Week 4

Strategic Initiative Defensive(star wars): We all know the very well known movie series, Star Wars. One of the biggest movie franchises in history. That being said, we don't know the policy that Ronald Reagan proposed the US should take in 1983 since it confused the world how they'd take an initiative that was not well in their time period just yet. In this "Star Wars" policy, Reagan stated that the US should take initiative in creating a missile defense program in outer space which would shoot lasers at enemy missiles. This confused the general public. The United States would then be embarrassed since they did not hold such technology. 

Chernobyl: Chernobyl was a nuclear disaster which killed 31 people and caused a lot of radiation as well as money. This incident happened within the Ukraine. The event was under direct control from the Soviet Union, which explains why the incident occurred. The soviet union was ultimately the reason for this incident.

Perestroika: Perestroika was the policy which stated that Soviet citizens could protest and complain about economic problems and not have any consequences after. This policy was under jurisdiction of Gorbachev, the new Soviet leader. The main purpose of Perestroika was to reconstruct the Soviet Union's economy as well as government. This happened so that Communism would not be dispelled, but rather strengthen it and make it more efficient.

Democratization: Democratization was a huge deal in the Soviet Union. It was the first time in history that the Soviet society had a right to vote and pick out who they wanted to win the election. Gorbachev said that for the economy to thrive, that they would have to loosen up; they did so by having elections. 

Years of Miracles: In the year of miracles, Hungary was inspired by Poland, which led them to build a new constitution which assured free parliamentary elections. In this year, radical reformers took over a communist party, dispelled their leaders, and later dissolved it. Also, a year later, a non-communist government was set in power.

Fall of the Berlin Wall: East Germany demanded the right to travel freely and to have free elections, Honecker, leader of Germany stated that reforms were unnecessary and ordered police to break up a demonstration in Leipzig, but the police refused. Honecker lost his power and resigned. After, Krenz came into power and attempted to stabilize Communism. Krenz decided to open up Berlin wall and let east Germany into the West. Krenz had to resign due to widespread corruption being discovered, thus ending the East Communist party once and for all.

Collapse of the Soviet Union: All 15 unions declared independence from the Soviets which ended the Soviet Union. This happening showed that the Union had lost its power and through the power of Boris Yeltsin, it was seen as unconstitutional. This was no longer in relations with the Soviets, for the Union had dismantled, and peace was reached in all of Easter Europe. 

Week 3

Cuban Missile Crisis 1962- This Cuban missile crisis was caused through the failure of the Bay of pigs invasion attempted by the United States on Cuba. Fidel Castro knew about the invasion, which made the United States look like a fiasco. Cuba while in relations with the Soviet union, allowed Khrushchev to put 42 missiles on Cuba in case of a United States attack. A US spy plane saw contacted these missiles and informed the US. John F. Kennedy saw this as a threat from the Soviet Union and ordered to take back the missiles. The United States decided not to attack Cuba since they feared the situation would lead to an unanticipated World War III. This event happened due to the tension between the Soviet Union and the US during the Cold War. What Ultimately led to this event was on behalf of the United States due to the Bay of Pigs invasion. 

MAD 1960's: "MAD" is known as Mutual Assured Destruction. Through this strategy/policy, the Cold War never seized to exist, but rather continued. The tension between the Soviet Union and the United States grew every time that either country surpassed the other through Nuclear Weapons. Neither of these super powers wanted to attack the other, since it would completely annihilate their land. This is why a "hot war" was never sparked and the Cold War always remained silent and neutral. This is in relations with both super powers because they both created tension through the technology of Nuclear Warfare. 

Vietnam War 1965-75: The Vietnamese wanted freedom from foreign rule, Vietnam was separated into North and South Vietnam. Vietnam like most countries surrounding them, fell into Communism. This was known as the Domino Effect. Ho chi Mingh controlled the North and Ngo Dinh Diem controlled the South. The United States aided Diem and had about 15,000 troops in Vietnam. It later turned out to be that Ngo Dinh Diem rigged his presidential election and turned out to be a brutal ruler. The United States aided this man. 

Detente: "Detente" is the French word for "relaxation". Detente was essentially a time period where the Cold War was sort of neutral, and not much tension submerged. Relations between the United States and the Soviet Union improved due to change in Soviet leadership. There were more talks and negotiations between the two. Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford visited the Soviet Union as well as Breshnev visiting Washington. The United States response was to let in China into the United Nations. 

SALT negotiations: These SALT negotiations stand for: Strategic Arms Limitation Talks. For years, the Soviet Union and the US battled to see who would control Nuclear Warfare by having the most bombs. The United States continued on proving themselves, but it wasn't long until the USSR caught up. Because of this the SALT negotiations are created, in order to limit how many Nuclear Weapons a country is allowed to hold. SALT II was ratified when the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan. The Soviet Union were the ones who caused the SALT talks. 

Iranian Revolution: The Iranian Revolution was said to be a rare coincidence. For one, the revolution did not have any money issues, or political issues, except for the overthrow of an old style "pro-western monarchy" The person who was overthrown was aided by the United States. This happened so that Iran could become a republic. 

USSR Invades Afghanistan: The Soviet Union broke the peace and tranquility in 1979 in a 9 year long war against Afghanistan, this also resulted in the SALT II negotiation. Many countries aided Afghanistan such as the US, UK, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan. Both the Soviet Union and the United States were in relations in this war the USSR by declaring war on Afghanistan, and the US by aiding Afghanistan.