The Cold War, lasting from approximately 1945 to 1990, was a direct result of the complications following World War II. After World War II, two major world superpowers were left to argue the fundamental aspects of economic, military, and political philosophies: the United States and the Soviet Union. The U.S. embodies democratic principles, while the Soviet Union was strictly a communistic country. Communism is a totalitarian system of government where a single party controls all means of production, in which there are no free elections or privately owned property. As the Soviet Union wanted to acquire more territory to further expand the influence of communism, tension erupted between the Soviet Union and U.S., causing this decades long dispute.
In 1989, while approaching the unknowingly end of the Cold War, the newly chosen Soviet Union President Mikhail Gorbachev came to power. As a drastically different type of leader than his predecessors, Gorbachev’s main goal was to reform the existing Soviet political system and work to stimulate the then struggling economy. In order to do so, he introduced two “policies known as glasnost (political openness) and perestroika (economic reform).” Through these two concepts, Gorbachev hoped to ease confining social government standards and place a greater emphasis on a less centralized …show more content…
Meanwhile, the Soviet Union’s power throughout eastern Europe was quickly diminishing under his leadership. This period is known as the “velvet revolution.” One of several historical examples of this revolution includes one of the Cold War’s most significant symbols, the Berlin Wall in Germany, falling in the fall of 1989. Its collapse allowed the individuals contained within communist-run East Germany the chance of freedom. Only one year later in 1990, Germany reunified itself as a democratic
In 1989, while approaching the unknowingly end of the Cold War, the newly chosen Soviet Union President Mikhail Gorbachev came to power. As a drastically different type of leader than his predecessors, Gorbachev’s main goal was to reform the existing Soviet political system and work to stimulate the then struggling economy. In order to do so, he introduced two “policies known as glasnost (political openness) and perestroika (economic reform).” Through these two concepts, Gorbachev hoped to ease confining social government standards and place a greater emphasis on a less centralized …show more content…
Meanwhile, the Soviet Union’s power throughout eastern Europe was quickly diminishing under his leadership. This period is known as the “velvet revolution.” One of several historical examples of this revolution includes one of the Cold War’s most significant symbols, the Berlin Wall in Germany, falling in the fall of 1989. Its collapse allowed the individuals contained within communist-run East Germany the chance of freedom. Only one year later in 1990, Germany reunified itself as a democratic