Chapter 29

The Contemporary Western World

Since 1973

Timeline

Map 29.1: The New Europe

The Revolutionary Era in the Soviet Union

The Brezhnev YearsThe Brezhnev DoctrineDétenteEconomic emphasis on heavy industryPatronage systemBy the early 1980s, the Soviet Union was in poor shape

The Gorbachev EraProblems of rigid and centralized planningPerestroika (restructuring)Glasnost (openness)Political reforms

• Call for a new Soviet parliament, 1988• Congress of People’s Deputies elected 1989

1988-1990 nationalist movements eruptLithuania declares independence, 1990

The End of the Soviet UnionGorbachev arrested, August 19, 1991; coup failsUkraine votes for independence, December 1991, others followDecember 25, 1991, Gorbachev resigns and turns power over to Boris Yeltsin, president of RussiaYeltsin introduces a free market economy

Yeltsin wins the presidency of Russia in 1996 but resigns in 1999Brutal war against Chechnya

Vladimir Putin replaced Yeltsin when he resignedVows to return breakaway state of ChechnyaIn 2001 launches reforms including unrestricted sale and purchase of landReform did not resolve Russia’s economic problems

Chechnya

Eastern Europe: The Collapse of the Communist Order in Poland

Edward Gierek becomes Poland’s leader in 1971Economic problems1980: protests erupt in response to increased food prices

SolidarityLech Walesa (b. 1943)Free parliamentary elections, 1988December, 1990; Walesa elected PresidentNovember, 1995; Alexander Kwasniewski elected President

The Collapse of the Communist Order: Hungary & Czechoslovakia

HungaryJano Kadar in power for more than 30 yearsMoves slowly toward legalizing small private enterprisesThe Democratic Forum won the elections of 1990 Were committed to a democratic government and free market economy

CzechoslovakiaCommunist government collapsed in 1989Vaclav Havel was in control of the governmentEthnic problems will lead to a peaceful division

Collapse of the Communist Order

RomaniaNicolae and Elena Ceausescu established dictatorial regimeCrushed demonstrations in Timisoara that led to other demonstrationsArmy will not support Ceausescu Ceausescu and his wife were arrested, tried and executed

BulgariaTodor Zhivkov (leader of Bulgarian Communist Party, 1954 – 1989)Protests result in Zhivkov’s ouster1991: election of new government led by the United Democratic Front

The Reunification of GermanyUnrest due to economic problemsCommunist government falls, November 1989Berlin Wall comes downPolitically unified, October 3, 1990

The Berlin Wall 1961 -1989

The Disintegration of YugoslaviaDeath of Tito in 1980League of Communists In 1990 republics of Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia, Herzegovina, and Macedonia worked toward a federal structureSlbodan Milosevic rejects these efforts without new border arrangements to accommodate Serb minoritiesSlovenia and Croatia declare independence

Yugoslavian army sent to attach CroatiaArmy becoming more and more a Serbian Army

1992 Serbs turn on Bosnia-HerzegovinaEthnic cleansingNATO strikes back

Map 29.2: The Lands of Former Yugoslavia

War in KosovoWar erupted in 1999Ethnic AlbaniansStripped of autonomous status in 1989Kosovo Liberation ArmyUS and NATO interveneMilosevic refused to sign agreement and NATO resumes air strikesMilosovic ousted from office in fall elections, 2000

Brought to trial by an international tribunal for war crimes against humanity

Germany Restored

Willy Brandt (1913-1992), 1969-1974Ostpolitik, “opening toward the east”

Treaty with East Germany, 1972

Helmut Schmide (b. 1918)Technocrat; concerned with economic conditions

Helmut Kohl (b. 1930)Problems of union

Great Britain: Thatcher and Thatcherism

ThatcherismProblems of Northern IrelandDirect rule from London, 1972

Conservatives gain political power, 1979Political changes of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher (b. 1925)

Broke power of the labor unionsAusterity to control inflationHard line toward communismRebuilds the militaryAnti-tax riots force Thatcher to resign, November 1990

Tony Blair (b. 1953), Labour Party, 1957

Uncertainties in France

François Mitterrand (1916-1995) , 1981-1995

Economic difficulties

Socialistic policies

Economic weaknesses of the 1990s

Move to conservatism, Jacques Chirac elected 1995

Confusion in Italy

Coalition Politics

Eurocommunism

Economic recession in the 1970s, economic growth in the 1980s

Political Corruption

Silvio Berlusconi

The Unification of Europe1973: European Economic Community (EEC) becomes European Community (EC) when Great Britain, Ireland, and Denmark join2000: EC contains 370 million people1994: EC renames itself European Union (EU) and focuses on political unification2002: Introduction of common currency (euro)ProblemsToward a United Europe: May 2004: Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Cyprus join EU

Map 29.3: European Union, 2004

The United States: The American Domestic Scene 1968 - 1981

Richard Nixon (1913-1994) elected in 1968Ends Vietnam war, 1973

Watergate scandal

Resignation, August 9, 1974

Jimmy Carter (b. 1924), 1976-1980Stagflation – high inflation and unemployment

Oil embargo, 1973

53 hostages held by Iran

The United States: The American Domestic Scene 1982 - Present

Ronald Reagan (b. 1911), 1981-1989Reverses the welfare stateMilitary buildupSupply-side economics

George H. Bush (b. 1924), 1989-1993Economic downturn

Bill Clinton elected 1992Misconduct

George W. BushTerrorismEconomic policies

Presidents Bush, Reagan, Carter, Ford, Nixon in Historic Photo

Contemporary Canada

Pierre Trudeau (1919-2000), elected in 1968

Brian Mulroney (b. 1939), elected in 1984

QuebecRené Lévesque

Parti Québécois

The End of the Cold War

During the late 1980s, US and Soviet Union move to slow down arms race1989-1990: Political upheaval in Eastern Europe upset postwar status quoThe Gulf WarSeptember 11, 2001: al-Qaeda attacked United StatesMarch 2003 – : Iraq War

An Age of Terrorism?Terrorist methodsMunich Olympic Games, 1972Left and right wing terrorist groupsMilitant nationalismTerrorist Attack on the United States

September 11, 2001Al-QaidaOsama bin LadenAfghanistan

The West and Islam

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict fueled anti-American sentiment in the Muslim world

Rise of Islamic governments in Iran and elsewhere

Impact of the Persian Gulf War

Impact of the Iraq War

Briefing on Iraq, with Bush Sr.

New Directions and New Problems in Western Society

Transformation in Women’s Lives• Decline in the birthrate

• Rise in the work force

The Women’s MovementAbortion

Women’s studies

Anti-nuclear movement/Ecology

International women’s conferences

Guest Workers and Immigrants

Europe experienced a severe labor shortage in the 1950s and 1960s

Guest Workers

Backlash against foreign workers

1980s: Influx of refugees

Impact of immigrants on social services

New limits on immigration

The Environment and the Green Movements

Problems in the environment

Chernobyl, 1986

Green Parties

Western Culture TodayPostmodern Thought

Ferdinand de Saussure (1857 – 1913)Jacques Derrida (1930 – 2004)

ArtRejection of object-based artworksPostmodernismPhotorealism

LiteratureGabriel Garcia Márquez, One Hundred Years of SolitudeMilan Kundera, The Unbearable Lightness of Being

MusicSerialismMinimalism

Religion & TechnologyVarieties of Religious Life

FundamentalismThe growth of IslamPope John Paul II, 1978-

The World of Science and TechnologyMilitary-Industrial Complex

• German rockets; jets• British work in computers• J. Robert Oppenheimer and the Atomic Bomb

ComputersDangers of science and technologyNew conceptions of the Universe

Popular Culture: Image and Globalization

MusicPunk

Music videos

Rap

Film: Fantasy and Epics

The Growth of Mass Sports

Globalization of Popular Culture

Toward a Global Civilization?

Problems are global not just national

Nongovernmental Organizations (NGOs)

Interdependency

Discussion QuestionsHow might we see Brezhnev as a transition between the old Soviet regime and the changes brought by Gorbachev?What steps did Czechoslovakia take to gain freedom from communism and then a peaceful split of the country?Why did the end of the Cold War prove so painful for Yugoslavia?How does the “war on terrorism” differ from previous international struggles?

Web Links

Gorbachev

The United Nations

Nationmaster: Europe

Europa: Gateway to the European Union

Frontline: Truth, War, and Consequences