The End Chapter 30

Mikhail Gorbachev Told his wife “we cannot go on living like this” Began to reform the Soviet Union Perestroika= Restructuring of economy, political, social Glasnost= Openness. People could discuss the problems they saw In the USSR and try to fix them By 1990 he legalized the creations of different political parties Ethnic groups complain and break off Dec. 25, 1991 Gorbachev resigned and USSR broke up

Boris Yeltsin Wanted to quickly establish a market economy and new government with a two chamber parliament Struggled with the transition and ultimately in 1999 resigned and replaced by Vladimir Putin

Vladimir Putin Wanted to eliminate the corruption of the government and establish a stronger economy Struggled with Chechnya and the economy

Fall of the Berlin Wall In 1987 Ronald Reagan comes to the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin and gives a speech asking Gorbachev to tear down the wall Late 1989 the wall is torn down in pieces by the people This was symbolic of the end of the Cold War and a new connection of the West and the East

The Euro Trade between European countries had been difficult with different currencies. 1999 12 nations in Europe had agreed to use a common currency called the Euro June of ‘99 a central European bank had been formed 2007 the Euro had replaced the currency of 13 nations Good for trade but when one country is hurt it hurts all

The Persian Gulf War Iraqi soldiers overthrew the country of Kuwait in 1990 Soviet Forces tried to persuade the Iraqi soldiers to withdraw From ‘90-’91 the US came and destroyed the Iraqi forces to liberate Kuwait Russia and US. forces work together as a test of the “New World Order”

9/11/01 Four groups of hijackers took commercial planes and crashed them into the twin towers, pentagon, and Pennsylvania Attack led by Fundamentalist group known as Al-Qaeda led by Osama Bin Laden They used the Afghanistan fundamentalist group known as the Taliban President George W. Bush declared war on “Terror”

Iraqi War 2002 George Bush claimed that Saddam Hussein, dictator of Iraq, gave funding to Al-Qaeda Bush claims that they were developing weapons of mass destruction Invasion of Iraq defeats military quickly but causes anti-American sentiment in Middle East

Muslims Shiites= group believed that Muslims needed to have a relative of Muhammad become the new leader of Islam Sunni= Group that believed in the election of the Caliph Kurds are an ethnic group of Muslims living in the corners of Iraq, Iran, Turkey, and Syria