Mikhail Gorbachev and the Collapse of Communism

Like I mentioned in my last blog Mikhail Gorbachev was one of the reasons as to why Communism had failed in Easter Europe. Gorbachev was different than some of the other political leaders because for one he was young and knew a lot about politics. Gorbachev was not a fan of Communism and when he became leader he was around54 years old at the time he decided to finish off Communism.

The difference between him and the old leader Stalin was that, Stalin was very ferocious as a leader and anyone who opposed him would be dealt with but after his reign of terror ended Gorbachev decided to put an end to his reign. One thing he did to start off his position in office was take people that were originally jailed by Stalin for opposing his power and system. Another change the Gorbachev made was he allowed banned books to be open to the public. You can Basically say that he took many steps forward to the people away from all the totalitarian governing ways that Stalin had instilled on his people.

Mikhail introduced a new policy's during his reign. One of which is called "Glasnost:" according to dictionary.com it means "the declared public policy within the Soviet Union of openly and frankly discussing economic and political realities." Another policy he introduced was Perestroikas which also by dictionary.com means "the program of economic and political reform." This allowed people to start their own business's which in communism didn't exist. Everything Gorbachev did was a way of giving the community what they have been in need of for a long time.

The Collapse of Communism

Communism started to collapse in the Eastern side of Europe, or former Warsaw Pact countries, during the 1980's. The collapse had to start at the base of Communism or better known as the Soviet Union. Once the USSR started to break due to Democratic revolutions and reforms. In the Eastern part of Germany people pressured the old Stalinist government to step out of position and let themselves take control by having their own president take charge. This new president order on November 9th of 1989 to take down the Berlin Wall or Iron Curtain as many might call it during the Cold War era.

I mentioned in earlier blogs that East Germany re-uniting with West Germany was one of the few sparks that led to the collapse of the Warsaw Pact. October 2rd of 1990 was the day they re-united and it also lead to the collapse of Communism. A while afterwards the Soviet Union had collapsed on the New Years of Eve of 1991. The reason for them collapsing was due to the other Communist governed countries witnessing what Germany did and thought of doing and overthrow themselves. The Soviet Union themselves had a new leader and that was Mikhail Gorbachev who I will talk about in the next blog. With Gorbachev as a leader Communism would cease to exist but there are several other countries that remained Communist.

Nelson Mandela And Aparthied

Apartheid is a form of Racial segregation in South Africa. Its similar if not the same representation of what we had going on in America with Racial Discrimination. African people did not have the same privileges as the white people did in South Africa. Though it was their own home territory the white people had no problem in taking over and instilling Apartheid into their land. Non-white people were set separate from the "white only" community in many places such as Government, bathroom, restaurants, and even schools. People who opposed this system would be banned and political leaders who opposed would even be killed.

Like how I said Nelson Mandela was a very important role in this time period is because he was one of the people who led to the Independence of Africa more specifically South Africa. Due to Nelson Mandela non-white people gained their rights back on their land. Also by non-whites I mean that even if you were half white you were still considered non-white. Back on topic, Mandela was prisoned for 27 years until he was finally released in 1990. The reason for locking him up was because he was one of those few people who spoke up. He disliked Apartheid and how the minority (the whites) were taking control of the majority (non-white). Just like Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. he was one of those people who led non-violent strikes and protests. These methods have worked in the past so why not try it again. Simple civil-disobedient acts led to the imprisonment of Mandela.

Though Mandela was sent to jail he never gave up on hope and believed that Apartheid would come to an end. The people who led admired him plenty even when jailed his people didn't give up on hope either. In time Apartheid did fade away and Mandela was set free from prison. Soon non-whites gained their rights and independence from the whites. Nelson Mandela was seen as not only a political leader but also a political hero his ways of standing up for those who couldn't do anything shows what a hero does. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993 for his actions. He is still alive today even after what he went through to get something for his people.

African Independence

Between the years of 1955 and 1975 Africa gradually started to gain their independence from overseas European Nations. The only countries exempt form this takeover were Libya, South Africa, Ethiopia and Egypt. This time period was also called the Scramble for Africa. African countries had no say in what the Europeans were doing due to the fact that the imperialistic Europeans were far more dominant in weaponry. Even though Imperialism also involved placing your own traditions into the country being taken over, many of the people in Africa were not pleased. Very few enjoyed the perks that were provided by the Europeans but little did they know that Europeans were just here for natural resources for themselves rather than helping the African population. That was the scenery of what was going on after 1955.

By 1975 Africa broke through the shackles of the European countries and gained their independence. A very important figure in Africa during this time period was named Jomo Kenyatta. Jomo gained a good education while growing up and soon studied politics while he worked as a carpenter. He was put in prison for trying to prevent the British from turning the Government system in Africa into communism which by the way would be a very bad mix with imperialism. After being let out of jail 7 years later, Africa had gained their independence and Jomo became the president of Kenya.

Some other important leaders during this time period was Cecil Rhodes. Rhodes was a racist British leader who tried instill British control over Africa. The famous picture of him standing over Africa with puppet strings really shows his character during this harsh time. Two other important figures during this time were Nelson Mandela who soon became president of South Africa and Kwame Nkrumah who was the leader of Ghana.

I will speak of Nelson Mandela in the next blog but Kwame Nkrumah also one of the men who deserve credit for part of the whole African Independence change. His three goals were to first learn to govern, second unify the four territories of the gold coast and lastly gain independence for his nation. on March 6 of 1957 Nkrumah declared Ghana independent.

Film Lesson: "The Right Stuff"

I found this movie to be very entertaining from its comedy and the plot itself. The back and forth competition between the U.S. and Russia was intriguing. For the most part of the movie I liked how it was more of a "I'm better than you" or "I can do this can you?" kind of relation between the two countries. Sure this was a serious time period in real life but in the movie the script apparently had a lot of room for some humor. For example the multiple shuttle launches until they we're finally successful. One of which didn't even get off the ground was hilarious because well for one it didn't blow up.

No wonder it was called the "Space Race." America was able to break the sound barrier. This scene was so well done just because of its believability due to the time frame in which the movie was made. Though we were able to do that we failed to send the first man to space. We were to send a man to space, after numerous tests on people, but instead ended up sending a monkey, yes a monkey. "The greatest nation in the world" prefers to send a primate into space instead of a real human due to fear of something going wrong. The monkey incident gave other countries a reason to make fun of America. Though the US didn't send a man to space, because it was far too dangerous, but Instead two or the three weeks later Russia successfully did it. Russia won that portion of the race by sending the first man into space, Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin. After which America was made fun of for not being able to do that.

The race was not over yet due to the fact that now either of the countries had to send the first man to the moon. This is where it was all business because America already lost one challenge in the race, they can't afford to lose another. We were able to send the first man to the moon and his name was Neil Alden Armstrong. This was the last thing that happened for the Space Race for there was nothing else to accomplish. We were already able to circle the globe multiple times. All in all, its a good solid movie and very factual. Shows you how much the human race can accomplish when in competitions like these. I mean breaking the sound barrier to sending people to the moon could soon lead to searching for other inhabitable planets. I'll remember Cold War because in this movie you never see any violence between Russia and the US it was just a simple Race to see who's better.

NATO and The Warsaw Pact

NATO stands for North Atlantic Treaty Organization, which consisted of 28 countries. The countries within this organization were mainly the United States, Canada, and several Western European Countries. This organization was made after World War II and it was to provide aid for countries in need. Especially during a time right after WW2 European Countries were in dire need of aid. This organization could also work in a way as if one country needed help then others within the organization can help out.

In response to NATO, communist nations in Eastern Europe formed the Warsaw Pact. Out of all the countries in the pact the Soviet Union was by far the most powerful. As the dominant force in that allied side they kept Military bases in allied countries with a socialist form of government to keep them running. You can basically see this as a Capitalist vs. Communist kind of situation. Speaking of Capitalists and Communists this would lead into several events in the the Cold War. Since Communism was known to spread around NATO was a good way to make sure some of the Countries in Western Europe wouldn't be exposed to that kind of system of Government. In fact its actually very interesting how the Warsaw Pact was right next to countries that were in the alliance of NATO.

Although the Pact was formed 6 years after NATO it started to lose its power/recognition as countries went away like Eastern Germany formed back with Western Germany. Sooner or later the countries just split.

Film Lesson: "Schindler's List"

Though this a Hollywood production it is very polished off and stays true to the meaning of the movie. Like "Night and Fog" there are very graphic scenes and unlike the documentary the actions taken towards the Jews are shown. The documentary only showed the results but not what lead up to them. Like all movies this was also plotted out but Spielberg tried to make it as realistic to the truth as possible. The difference between this film and the other mentioned above is because in this one you get to see the Jews talk and speak and see their reactions to what was going on. Sure it was scripted like I said but at least it was a very good of portraying emotions. If your a critic of movies and very critical on them then don't even bother saying a negative comment on this movie. Not only does it have everything it needs to be a good movie but it take place during a real event.

Some of the things you will see in a film like this are very disturbing as well. You get to see people killed on the spot. Its sick how the officers don't even care as long as they are gone. One thing that was a real emotion stirrer is the part where they show the kids. While the young adults and adults were in the selection stage the kids were being taken away. Also because the kids didn't have a clue what was going on. When they were on the big truck like vehicles being driven away they just waved "bye" and smiled. Shows you how innocence kills. Some of the kids did figure it out and tried to hide anywhere they could. I do have to say some kids were clever to hide under floorboards but the place is still a death camp.

Oskar Schindler is the man this movie is based around. He watched as the destruction around him was going on. Though being a German business man he was still able to save the lives of 1,100 Jews by employing them in his factories. Since he was a business man Schindler's mentality should be on money but instead it wasn't from how the ending was. The ending was very sad but a very important line I remember is "Whoever saves one life, saves the world entire." Schindler did just that but he wished he could have saved more. He starts saying how he could have saved more if he didn't waste his money away, since Jews were cheaper labor. I have to say this is one of the most powerful endings in the movie industry. Sure its in black and white and most of it is all dialogue but whats important is what you get out of the movie. Personally I did like Schindler's List better because of the actions in the movie but I do agree "Night and Fog" has a more emotional impact.