Chapter 29
The Contemporary Western World
Since 1973
Timeline
Map 29.1: The New Europe
The Revolutionary Era in the
Soviet Union
The Brezhnev Years
The Brezhnev Doctrine
Détente
Economic emphasis on heavy industry
Patronage system
By the early 1980s, the Soviet Union was in poor shape
The Gorbachev Era
Problems of rigid and centralized planning
Perestroika (restructuring)
Glasnost (openness)
Political reforms
• Call for a new Soviet parliament, 1988
• Congress of People’s Deputies elected 1989
1988-1990 nationalist movements erupt
Lithuania declares independence, 1990
The End of the Soviet Union
Gorbachev arrested, August 19, 1991; coup fails
Ukraine votes for independence, December 1991, others follow
December 25, 1991, Gorbachev resigns and turns power over to Boris
Yeltsin, president of Russia
Yeltsin introduces a free market economy
Yeltsin wins the presidency of Russia in 1996 but resigns in 1999
Brutal war against Chechnya
Vladimir Putin replaced Yeltsin when he resigned
Vows to return breakaway state of Chechnya
In 2001 launches reforms including unrestricted sale and purchase of land
Reform did not resolve Russia’s economic problems
Chechnya
Eastern Europe: The Collapse of
the Communist Order in Poland
Edward Gierek becomes Poland’s leader in 1971
Economic problems
1980: protests erupt in response to increased food
prices
Solidarity
Lech Walesa (b. 1943)
Free parliamentary elections, 1988
December, 1990; Walesa elected President
November, 1995; Alexander Kwasniewski elected
President
The Collapse of the Communist
Order: Hungary & Czechoslovakia
Hungary
Jano Kadar in power for more than 30 years
Moves slowly toward legalizing small private
enterprises
The Democratic Forum won the elections of 1990
Were committed to a democratic government and free
market economy
Czechoslovakia
Communist government collapsed in 1989
Vaclav Havel was in control of the government
Ethnic problems will lead to a peaceful division
Collapse of the Communist Order
Romania
Nicolae and Elena Ceausescu established dictatorial regime
Crushed demonstrations in Timisoara that led to other demonstrations
Army will not support Ceausescu
Ceausescu and his wife were arrested, tried and executed
Bulgaria
Todor Zhivkov (leader of Bulgarian Communist Party, 1954 – 1989)
Protests result in Zhivkov’s ouster
1991: election of new government led by the United Democratic Front
The Reunification of Germany
Unrest due to economic problems
Communist government falls, November 1989
Berlin Wall comes down
Politically unified, October 3, 1990
The Berlin Wall 1961 -1989
The Disintegration of Yugoslavia
Death of Tito in 1980
League of Communists
In 1990 republics of Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia,
Herzegovina, and Macedonia worked toward a federal
structure
Slbodan Milosevic rejects these efforts without new border
arrangements to accommodate Serb minorities
Slovenia and Croatia declare independence
Yugoslavian army sent to attach Croatia
Army becoming more and more a Serbian Army
1992 Serbs turn on Bosnia-Herzegovina
Ethnic cleansing
NATO strikes back
Map 29.2: The Lands of Former Yugoslavia
War in Kosovo
War erupted in 1999
Ethnic Albanians
Stripped of autonomous status in 1989
Kosovo Liberation Army
US and NATO intervene
Milosevic refused to sign agreement and NATO
resumes air strikes
Milosovic ousted from office in fall elections,
2000
Brought to trial by an international tribunal for war
crimes against humanity
Germany Restored
Willy Brandt (1913-1992), 1969-1974
Ostpolitik, “opening toward the east”
Treaty with East Germany, 1972
Helmut Schmide (b. 1918)
Technocrat; concerned with economic
conditions
Helmut Kohl (b. 1930)
Problems of union
Great Britain: Thatcher and Thatcherism
Thatcherism
Problems of Northern Ireland
Direct rule from London, 1972
Conservatives gain political power, 1979
Political changes of Prime Minister Margaret
Thatcher (b. 1925)
Broke power of the labor unions
Austerity to control inflation
Hard line toward communism
Rebuilds the military
Anti-tax riots force Thatcher to resign, November 1990
Tony Blair (b. 1953), Labour Party, 1957
Uncertainties in France
François Mitterrand (1916-1995) , 19811995
Economic difficulties
Socialistic policies
Economic weaknesses of the 1990s
Move to conservatism, Jacques Chirac
elected 1995
Confusion in Italy
Coalition Politics
Eurocommunism
Economic recession in the 1970s, economic
growth in the 1980s
Political Corruption
Silvio Berlusconi
The Unification of Europe
1973: European Economic Community (EEC) becomes
European Community (EC) when Great Britain, Ireland,
and Denmark join
2000: EC contains 370 million people
1994: EC renames itself European Union (EU) and focuses
on political unification
2002: Introduction of common currency (euro)
Problems
Toward a United Europe: May 2004: Czech Republic,
Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland,
Slovakia, Slovenia, and Cyprus join EU
Map 29.3: European Union, 2004
The United States: The American
Domestic Scene 1968 - 1981
Richard Nixon (1913-1994) elected in 1968
Ends Vietnam war, 1973
Watergate scandal
Resignation, August 9, 1974
Jimmy Carter (b. 1924), 1976-1980
Stagflation – high inflation and unemployment
Oil embargo, 1973
53 hostages held by Iran
The United States: The American
Domestic Scene 1982 - Present
Ronald Reagan (b. 1911), 1981-1989
Reverses the welfare state
Military buildup
Supply-side economics
George H. Bush (b. 1924), 1989-1993
Economic downturn
Bill Clinton elected 1992
Misconduct
George W. Bush
Terrorism
Economic policies
Presidents Bush, Reagan, Carter,
Ford, Nixon in Historic Photo
Contemporary Canada
Pierre Trudeau (1919-2000), elected in 1968
Brian Mulroney (b. 1939), elected in 1984
Quebec
René Lévesque
Parti Québécois
The End of the Cold War
During the late 1980s, US and Soviet Union
move to slow down arms race
1989-1990: Political upheaval in Eastern
Europe upset postwar status quo
The Gulf War
September 11, 2001: al-Qaeda attacked
United States
March 2003 – : Iraq War
An Age of Terrorism?
Terrorist methods
Munich Olympic Games, 1972
Left and right wing terrorist groups
Militant nationalism
Terrorist Attack on the United States
September 11, 2001
Al-Qaida
Osama bin Laden
Afghanistan
The West and Islam
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict fueled antiAmerican sentiment in the Muslim world
Rise of Islamic governments in Iran and
elsewhere
Impact of the Persian Gulf War
Impact of the Iraq War
Briefing on Iraq, with Bush Sr.
New Directions and New Problems
in Western Society
Transformation in Women’s Lives
• Decline in the birthrate
• Rise in the work force
The Women’s Movement
Abortion
Women’s studies
Anti-nuclear movement/Ecology
International women’s conferences
Guest Workers and Immigrants
Europe experienced a severe labor shortage
in the 1950s and 1960s
Guest Workers
Backlash against foreign workers
1980s: Influx of refugees
Impact of immigrants on social services
New limits on immigration
The Environment and the Green
Movements
Problems in the environment
Chernobyl, 1986
Green Parties
Western Culture Today
Postmodern Thought
Ferdinand de Saussure (1857 – 1913)
Jacques Derrida (1930 – 2004)
Art
Rejection of object-based artworks
Postmodernism
Photorealism
Literature
Gabriel Garcia Márquez, One Hundred Years of Solitude
Milan Kundera, The Unbearable Lightness of Being
Music
Serialism
Minimalism
Religion & Technology
Varieties of Religious Life
Fundamentalism
The growth of Islam
Pope John Paul II, 1978-
The World of Science and Technology
Military-Industrial Complex
• German rockets; jets
• British work in computers
• J. Robert Oppenheimer and the Atomic Bomb
Computers
Dangers of science and technology
New conceptions of the Universe
Popular Culture: Image and
Globalization
Music
Punk
Music videos
Rap
Film: Fantasy and Epics
The Growth of Mass Sports
Globalization of Popular Culture
Toward a Global Civilization?
Problems are global not just national
Nongovernmental Organizations (NGOs)
Interdependency
Discussion Questions
How might we see Brezhnev as a transition
between the old Soviet regime and the changes
brought by Gorbachev?
What steps did Czechoslovakia take to gain
freedom from communism and then a peaceful
split of the country?
Why did the end of the Cold War prove so painful
for Yugoslavia?
How does the “war on terrorism” differ from
previous international struggles?
Web Links
Gorbachev
The United Nations
Nationmaster: Europe
Europa: Gateway to the European Union
Frontline: Truth, War, and Consequences