1. The Fall of Communism

2. General Failures Economic By the 1970s, Communist economies still had not caught up with the more advanced capitalist economies Moral Communism first built on idea of being morally superior to capitalism Genocide in Ukraine by USSR Chinese “cultural revolution” Nationalism proved more powerful than communist solidarity By the 1960s, Soviets and Chinese on brink of nuclear war China went to war against Vietnam 1979

5. China 1976 = death of Mao Zedong Successor = Deng Xiaoping CCP abandoned almost everything associated with Maoist Communism Committed to political stability and economic growth Social and political reforms: banned plays, operas, films, and Western stuff allowed again

7. China’s Economic Reforms Deng Xiaoping’s economic reforms: Get rid of collectivized farms & returned to small-scale private agriculture Managers of state enterprises acted like private owners Opened to the world economy and welcomed foreign investment Outcome = major economic growth

8. Abandoning Communism.. Maintaining the Party Deng Xiaoping did NOT want to give up his political monopoly or promote democracy SO, China = capitalist economy & Communist gov’t

9. Soviet Union 1985 Mikhail Gorbachev became head of USSR Glasnost (Openness) 1980s = a wider range of cultural and intellectual freedoms allowed in Soviet life Goal = to overcome distrust between society and the government The information exposed because of glasnost led to movement towards democratization Crime, corruption, homelessness, & lavish lifestyles of party elite Exposed by newly allowed newspapers and TV

11. Soviet Union Perestroika (Restructuring) = Gorbachev’s 1987 economic program Less regulation on state enterprises Allowed private businesses private farming welcome foreign investment Reforms met with resistance by the Communist party

13. Soviet Union moved to end the Cold War Reduce Soviet military forces arms control negotiations with the U.S. Refused to intervene when communist gov’ts in Eastern Europe were overthrown Democratization = creation of parliament with real powers 1989 election = leading communist figures rejected at the polls

15. Eastern Europe Events in the Soviet Union influenced Eastern European nations if the USSR could practice glasnost and hold competitive elections, why couldn’t they? “Miracle Year” of 1989 massive demonstrations, reform efforts, the breach of the Berlin Wall, and formation of new political groups Overwhelmed unpopular communist regimes of Eastern European countries Communism swept away in Eastern Europe

16. Failure of Soviet Union Economic decline, never developed a market-based economy like China Inflation success of the “miracle year” inspired nationalists and democrats in USSR Movements for a full multi-party democracy Labor unions and strikes the communist regime fell in 1991 15 new and independent states