Mikhail Gorbachev and the Collapse of Communism

Mikhail Gorbachev was a very different leader from the rest of the leaders who controlled USSR before him. His ideas and beliefs were very different from the ideas of Stalin, and other former leaders. Mikhail Gorbachev was tired of communism, and followed his own ideas and demonstrated what a real government should be. Russia was ran by totalitarian rulers. The people of Russia were also tired of the corrupted government, and its leaders.They needed someone to start reforms to make the USSR capitalist. Mikhail Gorbachev along with partners, started these huge reforms called the "Glasnost" and "Perestrokia". In 1985 he announced a glasnost, where churches were opened, books were published and freedom of the press rised. Perestokia was a policy that allowed people to own their own small businesses which weren't owned buy the government. This in a way marked the end of Communism and showed that Communism wasn't affective and small businesses were needed for the success of the economy. Mikhail Gorbachev was one of the first leader who slowly removed communism from USSR. He opened up the economy and allowed for positive changes in Russia. He is one of the most important leaders for the USSR because he brought capitalism, and removed communism from USSR.

The Collapse of Communism

After the War, America and the Soviet Union were in a cold war. The Soviet Union was communist, and wasn't willing to change to a democracy. But as the 21st century came closer, the economy of communist countries such as Cuba and USSR began to collapse. The waste of money on military and oppressive government could not hold up the economy. By the 1990s Russia collapsed. The Berlin Wall, which separated communist East Germany and West Germany was brought down, making the sides no longer seperated. The fall of communism ended the Cold War between the American and Communist countries. The Soviet Union became separated into different countries. After that very few countries remained communist including China and Cuba. The fear of nuclear war also decreased, and Democratic policies were accepted in other countries.

Nelson Mandela and Apartheid

Apartheid was used in South Africa for many years and was a social policy or racial segregation involving political, economic and legal discrimination against people who are not white. The same thing was going on in America where all the colored people were separated from the white people. This went on in South Africa from 1948 to 1990. Nelson Mandela was a hero because Mandela along with 150 others were arrested on December 5 1956 and charged with treason for speaking out against Apartheid. He also fought many violent acts to gain freedom in South Africa. He spent many years in prison for committing treason. He is respected by many people because he stood up for what he believed in and did a lot to free his people. He took the pain mentally and physically by being in prison and by getting beat up by higher authorities of South Africa. He was a brave and courageous man.

African Independence

Africa went through dramatic changes over 20 years from 1955-1975. Many African countries gained their independence. They gained their independence because some of the African countries fought against colonists to become independent. Africans wanted to show others that they can industrialize and and run their own country. Leopold Senghor was the leader and first president of Senegal. Jomo Kenyatta was another famous African leader, who was a nationalist leader of Kenya. There also was Mobuto who ruled the country of Zaire. Nkrumah organized strikes and boycotts.The Gold Coast adopted the name Ghana. Eventually the OAU (Organization of AfricanUnity) and Pan-African Congress was formed.