Cold War Key Terms Ch.28 – Flashcards

The United Nations was a product of the Yalta Conference held toward the end of WWII. Pres. Roosevelt pushed for the creation of the UN before possible issues divided the big powers into hostile camps. He hoped the big three powers would join and after some compromising both Stalin and Churchill agreed to its formation, setting the first meeting for April 1945 in San Fransisco.

The Soviet Union and the U.S had always been evident due to disagreement of Europe after WWII. The end of the war allowed these differences to surge forward. There has always been debate over who started the Cold War: originally it was blamed on (1)Stalin for he was seen as the one to put repressive regimes on Eastern Europe and aroused fears in Communist expansion, it was then placed on (2)Truman due to his anti-communist thinking and want to expand around the Soviet Union. (3) Now it is believed the two had equal part in the conflict that arose after WWII. The rivalry between the two nations stemmed from their differing political ideas and their desire to spread their political thoughts to the rest of the world. The Soviet Union was unwilling to give up its Eastern European states gained from Germany after WWII, while the U.S. wished to hold its place as the top power, so both became suspicious of one another. Their mutual fears were raised to intense competition. Events between 1945 and 1949 had the two powers in continual conflict, though never directly w/ one another. The first disagreement was over the Eastern European states, as the U.S championed for self-determination and democratic freedom while Stalin wished for them to become communist and feared if they were independent they would turn against the Soviet Union. The Red Army continued to install pro-Soviet govs. in Eastern European states surrounding the Soviet Union satisfying Stalin while the populations and Western sympathizers saw this as an expansion of Stalin's power.

The US had connections w/ the West through several of their policies including the Truman Doctrine, by providing aid to anyone threatened by Communist expansion, the Marshall Plan, to provide financial aid to the Western countries, and the Policy of Containment, to stop the spread of communism to other countries in Europe. The Blockade of Berlin also became a source of tension between the two countries, as their differing political ideas separated the two. The search for security led to the formation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) between France, the Netherlands, Iceland, Belgium, Britain, Luxembourg, Italy, Denmark, Norway, and Portugal and the U.S. and Canada. Signed in 1949 it was an agreement between the powers to provide mutual assistance against threats and if anyone was attacked. Later West Germany, Greece, and Turkey joined NATO.

During the civil war in Greece the Communist People's Liberation Army, Soviet Union, and the anti-communist forces, Britain, were fighting for control of Greece. However, due to economic problems Britain was forced to w/draw from the conflict. This led Pres. Truman to propose the Truman Doctrine. The doctrine stated that if a country felt threatened by Communist expansion, the U.S. would provide financial aid to the country, for the U.S feared the spread of communism to the rest of the world. In March 1947 the U.S Congress provided $400 million to Greece and Turkey.

The Truman Doctrine was followed by the Marshall Plan, a European Recovery Program, under which the U.S. provided financial aid to European countries to help them rebuild after WWII. The under tone was that communism feed off of economic turmoil. Despite the good-sounding nature of the plan it simply helped to speed up divisions between the two blocks of Europe as the Soviet Union was not included in it. The Soviets viewed it as a binding contract of the Eastern European states to the U.S. and some believe it encouraged Stalin for greater control of Eastern Europe to safeguard Soviet interests.

The split between the Soviet Union and the U.S. became a fact of life by 1947. George Kennan, a writer in the magazine 'Foreign Affairs', introduced the idea of containment, which goals was to by any means, other than war, to limit Soviet expansion. Containment later became a policy after the U.S. involvement in the Berlin blockade

Germany became another source of tension between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. Other than denazification and the split into four occupational zones (as well as in German), nothing else had been established in Germany, so the Soviets decided to take the tech from East Germany and ship it to the S.U.. Also the German Communist Party had been reestablished under Walter Ulbricht to construct Soviet zones in eastern Germany. On the other side Britain, France, and the U.S. were beginning to merge their zones together economically, but the Soviets responded w/ a blockade set up around West Berlin that allowed no one to enter three of the occupational zones Berlin from the three occupational zones. The Soviets wanted to gather all of Berlin and not allow the creation of a separate Western Germany. The Western powers didn't wish to start a conflict so they didn't break through the wall rather the Berlin Air Lift was set up. It was a huge task for the three allied forces continually working to deliver food to Berlin. People lost their lives as 13,000 tons of food was delivered daily. The Soviet Union didn't interfere for they didn't want war either and eventually lifted the blockade in 1949. The blockade of Berlin caused dramatic tensions to increase between the U.S. and the Soviet Union and led to the separation of Germany into two states. The constitution for a Federal Republic of Germany was drafted for West Germany and Konrad Adenauer was elected chancellor, while East Germany set up the German Democratic Republic offcially separating Germany. Berlin also remained divided and a source of much tension between the two.

The Soviets had influence over Eastern European states as they set up the Berlin Wall, participated in the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and set up repressive regimes in Eastern European states where they spread their ideas of Communism. The Eastern European states formed the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (COMECON) in 1949 after the formation NATO and in order to insure economic cooperation. In 1955 a military alliance, the Warsaw Pact, was created between the Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Albania, Bulgaria, Poland, and Romania. They agreed to provide mutual assistance to one another. NATO, COMECON, and the Warsaw Pact broke Europe into hostile alliance systems.

Korean War: Japanese surrender in 1945 led the the divsion of Korea between the Soviet Union and the U.S. at the 38th parallel. North Korea became communist, while South Korea became anti-communist. The tensions ran high between the two countries until 1950 when North Korean troops, w/ Stalin's permission invaded South Korea. So the U.S. w/ permission from the United Nations intervened by sending American troops and South Koreans under General MacArthur to invade North Korea in an effort to stop Communism. However, Mao Zedong, Communist China's ruler, forced the Americans back w/ Chinese troops. Though Americans saw this as communist aggression, China was truly motivated by the fear of aggressive American forces being stationed in China. After two more years of war an armistice was signed in 1953 keeping the boundary line at the 38th parallel. This was seen as a victory in containing communism, though America's view was now hardened towards China resulting in its isolation. Vietnam War: When Ho Chi Minh's party Vietminh Front seized power in northern and central Vietnam and, because the French and Minh couldn't come to a conclusion war broke out in 1946. The war soon became a Cold War conflict when the Chinese gov. gave military supplies to Vietminh to protect its borders, while America assisted France, but had it prepare to create non-communist gov. in Vietnam. In the Geneva Conference of 1954, France and Vietminh reached a peace settlement that divided Northern Vietnam into a communist half and South Vietnam into a non-communist half w/ elections planned for the creation of a unified gov.

When the a fear of a "missile gap" filled America, Nikita Khrushchev took advantage of the distraction in order to solve the West Berlin problem. West Berlin had remained a place of wealth in the middle of poverty stricken East Germany and many East Germans used it to escape to West Germany. Khrushchev announced that if the West didn't remove their forces he would turn access routes to Berlin to the East Germans, but Eisenhower and the West stood firm, not wanting communism to spread and eventually Khrushchev backed down. After a summit in Vienna in 1961, where Khrushchev threatened Kennedy w/ another ultimatium but Kennedy ignored him, Khrushchev conspired w/ Walter Ulbricht, East German to build a wall around Berlin to cut of refugee flow (1961). Though the wall grew, the Americans accepted it since access from West Germany to West Berlin was still permitted. The tower became a symbol of division.

In 1959 Fidel Castro became the dictator of Cuba and in 1961 America tried to invade Cuba via the Bay of Pigs but it was a complete disaster. In 1962 the Soviet Union placed nuclear missiles in Cuba, causing the U.S. to become extremely uneasy. When the U.S. later found out that the Soviets were sending a fleet of missiles to Cuba Kennedy decided to blockade Cuba. The two sides were delayed so they could come up w/ a peaceful solution, as Khrushchev promised to turn back the fleet if Kennedy didn't invade Cuba. This crisis brought the world close to WWIII. The two nations had a telephone set up between Moscow and Washington for rapid communication and nuclear testing in the atmosphere was outlawed.

After WWII cries for independence and self-determination rose from Africa and Asia. The ending of colonial empires didn't come easily, for European powers, especially France/Britain, were reluctant to let go of their colonies, but the time of empire were over. Due to Japan taking over several European colonies, other countries soldiers who aided in the allies win want for self-determination, and European states exhaustion/financial weakness decolonization came quickly after WWII. Between 1947 and 1962 nearly every colony attained independence, creating a new world. Africa: It was realized as European powers let African colonies become independent that Africa hadn't been prepared for self-rule, so political organizations that had formed before the war became formal political parties, ex. Jomo Kenyatta's Kenya African National Union. Movements were mainly peaceful, but there was some terroist activities also broke out, ex.the Mau Mau. in Kenya. In Egypt this tpe of revolutionary atmosphere was also taking place, though it had gained its independence in 1922 it remained under British control. But it was more the Egyptian monarchy the people were opposed to rather than the British and in 1952 they overthrew King Farouk setting up an independent republic. Too weak to keep control, France granted Morocco and Tunisia independence, but wanted to keep control over Algeria bc so many French settlers were there. The National Liberation Front however began a guerrilla war and the France slowly became so divided over the fighting period that Charles De Gaulle, simply granted Algeria its independence in 1962. This caused many French and harkis (Muslim Algerians that helped France) to flee. Decolonization was difficult in South Africa where Europeans dominated the political system. The African National Congress goal to create political and economic reforms ultimately failed, but whites during this period continued to create racial segregation as they created apartheid to further blacks and whites. However when Europeans brutally repressed black demonstrations against apartheid, the ANC called for an armed resistance. By the late 1960's only parts of Southern Africa and the Portuguese possession of Mozambique and Angola, but those were eventually made independent in the 1970's. Middle East: During the 1930's as tensions between the Jews and Arabs intensified the British didn't let anymore Jews into the area and rejected the proposal to Palestine and independent state. However, sympathy after the Holocaust caused the Truman association to approve the idea for an independent Jewish state in Palestine. When the UN divided Palestine into a Jewish state and an Arab state, the Jews acted creating Israel in 1948. Its Arab neighbors saw this as a betrayal of the Palestinian people and invaded Israel, but the attempt failed leaving bitter feelings between the two. Colonel Gamal Abdel Nasser seized control of Egypt in 1954 and then natonalized the Suez Canal. This was seen as a threat to Britain and FRance who launched an attack on Egypt along w/ Israel(bc E bombed I territory). However, the U.S. saw this as a colonial movement so it joined w/ the Soviet Union to help Nasser pushing back forces. Nasser became a powerful leader promoting Pan-Arabism, uniting w/ Syria to form the United Arab Republic. But other states became suspicious of Nasser's intentions, but his plans came to an end anyway, as Syria pulled out of the alliance by military leaders. In 1964 Egypt led in the creation of the Palestine Liberation Organization to represent the interests of Palestine. The PLO believed only Palestinian Jews should be able to form a state in Palestine so al-Fatah led by Yasir Arafat began to launch terroists attacks. Alone, Israel began to immediately retaliate against any hostile act. Nasser created a blockade in Israel in 1967, through the Gulf of Aqaba. This caused the Six-Day War to break out in which Israel destoryed Nasser's forces and greatly expanded, arousing even more hatred to form among the Arabs. Asia: Ethnic and religious differences made decolonization in Asia hard. Britain had to negotiate w/ both the Muslim League and the Indian National Congress, but they remained divided causing the formation of India(Hindu) and Pakistan(Muslim). Only Gandhi was opposed to the separation of India. In 1957 Pakistan and India became independent, but violence continued as Hindus and Muslims overflowed the borders. Many other nations were also granted independence, but it also led to the Vietnam War between the French and Vietnamese that though granting temporary division that was never resolved resulting in the Second Vietnam War. China was split into two govs. the Nationalistic gov. of Chiang Kai-shek (central and southern) and the Communists led by Mao Zedong (north). A full scale war broke out in 1946 between the Communists and the Nationalists when a coalition gov. could not be formed. With the people's support, for many joined Zedong's People's Liberation Army, Mao Zedong's communist regime was able to defeat Kai-shek. Mao wanted to create a completely socialist state, beginning by collectivizing all farmland and nationalizing industry. But this didn't increase food production so Mao implemented the Great Leap Forward in 1958 creating "people's communes" and overall hoping to create the classless society. But the movement was a disaster, bc of bad weather and peoples hatred of the system, but Mao didn't give up quite yet.

After WWII Soviet forces remained in the lands they had liberated from the Nazis(except Albania, Yugoslavia, ; Greece) and the states soon became a part of the Soviet's sphere of influence seeing the development of similar political developments. Between 1945 and 1947, one-party communist gov.s became established, but in Czechoslovakia the communists didn't achieve their goals until the establishment of Klement Gottwald (communist leader) as pres.

Stalin returned to his method of acquisition of development capital, to regenerate the Soviet Union. Soviet workers had little pay and poor conditions, but produced many goods that were sold and the money used to but Western tech. and machinery (this fell heavily on women). Though Russia made had major growth w/in heavy industry, ex.first space satellite, and gained ground as a new power it didn't have the same standard domestically. The housing conditions were extremely poor w/ little consumption. Stalin had ruled for 15 years after WWII and despite wiping out all competition he was still paranoid leading to increasingly repressive regimes (characteristic), ex. all literary and scientific works must conform w/ the state needs. This anti-intellectual campaign brought political terror and a series of purges seemed imminent (after Jewish doc killing). Only in 1953, Stalin's death, stopped this violence.

Nikita Khrushchev proceded Stalin and the collective leadership set up after Stalin's death. He was responsible for the ending of forced labor camps and condemned Stalin's violence tactics at the 20th Congress of the Communist Party. Khrushchev took progressive steps to undue Stalin's repressive regime. He permitted greater intellectual freedom, even allowing Alexander Solzhenitsyn to publish his "A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich". Most importantly he pushed the de-Stalinization, the policy of denouncing/undoing the most repressive aspects of Stalin's regime, such as reducing secret police power and closing Siberian prison camps. However, this caused upset w/in the Communist ranks and caused uprisings in several Eastern European states, forcing Khrushchev to downplay the policy and hurt his popularity. Economic attempts to place more emphasis on light industry and consumer goods failed, and along w/ increased military spending, hurt the economy. Khrushchev's personality, curbing of party bureaucracy power, and failed foreign policies killed his reputation. His Cuban missile plan was the breaking point and caused him to be kicked out of office by the Soviet Politburo and have the power fall into Leonid Brezhnev.

Tito was the leader of the Communist resistance movement, after WWII, in Yugoslavia. Tito encouraged the idea of an independent Communist state and though Stalin wanted to take control of Yugoslavia, he was unable due to the people's support of Tito. The Yugoslav party congress saw their rebellion not as one against communism but rather one against Stalinism. They had less decentralized economy and gave more power to workers and communes.

After the rebellions in Poland, (1956)Hungary was inspired to act and outed the Stalinist ruler replacing him w/ Imry Nagy. Due to anger toward the secret police forces, economic difficulties, and a general dislike for Communism (for it wasn't a Hungarian creation, but rather a Soviet) a situation ripe for revolt was created. So Nagy decided to make Hungary a free nation, introducing ideas of free elections, showing Communist rule would not last for no longer. But Khrushchev didn't want this to happen, so the Red Army invaded and Janos Kadar replaced Nagy, crushing the revolts. Kadar was able to keep several of the economic reforms of Nagy

All Western European countries needed to rebuild their economies, re-create their democratic, and contend w/ Communism growth. After WWII, the Communist parties did well in Italy and France's elections (1946-1947) due to their involvement in Nazi resistance movements. However, when Cold War sides were taken the Communist's support of the Soviet Union cost them their votes in the West. Also, the Communist parties would also join forces w/ the other leftist parties, ex. Social Democrats and this hurt the Socialists. Also popular after WWII the Socialist ended up losing popularity due to their association w/ the Communist through Marxist policies. This led to a reform of the Socialist doctrine as they emphasized social justice and equality more than class struggle. By 1950 moderate political parties were making a comeback, especially w/ the Christian Democrats who emphasized democracy and economic reforms.

The Marshall Plan provided $9.4 billion for European countries from the U.S, from 1947-1950. This was used for raw materials and new equipment. This was a time of drastic economic growth that continued well into the 1950's and 1960's, and experienced virtually full employment.

Charles de Gaulle had originally been head of several resistance groups during WWII, and helped to ensure an establishment of a French provisional gov. after the war. After the Fourth Republic was established de Gaulle left politics, but returned with the French Popular Movement a rightist organization that blamed the other parties for France's political mess and called for a strong leader, which de Gaulle became in 1958. The Algerian crisis led to a split in France between war and anti-war believers, badly shaking the Fourth Republic. The possibility of a civil war led the leaders to allow de Gaulle to take over the gov. and revise the constitution. In 1958 he changed the new constitution, introducing the Fifth Republic and giving himself the majority of power. De Gaulle's goal was to make France a great power once again, believing an intro into the coal war would do so. He pulled out of NATO and entered the nuclear arms race. De Gaulle's efforts didn't really work though as France remained too small to truly be a world power anymore. Despite lots of $ going into the nuclear program, the French economy was also improved as it became a major producer and exporter. However, the nationalization of industries and businesses led to major gov. deficits, causing the cost of living to increase drastically. Due to the bad conditions a series of protests began shaking the gov. and breaking de Gaulle's reputation, who retired from office in April 1969.

By 1945 the occupational powers in West Germany slowly allowed the political parties to have more power. The Social Democrats(SPD), Christian Democrats(CDU), and Free Democrats(FDP) became the big three. Due to Cold War pressures the Federal Republic of Germany (between the three Western zones) became a reality as Konrad Adenauer played a key role in its creation. He desired to form a bond w/ France and wanted respect for W.G.. The Korean War led to call for Germany's rearmament as people worried about possible invasion from North Korea into Germany. So despite opposition in 1955 Germany was rearmed and joined NATO. Adenauer, as Chancellor, oversaw the "economic miracle" that occurred in West Germany largely in part to Ludwig Erhard. By using a policy of low taxes, new currency, free markets, an elimination of controls West Germany was able to double its real wages, lessen work hours, and lower unemployment. They even brought in guest workers. After WWII the occupational forces had tried and condemned Nazi War criminals, but when the Cold War began Germany began to take over the legal prosecution. But it was only in the 1960's that Germany's Nazi past was addressed more openly by including it in school curriculum. Adenauer resigned in 1963 w/ Erhard succeeding him and he largely continued Adenauer's policies of just giving Germany time to recover. However, economic dowturn led to the rise of Social Democrats and they became #1 party (1969).

The end of WWII left G.B. w/ massive economic probs., allowing the Labour Party to win over Churchill's Conservative Party. Under Clement Attlee(prime minister) the Labour Party created a welfare state w/in G.B. A welfare state is a sociopolitical system in which the gov. assumes primary responsibility for the social welfare of the citizens by providing such things as social security, unemployment benefits, and health care. The system first targeted the Bank of England, coal/steel industries, public transport, & public utilities. They also enacted the National Insurance Act and the National Health Service Act. The Insurance act set up a social security program while the Health Act established a system of socialized medicine, requiring doctors and dentists to work w/ state hospitals (costly at first but later 90% of docs participating). G.B. became a model state after WWII. Economic necessity, bc money spent outside the set up of a welfare state was reduced, caused the downfall of the British Empire. However, economic probs. brought the Conservatives back into power, but they continued the welfare state even beginning a housing reconstruction project. Though they had recovered, G.B. had done so at a much slower pace covering up an economic decline due to the debt from WWII, many international commitments, and low productivity caused low investment rates.

The search for unity between European states became an economic arena, due to the state inability to give up their political sovereignity. Italy, France West Germany, Netherlands, Luxembourg, and Belgium created the European Coal and Steel Community in 1951, in order to create a common market and eliminate trade barriers and tariffs, curtailing the power of cartels and monopolies w/ free trade and encouraging countries to trade what they had an advantage in. The success of ECSC led to the development of the European Atomic Energy Community.

The same year as ECSC, also saw the Rome Treaty being signed creating the European Economic Community. The EEC eliminated custom barriers, created free-trade protected from the world by an external tariff, and encouraged standardization and cooperation between its members. It became the world's largest exand purchaser of raw materials.

Big changes occurred in the lower classes as there was a shift from rural to urban areas and hence a shift from agricultural jobs to white collar positions. W/ this change came an increase in wages enabling the working class to develop consumer practices like the Middle class. This led to a consumer society, as the working class adopted the consumption patterns of the middle class and payment plans, credit cards, and easy credit made consumer goods such as appliances and automobiles affordable. Shopping for food also became easier w/ shopping markets, but focus was on the car. Due to a combination of rising incomes, shorter working hours, and more holidays came an even greater popularization of mass leisure. Along w/ this there was also more commercialized leisure activities bc of media. Mass leisure was also shown through the growth of mass tourism, now also available to the lower classes (also bc they were less expensive).

Though the welfare state appeared to be another method of control of the gov. over the people, it was supposed to be a way to make people live better and more meaningful lives as more opportunities became available to them. Efforts had been made in the past ex. old-age pension, but these were not truly directed toward the citizen nor did the gov. care about their citizens. Postwar legislation extended earlier benefits/ created new ones. Though these benefits varied from nation to nation, there were some common threads: unemployment, sickness, accidents, and old age pensions were extended affordable health care (though methods for this varied country to country tax payment vs. individual payment). Also in some countries family allowances were also established to provide some protection, material assistance and security to children. Some states also sought lower university prices so more people could be educated and receive higher educations creating more white-collar positions. The welfare states spent way more money on social services than ever before. The gender ques. w/in the welfare state was wether women should be separated as mothers or treated as individuals. William Beveridge argued that mothers in the workforce needed special treatment over single women, so the British welfare state encouraged women to stay at home w/ the kids rather than work. West Germany also discouraged women from the workforce mostly to distinguish themselves for Communist Eastern Europe, where women were encouraged to work and provided working mothers w/ facilities and aid. France also treated women as equals, but to encourage population growth they also provided working mothers w/ aid.

After WWII women returned to the home in order to give their jobs to soldiers returning from war. This created a "baby boom", but which declined due to the popularization of birth control methods. With smaller families came an increased amount of married women w/in the workforce as they now spent less years raising children and more times to chose their path. However, women still faced lower salaries and occupation restrictions. They also still struggled to balance work and household/family upkeep. One aim of the women's movement was completed though. The right of suffrage was now held by women in much of the Western world and some of the Eastern. The women's liberation movement of the 1960's had its roots in the early work of Simone de Beauvoir who's involvement in existentialist movement led to involvement in political causes. She explained in her "The Second Sex" how male dominance had caused women to become defined by their differences.

Feminism is the belief in the social, political, and economic equality of the genders. In the 1960's the Feminist movement, or women's liberation movement, gained popularity once more. One of its key figures was Betty Friedan who struggled to maintain the image of the perfect housewife, so she wrote "The Feminine Mystique" analyzing the probs. middle-class women face and that they were denied equality. She later created the National Organization for Women (NOW) in order to bring equality to women. Friedan also believed in adding an amendment to the Constitution to guaranteeing women's rights.

Art: Many artists fled to the U.S., because of their revolutionary ideas and thinking of the war. U.S, specifically New York, became the art center of the world and especially promoted Abstract Expressionism which was an artistic movement that broke w/ all conventions of form and structure in favor of total abstraction. A brilliant ex. of this is Jackson Pollock who did works such as 'Convergence' (the big 'splatter' paintings). Pop Art was another popular movement that was an artistic movement that took images of popular culture and transformed them into works of fine art. The Independent Group, a group of several British students, were ex. of this w/ their crowing achievement "This is Tomorrow" becoming incredibly popular. The most famous Pop artist was Andy Warhol who took celebrities and commercial art, like Campbell's soup, and made them into masterpieces. Literature: The most popular movement in in literacy was the "Theater of the Absurd", began in France, but popularized by Samuel Beckett. The theater posed the ques. what is happening now? (that was referring to the plays plot) This idea reflected the time period by showing the meaninglessness of life and the desolate outlook on life, as people were left lost and confused by the wars.

Existentialism was a philosophical movement that arose after WWII that emphasized the meaninglessness of life, born of the desperation caused by the two WW and the loss of traditional values. It was popularized by two Frenchmen Jean-Paul Sartre and Albert Camus who emphasized the absence of God in the universe meaning humans had no hope and no future. Camus believed both the world and humans were meaningless. The only hope of man was themselves, for only oneself can determine ones morals, future, and value. So existentialism emphasized the ethics of actions, involvement in life, and with others. It expressed the struggle to find oneself in a depersonalized age.

The "Theater of the Absurd" shook the literature world by creating a play about what was happening now rather than what was going to happen, which contradicted the past thinking surrounding the movement. Both existentialism and the revival of religion were ways to question what had become of western values and traditions, as some attempted to revive the past but failed to do so. Existentialism ques. what was previously know by addressing the key ques. of who controlled humans...simply the individual.

Several religious thinkers tried to bring life to Christianity in order to answer the despair generated by the collapse of civilized values created by WWII. The Protestant theologian Karl Barth attempted to bring the insight of the Reformation era into modern day thinking and argued that to their imperfection humans could only be saved through the grace of God. Pope John XXIII also made several changes to Catholicism by summing the 21st ecumenical council (ex. changed liturgy to the vernacular). But these attempts didn't bring back its popularity simply brought it back to life in the 1940's before declining once again.

In an attempt to once again popularize Catholicism Pope John XXIII created the 21st ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. This became known as the Vatican II and the group went on to liberate many elements of Catholicism, such as making the liturgy of the Mass in the vernacular and opened up other avenues to multiple Christian faiths.

Popular Culture became a way for people to define themselves w/in the Western culture. Popular culture also became heavily intertwined w/ economics as popular culture began to develop w/ economics. So popular culture is tied w/ mass consumer society that emerged.

Through movies, television, and music America spread its ideas of consumerism and American dream around the world. Film making was America's primary tool for the spread of american ideas. However, despite Hollywood's popularity, small film houses remain w/ avant-garde film-makers who wanted to explore other content Hollywood wouldn't dare showing yet. 'The Seventh Seal" blew up Ingmar Bergman, who was compared to a playwright w/ his European art films. Other popular and daring film makers include French Francois Truffaut and Italian Federico Fellini. Television became another form of Americanization as America was able to sell their televisions at very low prices to Europe and other nations. The television became the center of middle class life. Americanization also occured w/ music as classic forms of American-originated music, ex. Jazz, Blues, Rhythm and rock 'n'roll, spread often travelling in a loop from America to the world and back to America w/ new ideas and forms. The availability of cheap, personal music also popularized American music and allowed for musical development. Soon blues and rhythm became popular among young, white audiences.

In the 1960's the Western World experienced a series of protests including Student Protests (education), Sexual Mores, Women's rights, and an anti-war movement started by strong protests against the second Vietnam War. The forces these protestors set in motion eventually changed Western society.

The 1920's had witnessed an expansion in drug experimentation, pornography, and sexual practices, but after WWII the past morals and manners began to break down creating what some call a permissive society. Sweden took the lead in the sexual rev. as it allowed sex education to be taught in schools as well as decriminalizing homosexuality. A gay rights movement soon followed as both the U.S. and Western Europe followed Sweden's lead. The intro of birth control allowed more practice of sexual means and as cities became more open about sex (like Amsterdam) the subject became less taboo. The breakdown of the traditional family was also clear as divorce became more common and extramarital sex was more widespread. Magazines like the 'Playboy' encouraged sex outside of marriage.

The 1960's also saw the emergence of drug culture among the youth. The youth culture fostered rebellion against authority. With a growing political awareness and the beginning of the Second Vietnam War youth protest movements began in the 1960's. After WWII universities began to open their doors to a greater variety of students from the middle and lower classes due to lower or no fees. Due to small classrooms, ignorant teachers, authoritarian administrations, and irrelevant education students began to revolt (a continuation of the spontaneous disruptions in the U.S. due to the 2nd Vietnam War). After the 1968 French student revolt protests began throughout Europe and many German students were inspired by Herbert Marcuse, who argued that capitalism had undermined dissatisfaction by the consumption of material things and only students could liberate the masses. But not many supported these student revolutions. The Second Vietnam War, desire to reform universities, materialism, and a worry about the direction of Western society all were motivations for the student protests. They fizzled out by 1970's but their concerns were brought back up in the 1990's/2000's.

The 1960's was also a revival of feminism or the women's liberation movement who argued that the acquisition of political and legal equality had not brought true equality w/ men. A key figure in the feminist protests was Betty Friedan who analyzed the problems middle class American women faced in 'The Feminine Mystique' arguing women were being denied equality w/ men. Friedan founded the National Organization for Women (NOW) which wished to bring women into the light of their situation and take action to bring equality now. She was also an advocate for guaranteeing equal for women's rights to become an amendment.

Between 1964 and 1982 the Soviet Union seemed to be the same under Leonid Brezhnev (rose under the rule of Stalin) who though optimistic, stuck to strict and oppressive rule over the union. The years were relatively calm under Brezhnev, except for the Brezhnev Doctrine. The Brezhnev years took place during the period of detente which was a period of calm between the Soviet Union and the U.S. as a relaxation of authoritarian rule took place and new styles introduces, however opposers were still arrested. Brezhnev encouraged heavy industry, but the gov.'s central planning led to a huge bureaucracy that discouraged productivity, workers were inefficient for they had guaranteed jobs and no motivation to work, poor agricultural harvests, and the increasing dependence on capitalist countries caused industrial growth to decline and the economy inefficient. Also the Soviet Union's ruling system was based on who you knew and whose support you had leading to corruption, but Brezhnev was unwilling to change the system due to the powerful leaders involved. By 1980, due to declining economic rates, infant mortality, alcoholism, and deterioting working conditions the Soviet Union was ailing. However the rise of a small group of reformers, led by Yuri Andropov led to new developments. Despite Andropov's sickness he still created a new era due to his support of Mikhail Gorbachev, who brought a new age to the Soviet Union.

The revolts of 1956, that had been repressed, of Eastern European satellite states led to a new awareness of Soviet leaders who adopted new policies and reforms to appease the population and make Socialism more acceptable. Ex. In Poland worker unrest led to the rise of Solidarity, led by Lech Walesa, and was supported by intellectuals, workers, and the Catholic Church, leading to a rise in concessions. The gov. seemed unable to stop it until they stopped the flow of concessions in 1981, arrested Walesa, outlawed the union, and imposed military rule. In Hungary, under Janos Kadar, several reforms took place including legalizing small private-owned shops/enterprises, slowly moving away from Soviet dominance and establishing relationships w/ the West.

The Brezhnev Doctrine was one that stated the Soviet Union had the right to intervene if socialism was threatened in another socialist state. It later an "article of faith" and allowed Soviet troops to enter Czechoslovakia in 1968. Czechoslovakia remained oppressed under Antonin Novotny, a Stalinist, who alienated many members of his party and was hated by the Czechoslovakians. A writers rebellion in 1967 led to Novotny's resignation and Alexander Dubcek election. Dubcek led a period of reformation including freedom of speech/press, freedom to travel, and relaxation of secret police. The Prague Spring was a period of happiness that was produced by these reforms. However, due to calls for even more reforms during this period, Czechoslovakia was invaded by the Soviet's Red Army in 1968, crushing the movement and installing non-reformist Gustav Husak in charge of Czechoslovakia.

After Adenauer era, the West German voter moved from Christian Democrats (center-right) to Social Democrats (center-left) who by forming a coalition w/ the Free Democrat party remained in power until 1982. The first Social Democrat chancellor, who's policies of Ostpolitik, "opening toward the East", earned him a noble peace prize(1972). In 1971 Brandt met w/ Walter Ulbricht, and together they established "good neighborly" relations w/ the two Germanys made official by a treaty signed in 1972. This led to greater cultural, personal, and economic contacts between the West and East, but the discovery of a spy in his advisors led to Brandt's resignation. His successor Helmut Schmidt focused more on the tech. of West Germany as he eliminated 10 billion marks in three years. But when his coalition of Social and Free Democrats fell apart the Free Democrats joined in a partnership w/ the Christian Democrats forming a new gov. under Helmut Kohl.

An example of women now attaining political positions can be seen in the election of Margaret Thatcher, in 1979, as Britain's first female prime minister. They can also be seen in the election of Petra Kelly as a delegate to Germany's Green Party in 1987.

Between 1964 and 1979 Britain's Conservative and Liberal parties alternated in power since neither could deal w/ the conflict between Protestants and Catholics in Ireland, the formation of the IRA, and Britain's failing economy (due to a failure to modernize and frequent work strikes). In 1979 the Conservative party rose to power once again under Margaret Thatcher,who became the first women prime minister in Britain, and pledged to make Britain's economy better. She partially succeeded as she broke the power of the labor unions, and introduced Thatcherism, in which she improved Britain's economy but at a price, as the South became prosperous but the Midlands and North fell. Education also declined over this period. In the area of foreign policy Thatcher took a hardline approach to communism and oversaw a large military buildup. An ex. of Britain's new army can be seen in them winning the Falkland War. Though it had much economic and life loss, it gained Thatcher popularity. But truly Britain was no longer a world power.

After WWII science and tech. was combined to create new and brilliant technology, ex. atomic bomb and computer, and though made for destructive purposes they have been adopted to peaceful use. Science also became gov. and military funded for only larg corporations had the money. No better example of the new form of science than the space race between the U.S. and Russia. Computers are a display of what the alliance between science and technology can create. Grace Hopper was a key figure in creating COBOL the computer lang. that allowed it to process both numbers and letter. Transistor, the silicon chip, and microprocessor has led to the development of smaller computers and portable ones. Also in the realm of physics that described the universe we live in as an interconnected whole that humans were a part of not separate, proving that the Newtonian theory of a mechanized universe as outdated and wrong. The damaging effects of technology some believe include their effects on the environment and "playing God",

Though the Cuban Missile Crisis had lessened tensions between the S.U. and U.S. the Second Vietnam War caused another rift among the two, playing a key role in the Cold War. Detente was the relaxation of tensions between the S.U. and U.S. that occurred in the 1970's. after the Second Vietnam War.

Since the Vietnamese had defeated their French masters in 1954, it had been divided into a Nationalist Northern section under Ho Chi Minh aided by the Soviets and a U.S-supported North under Ngo Dinh Diem.nHowever, the U.S. after providing much military/financial support became upset w/ the Diem regime since it couldn't garner support from its people or stop Vietcong (South Vietnamese guerrilla forces), so the U.S. supported a military coup of the gov. in 1963. However, the new gov. seemed even less capable of dealing w/ the regime and as the Vietcong forces began to swell w/ Northern military units and they seemed capable of taking and uniting Vietnam under Communist control, the U.S. desperately turned to bombing raids in the North to keep forces at bay. The U.S's logic behind this was the domino theory, that if one colonial country fell to communism all the others would free themselves from colonial rule and then fall to communism. The U.S, despite superior weaponary, was unable to defeat the North Vietnamese and the Vietcong forces due to it being on their homeland and the guerrilla tactics they used. Antiwar efforts also rose in the U.S. and quickly spread to Europe as the war escalated and they began to have opinions against the U.S's involvement w/in the war, popularized by Charles de Gaulle. As antiwar cries rose, America, under Pres. Nixon, finally drew out of the war in 1973. Vietnam was soon reunited under Communism. The domino theory proved ineffective, as no other countries fell. The U.S. resumed its relations w/ China and a new period called detente rose between the U.S. and the Soviet Union.

The Johnson administration had sent U.S. troops To South Vietnam to stop the spread of Communism, but their true concern became Communist China. Even though Mao Zedong's Great Leap forward had failed he launched an even greater push toward Communism Zedong believed that only a continual atmosphere of revolutionary fervor would allow the fianl stage of Communism to grow in China, so he sent out the Red Guards to eliminate the "Four Olds": old ideas, old culture, old customs, and old habits. This "Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution lasted from 1966-1976. The Red Guards would destroy property and beat individuals, forcing them to commit their "crimes". However, many disagreed w/ Mao's approach and when he died a reformer group took over and removed the radicals, adopting new rational ideas. The U.S had for years feared the expansion of Communism in China, shown by the Truman Doctrine, and so the Second Vietnam War raised concerns over Communist China's intentions. But when Pres.Nixon went and visited Mao Zedong in 1972, and was able to work out he differences between the two countries. In the 1970's the relation con. to improve In 1979 diplomatic ties were formed between the two communities, and later a "strategic relationship" was formed for the prevention of Soviet intervention in Asia.

Detente was the relaxation of tensions between the Soviet Union and the United States that occurred in the 1970's. An ex. of this relaxation was the Antiballistic Missile Treaty that both the countries signed to limit their systems for the launching of antiballistic missiles (ABMs). The U.S. wanted to make it unlikely for either country to launch a preemptive strike due to an 'equalization' between the two countries missile powers. This was seen as the best way to advoid a nuclear crisis.

The Helsinki Accords in 1975, was another ex. of detente, that by the U.S., Canada, and all European nations recognizing the borders established after WWII acknowleged the Soviet's sphere of influence over Eastern Europe. It also stated that the powers that had signed must recognize and protect Eastern European citizen's human rights.

Under Pres.Carter, the feeling of detente slowly faded w/ the invasion of Soviets into Afghanistan in 1979 to keep up a Soviet-pro regime w/in the country. This created tensions between the U.S. and S.U., as the U.S. pulled of the Olympic Games in Moscow and Carter placed a grain embargo on the Soviet Union. The intro of Pres. Reagan caused the tensions to grow as he called for a military arms buildup, stimulating a nuclear arms race. In 1982 Reagan introduced nuclear-tipped cruise missiles and began Strategic Defense Initiative. By providing weapons to anti-Soviet forces in Afghanistan, the U.S. helped maintain a "Vietnam-like" war in Afghanistan that dug the Soviets deep in their own conflict. The Afghanistan War showed the power of guerrilla-war tactics against superpowers leading to heavy casualities.

In the 1970's air pollution, water pollution, corrosive monuments/buildings, disappearing wildlife, dying forests, the nuclear disaster in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic and the reveilling of horrible ecological conditions in Eastern Europe caused most of Europe to begin advocating for new regulations in order to protect the environment. Growing ecological awareness brought rise to green movements and parties originating from anti-nuclear, women's rights protests, foreign worker concerns and spreading to become accepted political parties. The most prominent was the Green Party in Germany that was officially organized in 1979. Though green parties have gained popularity, they have not replaced the normal political parities, for the many of the green parties found it hard to agree over all issues. Also traditional parties began their own programs to help clean up pollutions and make conditions safe once more.

Postmodernism rejects the modern Western belief in objective truth and focus instead on relative nature of reality and knowledge that can constantly change depending on the surroundings of the individual. The work of Ferdinand de Saussure tried to understand meaning and knowledge through lang. and signs, concluding that humans could not be educated w/o language and that lang. consists of two parts the 'signifier', the expression of a concept, and the 'signified', its meaning. De Saussure's believed meaning seeks expression in lang. Jacques Derrida demonstrated that Western culture is dependent on binary opposition. Poststructuralism or deconstruction (Derrida's theory) if the belief that culture is created and can therefore be analyzed in a variety of ways like how people create their own meaning. Michel Foucault explored the relationship of power and came to the conclusion that power always exist in every relationship and connection. The domination of power also creates the opposition to power, for w/ opposition power would lose all its meaning and value.

In the 1960's Marshall McLuhan predicted that communication tech. would lead to a shrinking of the world and a breaking down of cultural barriers, a very optimistic and at the time popular ideas. But critics believe that McLuhan's vies were too utopian and that a select number of countries had dominated this growth in tech. allowing western culture to dominate over others leading to other nations being forced to have new desires and dissatisfactions. Many believe it has been an exchange of ideas as both ideas have flowed to the rest of the world becoming quite Americanized while other cultures have also been introduced to the West.

Beginning in the 1960's and continuing into the 1980's postmodernism became a focal point of the arts. It moved away from the futurism of modernism and went back to traditional roots or elevating pieces to a 'fine art' level. It also began to include more styles and artists began to mix different forms of art together. Art: In the 1960's and 1970's artists moved away from object-based works and focused on "happenings", as Allen Kaprow described the style. Kaprow would create unscripted pieces that would occur in public w/ audience participation. Emphasis was placed on works being out of traditional museum settings and include the pieces surroundings. The environmental art that was produce was a good example of the uses of one's surroundings ex. Roberts Smithsons' 'Spiral Jetty'. Postmodernism in architecture produced pieces that combine traditional architecture of the past w/ the glamorous, sleek buildings of modernism, ex. Charles Moore. Finally this period also produced Photorealism, where artist created paintings or sculptures w/ such detail that they appeared to be photos. Literature: In literature Postmodernism introduced the idea of "magic realism", the finest ex. being "One Hundreds Years of Solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Milan Kundera took "magic realism", but slightly altered it to create a style that examined moral issues through its fantastical elements while remaining hopeful. Music: In music many composers kept traditional developments of music after the Cold War, while also including several modern ideas such as dissonance and atonality. The most significant development in music is serialism though, that limits the composer to a certain set of tones while the variety can cause any mixture of tones, allowing for experimentation. It focused on intellect and mathematical abilities, as Olivier Messiaen showed, a respected serialist. An offshoot of this that became more popular among the people but less so in the critical eye, is minimalism which is offset but more harmonic then serialism. The probs. most famous is Philip Glass who demonstrated this music could be adapted to many genres.

The development of satellite television led to the creation of a whole new arena for sports, as now individuals could enjoy sports from w/in their own homes, creating massive amounts of revenue for the tv companies. The Olympics became an example of the new tv sports craze. Sports have also become outlets for extreme nationalism, hence political involvement, and are marred by violence, ex. The World Cup. When the Soviet Union became apart of the Olympics this brought back Cold War sentiment, causing nationalist spirit to clash. This changed the spirit of the games from friendly competition to national fighting. Other ways of 'fighting' took place in the form of boycotts, pulling out, and hostage situations in order to protest against certain nations and wars. The popularity of mass sports has led to a greater pressure to win and w/ the intro of technological science, athletes have found new ways to cheat in order to improve their performance and win.

After being elected first secretary of the Party in Stavropol (1955), the first secretary of the regional Party committee, then a member of the Party's Central Committee in Moscow (1978), a full member of the Politburo, and a secretary of the Central Committee, he became the leader of the Soviet Union in 1985. Gorbachev was a reformer from the start as stiff centralized planning had stifled innovation, such as computer development. He also worked toward better living conditions for the people as the citizens began to notice the dropping conditions. He used Perestroika "reconstruction" and Glasnost "openness" to begin reforms. Politically called for the creation of a new Soviet Parliament The Congress of People's Deputies, he allowed the formation of other political parties, and ellminated Article 6(gaurented Communist leading role). He also began to limit his own power as the state became separate from the communist party, so he created a position of presidency and became the Soviet Union's first president in 1990. A consequence, however,of Gorbachev's losing of the "iron grip" on the countries he controlled led to ethnic revolts and mass complaints that communist control had prevented from coming out in the past. Also a result of the losing of control was the nationalistic revolts that happened in many Soviet controlled countries, for they now had a chance to voice their want for self-rule and independence.

Perestroika or "reconstruction" was the cornerstone of Gorbachev's reform, that started w/ simple economic reform w/ limited free enterprise and a market economy. But he soon realized political/social change would have to happen along w/ it. Glasnost, or "openness" was a part of the Perestroika allowed Soviet citizens to talk openly about the strengths and weaknesses of the Soviet Union and allowed for the introduction of previously banned things, ex.jazz music.

(All music during this period typically discussed social injustice) The period from 1967 to 1973 was the true period of rock 'n' roll as new sounds and a mix of different ethnicities and cultures were added to the sounds. Countries began taking pieces of non-western sounds and styles an applying them to the rock 'n' roll genre. There was also the pattern of American styles traveling to Europe and then back to the U.S. again. An ex. of this is in the Punk genre that didn't do so well in the U.S. but flourished in the economic crisis in Britain, where the youth pushed by economic crisis advocated rebellion and anarchy. The Punk rockers rejected materialism shown through their rebellious clothing, but their downfall came in their own "rejection of music" (they pushed too far). The introduction of MTV Music Channel led to the creation of music videos as an art form of their own right, popularized by artist like Micheal Jackson, who w/ the help of tech. and new synthesized instruments created futuristic sounds and new styles w/in their music. Hip-hop and rap were also popularized during the 1970's and 1980's as its raw beats and discussion on social injustices brought attention to its unique sound and message.

From 1988 to 1990 there was a series of nationalistic movements due to the release of the Soviet's iron grip by Gorbachev. This led to ethnic concerns and calls for independence/self-rule. Revolts started in Georgia(1988) and continued in Latvia, Estonia, Moldova, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, and finally Lithuania, where in 1990 it declared its independence.

Gorbachev struggled to balance conservatives who disliked the disorder w/in the Soviet Union, and the Liberal forces who came to like a decentralized Soviet federation. Overall he wanted to cooperate w/ Boris Yeltsin, the pres. of the Russia Republic (1991). In 1991a group of conservatives, hoping to stop the disintegration of the Soviet Union, arrested Gorbachev and tried to seize power. But the resistance of Gorbachev to work w/ conspirators and Yeltsin, along w/ the Russian peoples, resistance of the coup, allowed it to quickly fail, but it allowed for the what the conservatives had tried to stop, the Soviet Unions fall. Ignoring pleas by Gorbachev the Soviet Republics moved towards independence, becoming a new and voluntary commonwealth of Independent states. Gorbachev resigned in 1991 and was replaced w/ Yeltsin. Some say the fall occurred due to the Soviet's involvement in an arms race w/ the U.S. that it didn't have the resources for. But most say it was the makeup and condition of the Soviet Union itself that led to its eventual collapse, plus they faced the decline of the Soviet economy. By the time Gorbachev came it was too late. Another factor was the multiple ethnicities w/in the Soviet Union and their calls for independence that brought the eventual collapse of the S.U.

A power struggle emerged w/in the new Russia as Yeltsin wanted to create a free market economy, but was met w/ resistance from former Communist and nationalist, who were supported by the many people, due to Russia's hard economic situation. But Yeltsin pushed forward w/ the abolishment of the Congress of People's Deputies, the formation of a two-chamber parliament, and establishing a strong presidency. When he faced resistance from parliamentary hard-liners, he stormed the building and arrested the opponents, consolidating his power in parliamentary. Yeltsin worked toward a market economy and a pluralistic political system. Widespread corruption and economic inequality led to doubts about the new system. A war in Caucasus where the Muslim people of Chechnya sought independence from Russia revealed the truly bad state of Russia. In 1999 Vladimir Putin(former KGB) replaced Yeltsin, and he worked toward creating a centralized power in the federal gov. of Moscow. Putin also worked toward keeping the Chechnya people w/ Russia. Russia experienced a budget surplus and growing economy due to Putin's tax cuts and the unrestricted sale/purchase of land. Putin's silencing of critics aroused controversy, but also garnered sympathy from Russians to restore pride and discipline to Russia once again. Later Dmitry Medvedev was elected pres. (2008).

In the Caucasus, the Muslim Chechnya people sought independence from Russia. This drained Russia's budget revealing its truly weak state. However, Putin wished to keep Chechnya under Russian authority, so fighting continue through the 2000's nearly reducing Grozny, Chechnya's capital to ruins(so Russia won).

Stalin's postwar order seemed so complete that few believed it could be undone, but the discontent w/in satellite states and Gorbachev stating that his gov. would not become involved militarily, caused the revolutions of 1989 where the communist regimes fell quickly.

The Martial law impose in 1981 didn't solve Poland's probs. so in 1988 free parlimentary elections took place, that both the military regime and the Soviet Union didn't intervene. A new Solidarity coalition was set up ending Communist rule. In 1990 Lech Walesa (head of solidarity) was elected the new Polish pres.

Hungary: Due to economic probs.(1980's) the Communist regime attempted reforms, but they came too late as new political parties called for a democratic republic. A coalition go.v was formed in 1990 making Hungary a Democratic gov. Czechoslovakia: After the repression of demonstrations in 1988-1989 created larger demonstrations, leading to the collapse of the communist regime in 1989. Pres. Gustav Husak was replaced w/ Vaclav Havel (a playwright) who proved to be a brilliant advocate for Czech democracy and new order in Europe as he set out on a good will tour. ROMANIA: Romania proved a violent opposition, as dictator Nicolae Ceausescu rejected Gorbachev's reforms. Ceausescu's measures to reduce debt (which he did) led to a drop in the standard of living prompting demonstrations. In 1989 the crushing of a demonstration in Timisoara led to more demonstrations. This led to the army's refusal of more repression, so Ceausescu was captured, tried, and executed, while the National Salvation Front took over.

The fall of communist gov. in Eastern Europe led to much happiness and meant the abolishment of communist rule and oppression by the Soviet Union. In 1989 and 1990 the new gov.s worked hard to create democratic procedures and market systems they believed would revitalize their lands. But they still faced ethnic discontent, little experience w/ democracy, and a painful switch to market economy that led to much suffering ex.unemployment. However, many places made the transition to free market and democracy successfully: In Poland, for ex., Aleksander Kwasniewski pushed Poland toward toward a wealthy free economy, while his successor Lech Kaczynski combined modernization w/ tradition (Bronislaw Komorrowski was his successor). Later the intro of many of these now independent states into NATO and the EU showed their post-cold war thinking. However, their introduction sparked controversy as the Eastern European states fear domination by large Western counterparts, while the West is worried about the influx of low wage workers from the East.

In Czechoslovakia ethnic division caused conflict between the Czechs and Slovakia, since they couldn't agree on the makeup of the state. However, they peacefully split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia (1993). Vaclav Havel was elected the first pres. of the Czech Republic

In East Germany the continually repressive regime of Erich Honecker and the economic slump, led to the flood of refugees and mass demonstrations that called for the take down of the wall. In 1989 the German Communist gov. capitulated and the wall was taken down, symoblizing the fall of the Cold War and in 1990 new political parties had emerged allowing Germany to have its first free elections, where the Christian Democrats won. The Christian Democrats supported rapid unification and in 1990 July West and East Germany united economically (shared currency) and after much debate between the West, East, and occupying powers, the Germany's were politically united in 1990 October.

From 1919 Yugoslavia had been an artificial creation as Marshal Tito, a strong dictator, had managed to hole the 6 states and 2 provinces together after WWII. However, once his death occurred the state passed to a collective state presidency and the League of Communists of Yugoslavia, and the latter quickly collapsed as Yugoslavia was caught up in the reform movements in the 1980's. New parties soon emerged During the 1990's period separatist movements emerged as the six states called for independence, but Slobodan Milosevic, the leader of the Serbian Communist Party rejected these movements. He stated that only if the borders were redone and new arrangements made to accommodate a Serb minority in a bigger region, could it be done. When negotiations failed Croatia and Slovenia declared their independence in 1991. But Milosevic sent Yugoslavian army forces(which slowly became the Serbian army), which his gov. controlled, into Slovenia, but w/o success. Then he sent forces into into Croatia, where they destroyed and took much territory before a cease-fire was called.

Though Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, and Slovenia were recognized as independent by much of Europe and the U.S., Serbians still turned their guns on Bosnia. By 1993 the Serbs had acquired much of the Bosnians land and were practicing ethnic cleansing, eerily reminiscent of Nazi practices. Despite mass killings, Europe failed to take a stand, only later when Muslim Bosnian gov. forces and Croatian forces regained territory taken by Serbs did others get involved. NATO bombers, encouraged by the U.S. were released in retaliation to Serb civilian attacks and the U.S. advocated for both sides to end the war and met to discuss options. A formal peace treaty was created in 1995, that split Bosnia into a Serb republic and a Muslim-Croat republic, and NATO sent troops to monitor the borders.

In 1991 war erupted in the autonomous province of Kosovo, because of an ethnic conflict between the Albanians(majority) of that territory and the Serbs(minority) who believed it was scared land. In 1989 Milosevic stripped Kosovo of it autonomous status and outlawed any official use of Albanian lang. In response ethnic Albanians began the Kosovo Liberation Army campaigning against Serbian rule, but the Serb forces began to brutally attack them. The U.S. and NATO then stepped in to arrange a settlement that would give the Albanians autonomy for three years, but Milosevic refused to sign the agreement. The U.S. and NATO then began a bombing raid forcing the gov. to agree. Afterwards it was recognized that Yugoslavia had been participating in conflict since 1991 largely due to Milosevic's politics, so in 2000 the people outed him and Vojislav Kostunica was put in, instantly beginning to rebuild connections internationally. In 2001 Milosevic was put on trial and died in prison(2006). The fates of Bosnia and Kosovo haven't been decided yet but there are still troops keeping the peace and reabilitation groups at work. In Kosovo despite troops keeping the peace, UN creating democratic institutions, and the EU providing funds to rebuild the regions infrastructure hatred still remains between Serbs and Albanians. Yugoslavia is now broken apart into six independent nations and a new (Kosovo) once again.

W/ the addition of Finland, Sweden, and Austria in 1995 the European Community grew to be the largest single trade entity in Europe. It was mostly an economic union that opened a door to a trading system w/ no barriers or restrictions which was made official w/ the Single Europe Act in 1986. Then w/ the Treaty of European Union the a monetary union was formed and a common currency shared. In 1994 the EC renamed itself the European Union. In 1999 many members replaced national currency w/ the Euro and also in 1999 a European Central Bank was created. In 2010 the Euro had a major crisis as Greece's public debt threatened bankruptcy which would mean disaster for many European banks. So to avoid financial disaster many countries came to Greece's rescue, which led to other countries suffering from financial probs. The EU also set up an agricultural policy, policies to help Europe's poorest regions, and subsidies for job, training, education, and modernization. The EU has been less successful in creating foreign policies, but it has created a military force for peacekeeping purposes. In 2009, the EU ratified the Lisbon Treaty creating a full-time presidential post, a new voting system and it gave European Parliament more power. The EU decided that they wanted to add Eastern/Southeastern Europe into the union, as their next goal. Despite apprehension they added in Estonia, Hungary, Czech Republic, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia(2004), Bulgaria, Romania(2007), and Croatia(2013).

However, many Europeans are still divided on the EU, because not all think of themselves as "Europeans" so they don't feel represented by the EU's delegates. Also the European economic crisis exposed the weakness of the EU, as the euro doesn't have a unified monetary policy between the countries that use it. The European Central Bank doesn't serve every country equally, rather it caters to their individuals needs, as the countries think of their own needs, before the EU's.

Since the 1960's the birth rate has been going down in European countries. At the same time, the # women in the workforce rose and the job options they had expanded. But inequalities remained as women received lower wages and less opportunities for advancement. Feminists movements began to grow and reach out in different ways: (1) They created "conscious-raising" groups that allowed many women to become activist by making them aware of probs. women faced (2) Women also began to take control of their bodies as they sough the right to contraception and abortion (3) In the 1980's and 1990's women began to advocate for women's his. courses showing the contributions women have made to society. (4) Some women tried to raise awareness by getting involved in political environment movements for ex. antinuclear movement (5) Some joined the ecological movement especially prominent in the Green Party w/in Germany (one delegate was Petra Kelly) (6) Women in the West also began to reach out to others throughout the country, so the UN held conferences to bring women together, though it reveled women in the West and women in Africa, Asia, and Latin America had very different priorities.

The population increased in the 1950's and 1960's due to mass migrations, where 'guest workers' were brought in due to European countries having a shortage of workers as they recovered from WWII and birthrates declined. Though they were their to help the countries economically, the guest workers were often not accepted socially or politically. Their high concentration in some areas and the 1970's mass unemployment also led to tensions between locals and the immigrants. During the 1980's there was another increase in refugees, especially to Germanys, that was continued in the 1990's and 2000's. So many refugees strained both the countries budget and the patience of the natives during a time of unemployment. Right-wing parties began to play off this tension and became rather successful in some areas (ex. National Front in Fran. and the Republican Party in Ger.). Some groups were very successful like the National Front run by Marine Le Pen. Later one the acts of violence against ethnicities became even scarier. Even countries previously very open, ex. the Netherlands, began to pass new acts to keep too many immigrants from coming in. Religious intoleration has also become a reason why countries are shutting down their borders, bc of the influx Muslim immigrants into Europe.

Religion began to grow due to the activities of Pope John Paul who began to spread Catholicism around the world due to his beliefs in social justice. Islam spread due to the migration of many Muslim people to Europe during the 1980's and 1990's. Fundamentalism grew out of all the secular activities happening during the time, as a religion of tradition.

Since the 1960's and 1970's the number of churches and churchgoers has been declining due to secular attitudes, but the number of Fundamentalist churches has been growing (especially in the U.S. Fundamentalism was a Protestant movement beginning in the 20th cen. that wanted to follow a strict interpretation of the Bible and Christian Faith, while fighting against secularism, communism, abortion, and homosexuality. They also play a political role voting those who will support them, ex. Ronald Regan. Fundamentalism is also used in Islam to show traditional Islamic values (especially those agnist Western influence). The term can also be applied to Islamic militant movements ex.Taliban. In the 1980's and 1990's Islam began to spread due to the migration of many muslim people, as they began to build mosque in many places. Much of Catholic history in the 1980's and 1990's was dominated by Pope John Paul II, originally Karol Wojtyla, who though segragated a number of people due to his traditional Catholic views on some topics, he also inspired many w/ his travels around the world and belief in social justice, attracting many non-westerners to the religion. The global nature of the Catholic church was revealed w/ the election of Pope Francis (Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio) who was the first Latin American and non-European pope.

Anti-immigration mostly targeted the new wave of guest workers that came into Europe during the 1950's/60's; this included Africans, Asians, Latin American, Turks, Indians, Pakistanis, and people from the Caribbean, due to a severe labor shortage. The workers were not accepted socially or politically leading to segregation from the natives. Due to this feeling, new political parties began to rise w/ ideas against immigration, such as the National Front in France, and the Republican Party in Germany. Though not many of these parties gained extensive popularity there were some like the National Front under Marine Le Pen inn 2012 and Jorg Haider's Freedom Party in 1999 in Austria, by appealing to the people's nationalism.

In the 1980's, Neo-Expressionism reached its peak especially in the U.S., where there was an economic boom. Artists like Jean-Michel Basquiat and Anselm Kiefer became increasingly popular. Kiefer combined German Expressionism, collage, and Abstract Expressionism to create haunting works reflecting Germany's dark history. Basquiat was a graffiti artist who became an overnight sensation. There was criticism over fads, employing contreversy to gain popularity, and for controversial art in general. Both Andres Serrano and Robert Mapplethorpe had their funds from the National Endowment for the Arts reduced for their controversial imagery in art. In music artists became disenchanted w/ the materialism and capital of the Regan years and from this "grunge" rock emerged, who didn't conform to the fashion or the sound of typical music. In the 1990's "gangster rap" was created showing teen angst. But in the later 1990's teen audiences began to push for more pop music like Britney Spears, w/ upbeat sounds and eye-catching music vids.

The introduction of email allowed the way humans communicate to become faster, more efficent, and easier. Along with this the introduction of the Web allowed for the world to open up and for info to be shared to more places. Later the introduction of sites like Twitter, Youtube, and Facebook, led to faster and simpler ways to spread information throughout the world. The introduction of the portable phone allowed for greater communication across the world and has made texting an international craze transforming lang. and allowing info to be relayed very quickly. The introduction of the iPod revolutionized the music industry as downloading music from the internet surpassed buying albums. The intro of the iPad and iPhone revolutionized tech.