END OF THE COLD WAR



END OF THE COLD WAR

* 1979-1988 – Soviet-Afghanistan War

* 1980 – Western nations (incl. Canada) boycott 1980 Olympics in Moscow

* 1983 – Soviet jets shoot down a South Korean passenger jet

- US forces invade Grenada (Caribbean) and get rid of a Soviet gov’t

* June 1989 – Chinese students demanding democracy were arrested and some were killed by the Chinese police at Tiananmen Square

* November 1989 – Fall of the Berlin Wall (symbolic end of the Cold War)

* 1991 – The Dissolution of the Soviet Union into 15 smaller states

including:

> Poland, Hungary, East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Romania and Yugoslavia

Why did the Cold War end?

• Communism collapsed in the Soviet Union!

o Economic growth slowed to 2% by the 1980’s.

o Soviet economy could not supply enough food for its citizens.

o Consumer goods were inferior in quality.

o High military spending could not continue (Arms Race)

▪ Americans spent 7% of GNP on defence, and the Soviets spent 15-25%.

o People questioned communism (Was capitalism such a bad thing?) – “Globalization” – world getting smaller.

o Nationalism – 50% of the Soviet population was not ethically Russian, so as the Soviet economy declined, people began to seek independence from the Soviet Union.

o Mikhail Gorbachev became the leader of the Soviet Union in 1985, and he tried to reform communism with:

▪ Glasnost – (openness) - “democratizing communism.”

▪ Perestroika – (restructuring) – “economic reforms.”

New World Order

Directions: Read pages 153 and 156 in Counterpoints and work with a partner to answer the following questions.

1. What is the New World Order and how did it get its name?

2. What was Operation Desert Storm and what was Canada’s role in the conflict?

3. What was Operation Restore Hope and what was the Canadian controversy?

4. What happened in Rwanda? What role did Canada play?

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