Latvia

In April 1986, Mikhail Gorbachev began to introduce new reforms that would lead to the end of the Cold War and bring down the "Iron Curtain" only five years later. The reforms, called Perestroika and Glasnost, gave the Soviet-controlled countries more free will, which led to chain events resulting in countries pulling away from communism one by one. On December 25 1991, the world watched on in amazement as the Soviet Union officially disintegrated into 15 separate countries. Mikhail Gorbachev 's…

Earl Browder, an American political activist, once said “What remains constant for me, during the last fifteen years, has been the conviction that the Cold War was a calamity for the entire world, and that it can be justified by no consideration of theory, nor by any supposed national interest.” This quote perfectly states how the Cold War was not only a tragedy for the United States and the Soviet Union, but also for the entire world. It also tells how the United States and the Soviet Union…

Putin’s Policy of Nationalism Why does President Putin need to use nationalism as a diversionary tactic? This next section will explain the current domestic issues in Russia as well as the methods Putin is using in order to develop a nationalist discourse in the country. When the Soviet Union fell, Russia experienced many economic, social, and political challenges in its transition to democracy. Unfortunately, it left many feeling a lack of national pride and economic suffering. When Vladimir…

The Bolshevik Revolution or the Russian Revolution is the name for the pair of revolutions that took place in Russia during 1917, in which took down the Tsarist totalitarianism and prompted the destined rise of the Soviet Union. The Russian Empire had fallen with the surrender of Emperor Nicholas II, and the old administration was replaced by a new short term government during the first revolution of February 1917. In the second one that happened in October, the Provisional Government was taken…

Millions of Jews and non-Jews were lulled into a false sense of security when they were told they would be taken to camps that had better working conditions. They were manipulated to the point where they no longer had a voice. Slowly, Hitler’s true intentions started to show. It all began with the manner in which they were transported to the camps. Trains were packed with hundreds of people to the extent that many had limited movement and it was difficult to breathe. The ghettos and factors were…

The integration of West Germany into the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) petrified the Soviet Union and caused them to create their own military and economic alliance known as the Warsaw Pact. Even though it was initially referred to as a Treaty on Friendship, the Soviets became increasingly authoritative in regard to the actions of their so called allies and provided these nations with the impetus to withdraw from the Pact. Two countries that felt the sting of Russian authoritarianism…

Perestroika is widely regarded as one, if perhaps not the sole reason, that the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, or U.S.S.R, came to a dissolution on December 26th, 1991. The economic reforms that it pushed for and prompted are what allowed non-communist aspects to be incorporated into the Soviet Union and caused an uproar in political reforms such as Glasnost and the eventual fall of a traditional eastern communist system to a new western style capitalist system. To understand why…

It is human nature for each of us to believe that we are the unluckiest person in the world. Some would argue, however, that Stanley Yelnats Ⅳ is even worse off. Although many readers and even Stanley himself seems to think that he is ill-fated and always in the wrong place at the wrong time, the entirety of Louis Sachar’s novel, Holes, says otherwise. In fact, everything that has happened to Stanley and his family in the past and throughout the present setting of the novel happened for a reason…

The heart is considered the “engine of life” through its ability to rhythmically pump oxygen rich blood throughout the body to supply life. Unfortunately, this vital organ is vulnerable to damage through actions of everyday life ranging from smoking, diet, physical inactivity, and consumption of alcohol. Damage to the heart results in heart disease, also known as cardiovascular disease. Because of the vast complexity of the heart, heart disease branches off into various categories including…

The development of Australia’s culture and ethnic diversity from 1945 to the present time has been primarily been shaped by the revolution of official government migration policies. The changes in policies allowed waves of many different migrants from all around the world to re settle in Australia. The end of World War II marked a turning point in Australia’s views of migration as Australia thought necessary they make an impact in the new world order. Since then migration policies of cultural…