silvio Berlusconi has recently dominated Italian politics.
Aldo Moro
Giulio Andreotti
Silvio Berlusconi
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The European Economic Community started with 6 members in 1957 and expanded in 1973 with
Great Britain, Ireland, and Denmark, later changing the name to the European Community.
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Greece joined in 1981, Spain and Portugal joined in 1986, and in 1995, Austria, Finland, and Sweden
became members.
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In 1986, the European Community created the Single Europe Act which opened the door by 1992 to a
truly united internal market which eliminated all barriers to the exchange of people, goods, services,
and capital. This was followed by the proposal of a monetary union and common currency.
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The Treaty of the European Union (or Maastricht Treaty) represented an attempt to create a true
economic and monetary union for all European Community members.
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In 1994, the European Community renamed itself the European Union.
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The European Union’ wanted to create a common currency called the euro. This was adopted in 1999
by 12 European Union members.
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In 1999, a European Central Bank was created.
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By 2000, the European Union contained 370,000,000 people, was the world’s largest trading entity,
and transacted ¼ of the world’s commerce.
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In 2002, the euro officially replaced 12 national currencies.
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The European Union not only has a single internal market for it’s members and a common currency,
but it also has common agricultural policy where subsidies are provided to farmers to enable them to
sell their goods in the competitive European market. This policy also provides aid to the European
Union’s poorest regions and subsides for job training, education, and modernization.
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The end of national passports also gave Europeans more flexibility when it came to travel.
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However, the European Union hasn’t been very successful in setting foreign policy goals because
members see foreign policy as a national prerogative and are reluctant to give it up to an overriding
institution.
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Their isn’t usually uniform policy drawn up and they don’t meet often.
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The European Union has created a military force of 60,000 to be used for humanitarian and
peacekeeping purposes.
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Some Europeans are opposed to the European Union saying that they aren’t democratically
accountable to the people. Also, many are to nationalistic to call themselves Europeans,
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In a poll taken in 2001, 54% of Europeans said that membership to the European Union was a good
thing.
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The European Union has established the goal of incorporating the states of eastern and southeastern
Europe into the union. Though, many of these nations are considerably less rich than the current
members which brings into question whether or not inducting these states into the union would
weaken it.
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To lessen these risks, the European Union has established a number of qualifications that demonstrate
a commitment to capitalism, democracy, respect for minorities, and respect for human rights.
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In 2004, The European Union added the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta,
Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Cyprus.
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The new additions to the union increased the population of the European Union to 455,000,000
people.
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President Richard Nixon ended American involvement in Vietnam in 1973 by gradually withdrawing
troops.
He pursued a “southern strategy” by calculating that “law and order” issues and a slowdown in racial
segregation would appeal to whites.
Paranoid of conspiracies, Nixon used illegal methods to gather intelligence on his opponents. This led
to the Watergate scandal which was the attempted bugging of Democratic National Headquarters.
He lied repeatedly about it, even though secret tapes existed of conversations he had in the White
House that proved otherwise.
On August 9, 1974, Nixon resigned.
Gerald Ford became president after Nixon and lost the election of 1976 to Jimmy Carter.
Stagflation: a combination of high inflation and high unemployment that was prevalent from 1973 to
the mid 1980s.
In 1975, the Helsinki Agreements was the U.S’s was of acknowledging the Soviet sphere of influence
by recognizing all borders that were established after WWII. However, these agreements also made
sure all signatory powers recognized and protected human rights.
Stagflation stemmed mainly from a dramatic change in oil prices. The change in prices was because
of an oil embargo and price increases by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries in 1973
that tripled prices. By the end of the 1970s, oil prices increased twenty-fold.
After the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, Carter canceled U.S. participation in the Olympics
that were taking place in Moscow and placed an embargo on the shipment of American grain to the
Soviet Union.
By 1980, the Carter Administration faced high inflation and a noticeable decline in the weekly
earnings that were causing a drop in living standards.
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Also in 1980, 53 Americans were taken hostage by the Iranian government of Ayatollah Khomeini.
Carter’s inability to gain release of the hostages led to a decline in his popularity and he lost the
election that year to Ronald Reagan
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Reagan cut back on the welfare state by reducing funding of food stamps, school lunch programs, and
job programs. He convinced Congress to rely on “supply-side economies”.
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Reagan also built up the largest peacetime military buildup in American history caused by new
problems with the Soviet Union.
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In 1982, Reagan introduced the nuclear-tipped cruise missile that had the ability to fly at low altitudes
making it difficult to detect. Reagan also launched the Strategic Defense Initiative (nicknamed “Star
Wars”) to create a shield that would destroy oncoming missiles.
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The total federal spending rose from 631,000,000,000 in 1981 to 1,000,000,000,000 in 1986.
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However, he didn’t raise taxes, in fact, he cut them in an effort to stimulate economic growth. Most of
the tax cut was for the wealthy.
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Reagan’s policies worked short term, but his spending produced record government deficits. In the
1970, the total deficit was 420,000,000,000. Between 1981 and 1987, Reagan’s budget deficits were 3
times that amount.
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Reagan’s successor, George H. W. Bush, was unable to deal with the deficit issues and was responsible for the
creation of “New World Order”.
1992, Bill Clinton became president. Bill was a “New Democrat” who favored Republican policies.
In August of 1990, Iraqi forces occupied Kuwait, but the U.S. came in and liberated Kuwait and destroyed a
substantial part of Iraq’s armed forces in 1991. The Gulf War was an important military conflict in the postCold War period.
American troops invaded Haiti in 1994 to restore Haiti’s democratic system.
A booming economy and relatively peaceful foreign policy made Clinton very popular.
Clinton’s second term was overshadowed by his affair with a White House intern. This helped George W. Bush
win the election in 2000.
Bush’s first term was mainly a fight on terrorism and the U.S. led war on Iraq.
The Office of Homeland Security was established after 9/11 to help protect the U.S. from future terrorist
threats and Bush declared war on terrorism.
The U.S. led a coalition and attack Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan which was providing a base of operations for
Osama bin Laden’s terrorists.
The U.S.’s attempt to build a new government in Afghanistan didn’t work.
Bush Threatened to remove Saddam Hussein from power and claimed that he possessed weapons of mass
destruction.
Bush pushed for tax cuts that favored the wealthy and left behind big deficits.
Bush also made efforts to weaken environmental laws and impose regulations to benefit American
corporations.
Bush had a second term and in 2003, looked to help from the United Nations to help form a new Iraqi state.
Richard Nixon
George H. W. Bush
Gerald Ford
Jimmy Carter
Bill Clinton
Ronald Reagan
George W. Bush
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In 1963, the Liberals returned to power in Canada. The most prominent Liberal government was Pierre
Trudeau’s. He came to power in 1968.

In 1968, Trudeau passed the Official Languages Act which allowed French and English to be spoken in
the federal civil service.
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The Parti Québécois was headed by René Lévesque and ran on the platform to disconnect Quebec
from the Canadian union. Some separatist groups resorted to terrorist bombings.

In 1976, Parti Québécois won Quebec’s provincial elections .1980, called for a referendum that would
enable them to negotiate Quebec’s independence from the rest of Canada.

In 1980, Parti Québécois called for a referendum that would enable them to negotiate Quebec’s
independence from the rest of Canada. The plan was rejected in 1995.

Trudeau pushed for industrialization, but high inflation and his efforts to impose the will of the federal
government on the provincial governments weakened his governments and lost him popularity.

Brian Mulroney of the Progressive Conservative Party took over in 1984 during a recession.

Mulroney negotiated a free trade agreement with the U.S. and this lost him popularity.

In 1993, Jean Chrétien became prime minister. His fiscal policies, combined with economic growth
created a budgetary surplus in the late 1990s and he won again in 1997.
Pierre Trudeau
René Lévesque
Brian Mulroney
Jean Chrétien
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In 1972, Palestinian terrorists kidnapped and killed 11 Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympic Games.

Left and right-wind terrorist groups flourished in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Left-wing groups like the Baader-Meinhof gang in Germany and the Red Brigades in Italy consisted
mainly of middle class young people who disliked capitalism and supported revolutionary attempts to
bring down the system.
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Right wing terrorist groups like the New Order in Italy and the Charles Martel Club in France used
bombings and disorder to bring about enough disorder to bring in authoritarian regimes.

Both sides were easily kept under control by their country’s government and received no public
support.

Some were separatist, like the Irish Republican Army which used attacks against the government and
civilians in Northern Ireland. They are responsible for the death of over 2,000 people, ¾ of which were
civilians.

International terror is harder to control.

In 1985, many vacationers were killed in airports in Vienna and Rome by Palestinian terrorists.

Militant governments in Iran, Libya, and Syria sponsor terrorist attacks on the Americans and
Europeans.

In 1988, Pan American flight 103 from Frankfurt to New York exploded, killing all 258 crew members
and passengers. The bomb was planted by 2 Libyan terrorists who had connections to Iran and Syria.

In 2001, 4 groups of terrorists hijacked commercial jet airplanes after takeoff from Boston, Newark,
and Washington D.C. 2 of the planes were crashed into the World Trade Center in New York City,
causing the 2 buildings and multiple others to collapse. The 3rd hijacked plane was crashed into the
Pentagon in Washington D.C. The 4th crashed into an isolated area in Pennsylvania as the result of
passengers who took control of the plane. In total, over 3,000 people died, including everyone aboard
the airliners. These attacks are called 9/11 after the day they took place on, September 11.

Theses acts of terror where connected to al-Qaeda which is headed by Osama bin Laden, a native of
Saudi Arabia, who set up terror training camps in Afghanistan under the protection of the nation’s
Islamic rulers, the Taliban.

Bin Laden is suspected of directing earlier attacks against America, including the bombing of 2
American embassies in Africa and an attack on the naval ship, the U.S.S Cole, in 2000.

President Bush promised to wage war on terrorism as a result of 9/11, and worked to create a coalition
of nations to assist in eliminating al-Qaeda.

In October 2001, NATO air forces began bombing Taliban controlled establishments. Afghans opposed
to the Taliban helped and together, they pushed the Taliban out of the country.

A multiethnic government was installed but faced problems due to revived Taliban activity.

Lots of terrorism against the U.S. comes from the Muslim world and the Israeli , Palestinian conflict.

A 1979 revolution in Iran led to the overthrow of the shah and the creation of a new Islamic
government led by Ayatollah Khomeini who hates America.

The involvement of the United States in the liberation of Kuwait in the Persian Gulf War of 1991 didn’t
help with the relationship between the West and Islam.

The U.S. attack on Iran in 2003 further inflamed some groups against the West.

Though there was no evidence to prove that Saddam Hussein was involved with al-Qaeda, the U.S.
used this as an excuse to launch a preemptive war against Iraq. The war in Iraq saw the fall of Hussein
which welcomed by some, the death of many civilians and the torturing of prisoners by American
troops deepened the anti-American sentiments in the Arab world.
Osama bin Laden
Ayatollah Khomeini
Saddam Hussein

It is averaged that parents need to have 2.1 children in order for a countries population to ensure a
natural replacement for a country’s population. Since the 1960s, birthrates have gone down a lot.

The number of women in the workforce has risen. Women are also entering new employment areas
due to greater access to universities and professional schools. Though economic equality still prevails.

Feminists found numerous ways to help transform the fundamental conditions of their lives in 1973,
for instance, “consciousness-raising” groups were formed where women got together to share their
personal experiences and become aware of the many ways male dominance affected them.

Women sought control over their own bodies by insisting on the rights of contraception and abortion
and worked towards appealing laws that kept those rights from them.

Women’s studies was added as a course in many universities.

Many women joined the antinuclear movement , and in 1982, a group of British women chained
themselves to a fence at an American military base in protest of American nuclear missiles in Britain.

Women also joined the environmental movement. Especially prominent were the women in the Green
Party in Germany, which supported environmental issues and elected 42 delegates into the West
German parliament in 1987. One of the delegates was Petra Kelly, one of the founders of the party.
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Women have also reached out to help women in the rest of the world. Between 1975 and 1995, the
United Nations has held conferences in Mexico City, Copenhagen, Nairobi, and Beijing in which
women from all over the world discussed hunger, violence, sexual rights, diseases, and political,
economic, and cultural issues.
Petra Kelly
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Guest Workers: Foreign workers working temporarily in European countries.
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Guest workers came in because there was a labor shortage in the 1950s and 1960s,Turks and eastern
and southern Europeans came to Germany, North Africans came to France, and those from the
Caribbean, India, and Pakistan came to Britain.

Guest workers took up a large percentage of the workforce.

They also took up a sizable percentage of certain countries populations and many found themselves to
be unwelcome.

Many wanted to stay and sometimes family members would migrate to be with them.

Some countries to action to limit immigration.

In the 1980s, there was an influx of refugees which led to legislation permitting them to stay for safety
reasons.

Many countries were opposed to making their countries ethnically diverse, such as the National Front
in France, headed by Jean-Marie Le Pen, and the Republican Party in Germany, led by Franz
Schönhuber. They advocated restricting new immigrants and limiting the assimilation of settled
immigrants.
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Sometimes, anti-immigration groups resorted to violence.
Jean-Marie Le Pen
Franz Schönhuber
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In the 1970s ecological problems started to become apparent. Air pollution was causing respiratory
illnesses and many waterways were so polluted that they posed health risks. Forests were dying, and
the Chernobyl disaster reminded Europeans more aware of potential environmental hazards.

Growing economic awareness gave rise to Green movements and Green parties in the 1970s.

Green parties competed successfully in Switzerland, Austria, Germany, and Sweden.

In 1998, the Green Party became a coalition partner with the Socialists under Gerhard Schroeder and
Joschka Fischer.

Coalitions of Green parties found it difficult to agree on all issues and mostly splintered into cliques.

In the 1990s, there were more government sponsored projects to help protect the environment.
Joschka Fischer
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Postmodernism: a term used to cover a variety of intellectual and artistic styles and ways of thinking
prominent since the 1970s.
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Ferdinand de Saussure was the inventor of structuralism in which he claimed that the nature of signs is
arbitrary and that language is a human construct. He also believed that humans had no capacity for
knowledge until language was brought about. According to him, language had 2 components:
signifier, the expression of a concept, and signified, its meaning.
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Jacques Derrida drew on the ideas of de Saussure to demonstrate how western culture is on binary
oppositions. He thought that one set of oppositions is generally favored to the other and the
privileged depends on the inferior . Derrida showed that spelling altered pronunciation.
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Poststructuralism or Deconstruction: a system of thought formulated by Jacques Derrida that holds
that culture is created in a variety of ways, according to the way people create their own meaning.
Hence, there is no universal meaning or fixed truth.
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Michel Foucault drew upon de Saussure and Derrida to explore relationships of power. He believed
that power is exercised rather than possessed and that the diffusion of power and oppression marks
all relationships. To him, all norms were culturally introduced and entail a power struggle and
humanity creates laws of conduct that creates ideal behavior for those who conform and invents a
subclass of those who don’t. In his book, The History of Sexuality, he claimed that homosexuality was
created when society tried to limit acts of it. He thought that because people sought to eliminate it, it
was defined and practiced. As such, power requires resistance for it to exist, otherwise it loses all
meaning.
Ferdinand de Saussure
Jacques Derrida
Michel Foucault
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In the 1960s and 1970s, artists rejected object based art. Performances and installations were
produced.
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Allen Kaprow thought that works of art rooted in performance grew out of Jackson Pollock’s process
of action painting, but Kaprow created events that were chance occurrences. These included audience
participation and the relationship between art and its surroundings.
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This relationship between art and it’s surroundings was constituted in “land art” like Robert Smithson’s
Spiral Jetty. Smithson ‘s work responded to the founding of the Environmental Protection Agency and
his artwork resembled a science-fiction wasteland while challenging traditional fine art.

Robert Venturi argued that architects could find as much inspiration from buildings on the Las Vegas
strip as historical style buildings. An example of this is Charles Moore’s Piazza d’Italia which combines
Classical columns with stainless steel and neon lights.
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Photorealism artists paint and sculpt with such attention to detail that it can be mistaken for a
photograph or a living human being. These works are often pessimistic and cynical.
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Anselm Kiefer combined aspects of Abstract Expressionism, collage, and German Expressionism in
works like Departure From Egypt.
Robert Smithson’s Spiral Jetty
Charles Moore’s Piazza d’Italia
Robert Smithson
Charles Moore
Allen Kaprow
Robert Venturi
Anselm Kiefer
Anselm Kiefer’s Departure From Egypt
Literature
 The best examples of Postmodern literature are found in Latin America in a style called “magic
realism” which combines realistic events with dreamlike or fantastic backgrounds. A good example is
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Márquez.
 The European center of Postmodernism is well represented in Czech author Milan Kunera and his
novel The Unbearable Lightness of Being.
Music
 Some musicians remained closely tied to 19th century Romantic music and were reminiscent of
Stravinsky.
 Inspired by the 12-tone music of Schönberg, serialism is a compositional procedure where an order of
succession is set for specific values: pitch, loudness, and units of time. By predetermining the order of
the succession, the artist restricts him/herself from intuitive freedom. However, the mechanism the
composer establishes could generate unanticipated musical events, thereby creating new and exciting
compositions.
 The first recognized serialist was Olivier Messiaen who was influenced by Greek and Indian music,
plainchant, folk music, and birdsongs.
 Most critics respected serialism, while audiences were indifferent, if not hostile, towards it.
 An offshoot of serialism is minimalism which uses repeated patterns, but is tonal and more harmonic
than serialism. A good example of this is Philip Glass’s Einstein on the Beach which was adapted into a
full scale opera. Other piece’s of Glass’s work are Koyaanisqatsi and the musical score of The Hours.
Gabriel Garcia Márquez.
Milan Kundera
Olivier Messiaen
Philip Glass
Protestantism
 In the 1960s and 1970s, church attendance declined dramatically. However, the number of
fundamentalist churchgoers rose. These Christian fundamentalists organized politically to elect those
who supported their views.
 Fundamentalism: an opposition to the weakening of moral values due to the influence of Western
practices.
Islam
 Fundamentalism: From the Islamic standpoint, refers to the return of traditional Islamic values.
 After the Iranian revolution of 1979, the term was applied to militant Islamic groups like the Taliban in
Afghanistan.
 Islam is growing in both Europe and the U.S. primarily because of the migration of people from Islamic
countries.
Catholicism
 Pope John Paul II dominated much of the Catholic Church’s history since 1973.
 Karol Wojtyla (Pope John Paul’s real name) was the first pope to be elected since the 17th century.
 Even though he alienated many by reasserting traditional values on issues like birth control, clerical
celibacy, and women in priesthood, he strengthened the Catholic Church by traveling often.
 Pope John Paul II reminded people of their spiritual heritage and the need to temper the pursuit of
materialism with spiritual concerns. He objected war and nuclear weaponry .
Pope John Paul II
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Before WWII, theoretical science and technology were largely separated. However, because university
scientists were recruited to work for governments to help develop weapons, the two fused together.

Alan Turing designed a primitive computer to assist in the deciphering of codes.

Another famous product of wartime inventing is the atomic bomb which was created under the
guidance of J. Robert Oppenheimer.
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Science soon became very complex and projects began to require huge laboratories, complex
equipment, and large groups of scientists to be able to be undertaken successfully. Such things were
so expensive that they could only be provided by governments and large corporations.

The space race of the 1960s was a good example of new technological achievements.

In 1957, the Soviets sent Sputnik into space and this launched a race to the moon between the U.S. and
the Soviet Union. The U.S. won in 1969.
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In 2004, 2 vehicles sent by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration landed on Mars. The
rovers were called Spirit and Opportunity and were there to determine the chemical contents of Mars’
rocks. Based on this evidence, scientists were able to conclude that Mars had once had generous
supplies of water.
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NASA has planned additional missions to Mars to prepare for the eventual landing of humans on the
planet.
Alan Turing
J. Robert Oppenheimer
Alan Turing’s computer
Sputnik
Spirit
Opportunity
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Early computers required thousands of vacuum tubes to function and were very large.

Grace Hopper developed COBOL, a computer language that allows computers to respond to words
and numbers.

The development of the transistor and silicon chip were revolutionary.

In 1971, the invention of the microprocessor , a small silicon chip that takes the place of many vacuum
tubes opened the door to the development of personal computers.

The chief purpose of the computer is to create and store information and is considered an essential
element in out now fast-paced civilization.
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Technology can also damage the environment, for instance, chemicals used to produce large crops of
plants hurt streams, rivers, and woodlands.

Small is Beautiful by E.F. Schumacher is a fundamental critique on the dangers of science and
technology.
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To some scientists, quantum and relative theory describe the universe as a web of relations with no
building blocks. Thus, the universe is “a collection of physical objects” related to “various parts of a
unifies whole”.
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Some believe that the Newtonian conception of the universe as a machine is an outdated tool for
understanding the nature of the universe.
Grace Hopper
microprocessor
E.F. Schumacher
Punk Rock
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In the 1970s, the early punk movement spread from New York to Britain after failing to make it in the
U.S. The punk movement that took place Britain from 1976-1976 was fueled by economic crisis and
young people.
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Some were art students who applies avant-garde experimentation to punk. Groups like the Sex Pistols
wore tattered clothes and sang about anarchy and rebellion. Punks often wore torn clothes to
symbolize there rejection of materialistic culture.
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Pure punk was short-lived, but offshoots of punk went on into the 1980s with groups like Sewage,
Crisis, and Dead Organism.
Pop
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The introduction of MTV in the early 1980s, image became just as important as sound in the
production of music. Artists like Michael Jackson became famous by using the music video as an art
form with many being elaborate short films.
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Electronic pianos became popular and replaced guitar, bass, and drums for a more futuristic sound.
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In the 1990s, preteen consumers enjoyed pop and favored lighthearted music by musicians like
Britney Spears and Ricky Martin. These artists drew from R&B, Latin music, and hip-hop.
Punk Rock
The Sex Pistols
Crisis
Dead Organism
Sewage
Pop
Michael Jackson
Ricky Martin
Britney Spears
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The rise of hip-hop and rap came in the late 1970s and early 1980s in New York City combining lyrics
with disco beats and turntable manipulation.
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One scholar said that hip-hop “encompassed break-dancing, graffiti art, and new styles of language
and fashion.”
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Early groups like Public Enemy and Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five instilled social
commentaries into their songs using the popularity of hip-hop to raise social awareness of the
conditions in American cities.
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By the 1990’s, rappers like Snoop Doggy Dogg and Dr. Dre created “gangsta rap” with raw lyrics that
praised violence, drugs, and promiscuous sexual activity.
Rap
Public Enemy
Snoop Doggy Dogg
Grandmaster Flash and the
Furious Five
Dr. Dre
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Film and videogames in the late 1990s made fantasy and historical epics popular.

The film adaptations of Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter indicated that fantasy, magic, mythology,
and medieval fantasy appeal to contemporary sensibilities.

Troy and Gladiator indicated a struggle between good and evil governed by a moral sense of right and
wrong.
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Japanese animé and martial arts films became extremely popular.
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Sports have become a major part of society and the development of satellite television has helped.
Events like the Olympics, the Tour de France, and the World Cup have become very popular.

Sports have become a cheap form of entertainment since fans don’t even have to leave their homes to
enjoy them. In fact, some organizations resisted having games televised for fear that it would hurt
ticket sales .
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Soccer has become the dominant world sport.
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Sports can be a source of national pride, but have been known to be associated with violence.

Politics can come into play at sports. A prime example is the 1952 Olympic Games in where the U.S.
and the Soviets fought “a war without weapons”. The Soviets led the Olympics in terms of number of
metals earned between 1956 and 1988.
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In the 1956 Olympics, 6 nations withdrew in protest of the Soviet crushing of the Hungarian uprising
and in 1972, 27 African nations threatened to pull out because of apartheid. Also at the 1972 Olympics,
Black September seized 11 athletes and killed them. The U.S. pulled out of the 1980 Olympics in
Moscow to protest Soviet invasion in Afghanistan . The Soviets responded to this by boycotting the
1984 Olympics in Los Angeles.
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Scientific studies of sports have led to aerodynamic helmets for bikers, skin-tight bodysuits for skiers
and swimmers, and improved nutritional practices.

Steroids and blood doping are used often to enhance performance, though they are illegal.
Moscow 1980 Olympic logo
Melbourne 1954 Olympics logo
Los Angeles 1984 Olympics logo
Munich 1972 Olympics logo
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Marshall McLuhan predicted the 1960’s advances in communication and technology would lead to a
shrinking of the world that would lessen global distinctions and break down cultural barriers. These
things would lead to the creation of a “global village”.

Many critiques have argues that McLuhan was too utopian in his beliefs. They believed that Western
culture would disrupt traditional cultures of less developed countries.

While the world has been a bit “Americanized”, new cultures have come into the world of the West.

We are coming to understand that destructive goings-on in one part of the world can affect the entire
world. Nuclear war is an ever looming possibility that would mean nuclear fallout for the whole world
and smokestack pollution from one country can produce acid rain in another. Oil spills and dumping
are affecting waterways and the consumption of drugs in wealthy nations can affect both the wealthy
and the poor.
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Grassroots organizations are developing with slogans like “Think globally, act locally”. These are called
nongovernment organizations and are often represented in the United Nations.