Mikhail Gorbachev and the collapse of Communism

Mikhail Gorbachev was a young leader with new ideas to offer for his country. Gorbachev realized that he couldnt just change things right away, he had to enforce a policy known as glasnost. Glasnost means openness. This include releasing books that were banned, freeing people from jail who did not actually do anything against the law, and the most surprising was that churches were opening. For the first time im many years, the Soviet Union was allowed its people to practice religion. With newly given freedom of speach, citizens now could share their opinions on the economic and political structure on the government. Gorbachev found out that the source of most economic problems was that the government told buisnesess what price to sell products and how much they get paid. Gorbachev now let people start their own buisnesess free from the controll of the government. He soon realize that the only way to fixthe economy completly was for Communism to lose its grip on the Soviet Union completly. Slowly by slowly starting in areas such as Poland and hungary, small reforms starty to take place and democracy slowly takes over. More events such as the fall of the Berlin wall and the unification of Germany also brings communism to its end. Eventually Communism completly collapse due to the revolutionary efforts by Mikhail Gorbachev.

Collapse of Communism

There are many reasons for the collapse of Communism. Many say that it's economics and military system could never stabalize. Gorbacev was the new Communist leader. He decided to open the Soviet Union for more trade and tried to reconstruct the Soviet Union. This ended up with the collaspe of the conomy due to many communist countries abandoning dictators and adopting democratic movements. This was a major turning point in history. the Berlin Wall was finally took down and East and West Germany once again joined both economically and politically. Jobs such as farming were no longer high paying jobs and people had to start doing more modern jobs. This also ended the Cold War because the fall of Communism ment there was no longer a threat that war will start between the Soviet Union and the United States. This was a relief and a time to celebrate for many Americans.

Nelson Mandela and Apartheid

Apartheid was a system that the government of the Africa used from 1948 to 1994. This system segregated blacks from whites and did not grant blacks full citizenship. Black people could not vote and many places were restricted to only one race. Blacks and whites could not have relationships with one another and were separated in schools. Africans could not vote. This caused many Africans to start a boycott. One man wished to unite blacks and whites rid Africa of Apartheid. This man is Nelson Mandela. Nelson spent 27 years in prison simply for trying to make a better life for his people, a life where they could live freely. The white South African government's plan to silent Nelson backfired. Instead Nelson's followers stood by him and continued to fight for freedom. Apartheid was soon abolished from Africa after the release of Nelson from prison and he recieved the Nobel Peace prize and was elected president of the United States within five years of his release in 1990.