Wednesday, March 4, 2015

Why did the cold war end?

Good Afternoon,

Please upload your blog to Turnitin no later than Sunday evening (March 10th at 9:00 p.m.). These are researched based questions - there is no handout.

1) There were many events that led to the end of the cold war. Explain how each of the following played a role in this historical event:
    1. New leadership 
    2. Berlin wall
    3. Unification of Germany
    4. Collapse of the Soviet Union 
    5. Signing of the Maastricht Treaty

2) Why did the Cold War end?

20 comments:

  1. Samantha Foster
    IB History
    Ms.Noce
    3-8-15


    New leadership, particularly in the USSR, is what led to the end of the cold war. When Mikhail Gorbachev took charge over the USSR in 1985, he introduced western ideals to the Soviet Union through this his new policies. Gorbachev's policies of “glasnost” and “Perestroika” granted the Russian people a sense of freedom in which they have never truly experienced before, having lived under communism for so many years. Gorbachev’s policies had not only brought the eventual end of communism in Russia, but sparked the demolition of the Berlin Wall. Communism was crumbling in not only Russia, but countries such as Poland, Hungary, and Czechoslovakia. The same goes for East Germany, who at the time was controlled by the Soviet Union. The East German government announced that the Berlin Wall borders were open on November 9, 1989 to all East Germans who wanted to travel to West Germany and vise versa. Eventually, the Berlin Wall was taken down seeing how its purpose had now been rendered useless. The fall of the Berlin Wall signified the unification of East and West Germany which became official in 1990. In the year following, the Soviet Union had officially collapsed. With the newfound freedom Gorbachev’s policies granted, many Soviet States demanded their independence from Soviet union. In the end, the Soviet Union was separated into 15 independent countries. The US had saw this as a great victory and the end of the Cold War seeing how the USSR, once a daunting enemy, no longer seemed to be a threat since the Soviet Union had been dismembered and the presence of Communism had become amazingly weak. The Maastricht Treaty which was signed in 1992, created what we know today as the European Union with a purpose of maintaining and fixing issues regarding the environment, politics,and social policies for all members.

    2. There were many factors that played a role in ending the Cold War some,which have been explained in the previous question. I would say that the ending of the Cold War was largely due to the ending of communism in the USSR. If you look as the reasons as to why the US got involved in the Cold War in the first place you would see that large part of it has to do with the US failing to comprehend the ideology of Communism and refusing it to let it expand globally. Gorbachev had went against the very fundamentals of Communism the minute he added western ideals to his policies. Most European nations under Communism took advantage of these ideals which led to events such as the demolition of the Berlin Wall and the dismembership of the Soviet Union which in turn, led to the ending of the Cold War.

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    Replies
    1. Works Cited:

      "The End of the Cold War." Ushistory.org. Accessed March 8, 2015. http://www.ushistory.org/us/59e.asp.

      Rosenberg, Jennifer. "The Rise and Fall of the Berlin Wall -- Part 2." Accessed March 8, 2015.
      http://history1900s.about.com/od/coldwa1/a/berlinwall_2.htm.

      J. Gabel, Matthew. "The Maastricht Treaty." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. November 25, 2014. Accessed March 8, 2015.

      http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/196399/European-Union-EU/224464/The-Maastricht-Treaty.

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    2. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. Dinia Clairveaux
    Ms. Noce
    IB History
    3/8/15

    1.New leadership play a role in the events that lead to the end of the cold war because when Germany came under the leadership of Mikhail Gorbachev he introduced two new policies which were named glasnost and perestroika. Glasnost was introduced to make the USSR remain open minded to western suggestions and merchandise. And perestroika was introduced to allowed limited market inducement to the USSR. Gorbachev anticipated that these changes would change the Russia for the better.
    2.The destruction of the Berlin wall started when Polish wet and elected a non communist opposition to its it legislature and Gorbachev did not take any action to fix it like the USSR did with Poland, Hungary and other USSR influenced countries in Eastern Europe. This setted a chain of revolt were the other countries decided to fight for there freedom from the USSR and also to the destruction of the Berlin wall in 1989. When the Eastern and western Germans tour down the wall with pickaxes.
    3.Germany sharing a long history with Austria from when Austria was an empire to the Germany deciding to wether include Austria in its unification of creating a greater Germany or of a smaller Germany without it. Germany was debating over this issue because the Austrian Kingdom was precious part of the Austrian Empire which contained a great amount of and in Southeastern Europe. The Austrian empire was composed of fifteen different minorities. Germany was finally unified during the Danish war of 1862. The prime minister of Prussia created an alliance with Austria to win the war with the Danish which was protect Holstein a part of the German confederation that Germany was trying to keep from getting conquer the Danes. It was really after the collapse of the Berlin wall that Germany achieved it goal and became a whole, with the merging of the East and the West of Germany.
    4.The Collapse of the Soviet Union took place on 1991. The USSR separated into fifteen newly independent countries if happen because of the policies of glasnost and perestroika that Gorbachev had passed during his reign and the lack of enforcement and supervision he took into the USSR,, which Lead to revolts in the countries that it once controlled. And their independence after 70 years of communism.
    5.The treaty of Maastricht was created on February 7th 1992, a year after the collapse of the USSR and was enforced during November 1st 1993. This was the treaty that opened Europe to political integration. A European union was established that contain communities, common Foreign and Security Policy also known as the (CFSP) and the involvement of the court (JHA).
    6.The cold war ended basically because the USSR collapsed. The United States did not have the USSR and it spheres of influence in Europe anymore. Due to the fact that all the countries that were under it control were now independent.
    Sources:
    "The Cold War Museum." Cold War Museum. Web. 11 Feb. 2015. .
    "EUROPA." Treaty of Maastricht on European Union. Web. 08 Mar. 2015. .
    "The End of the Cold War." Ushistory.org. Independence Hall Association. Web. 06 Mar. 2015. .
    "Unification of German States - Issues - Countries - Office of the Historian." Unification of German States - Issues - Countries - Office of the Historian. Web. 06 Mar. 2015. .

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  4. Victor Harris
    I.B. History 12
    Ms.Noce
    3.8.15


    1) There were many events that led to the end of the cold war. Explain how each of the following played a role in this historical event:



    New leadership-The new leader who was Mikhail started trouble for the USSR. Instead of being the Communist that they were for example Lenin and Stalin, he allowed them to compete in business and have freedom.


    Berlin Wall-Built so it can prevent the East Germans from fleeing because it would break the economy. This was the symbol of the cold war which fell in 1984, which soon started to mark the end of the war.

    Unification of Germany-The Unification of Germany put Germany into a "politically and administration integration nation state". This occurred January 18,1871 through 1918. This also called tension in Germany.


    Collapse of the Soviet Union - The collapse of the Soviet Union caused because Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia declared independence. They were the main center piece and another reason why the Soviet Union was destroyed.

    Signing of the Maastricht Treaty-Was meant for 28 European countries which were Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland,France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy,Latvia,Lithuania,Luxembourg,Romania, the Netherlands,Poland,Portugal,Malta,Slovakia,Slovenia,Spain,Sweden and the United Kingdom. This was meant to design the political and economic by creating a single currency. This will also creating security policy and common citizen rights.

    2) Why did the Cold War end?
    -For starters it started in 1981 when Mikhail Gorbachev became the leader of the Soviet Union. Everything seemed to go downhill after he came in and also he withdrew from Afghanistan. What he realised that the USSR couldn't afford to have an arm race and open up another idea called the "START"(Strategic Arms Reduction Talks) that was with the USA. In 1987 he signed a treaty called Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces. Going forward he started to go away from the communism way by letting people compete and have freedom; being different from Stalin and Lenin which broke the economy down. Lastly that the Berlin Wall started to break away which means the Cold War started to end."In 1991, Gorbachev fell from power and the Soviet Union was dissolved."

    Work Cited
    Www.History.com/ColdWar

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  5. Jalexis Ruiz
    IB History 12
    Ms.Noce
    Why did the cold war end ?


    1) There were many events that led to the end of the cold war. Explain how each of the following played a role in this historical event:
    New leadership
    The new leadership, exceptionally in the USSR was what led to the end of the Cold War. The leader was Mikhail Gorbachev he was the one that had took over the USSR in 1985. He introduced the policies of “glasnost” and “perestroika”. The policies did not only bring the communism that had ended in russia it also led to the breakdown of the Berlin wall.

    Berlin wall
    The Berlin wall led to the end of the Cold War due to the fact that Gorbachev did not help to try to fix it like when the USSR did when they helped Poland. It was the eastern and western Germans that attacked the Berlin Wall and had caused it to breakdown they used “pickaxes” to do it.

    Unification of Germany
    The Unification of Germany took part in the led to end the Cold War. It happened because the Berlin Wall had signified the unification of the East and West. The fall of the Berlin wall was the reason for it because then the merging took place with the East and the West of Germany. They were going back and forth due to the fact that the Berlin Wall no longer existed.

    Collapse of the Soviet Union
    The collapse of the Soviet Union led to the end of Cold war in 1991. This happened because of the policies that Gorbachev which were the glasnost and perestroika that he had enforced before but had a lack of enforcement. The Soviet States wanted their independence from the Soviet Union, at the end the USSR was then separated into 15 new independent states.

    Signing of the Maastricht Treaty
    The Signing of the Maastricht Treaty happened in 1992. The reason for this was so that it could help fix the remaining issues which were the environment, the politics, and social policies for all of the people.


    2) Why did the Cold War end?
    There are many reason’s due to the end of the Cold war. In my opinion I think that it ended because of the fall of the USSR. I say that because before when the USSR was good they had many states that had followed them but when it fall all of the states had became independent as I said before in one of the questions above. Gorbachev couldn't do anything about this due to the lack of his enforcement.


    Work Cited :
    http://www.ushistory.org/us/59e.asp
    http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/196399/European-Union-EU/224464/The-Maastricht-Treaty.
    www.History.com/coldwar



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  6. 1). There were many event that led to the end of the cold War. Explain how each of the following played a role in this historical event: New leadership, Berlin wall, Unification of Germany, collapse of the Soviet Union, and the signing of the Maastricht Treaty.
    NEW LEADERSHIP
    When President Roosevelt died in April 195 he was replaced by Truman. When President Roosevelt was alive he settled a lot when it came to negotiating with Stalin. He always let Stalin get the bigger piece of Germany. When Truman came into power everything changed. Stalin and Truman both clashed heads a lot. For example, President Roosevelt and Stalin had an agreement that Poland was going to be somewhat of a democracy. When Truman came into power he confronted Stalin because he felt that Poland was not a free enough state. Another example of Truman and Stalin clashing heads was when Truman found out about the percentage agreement Stalin and President Roosevelt had. Truman claimed that Stalin had way too much territory and he argued to give some to the USA.

    BERLIN WALL
    The Berlin Wall was an event that led to the end of the Cold War because the West Germans were breaking the wall with pickaxes. When the wall was half way broken the USSR gave up and just took the wall down. The reason why the USSR built this wall was so that they can take control of it. Berlin was closer to the west (the USSR’s property). The USA had to travel by boat to provided food for the people in Berlin. The USSR thought that if they shut down all connections the people from Berlin would turn to the USSR. However, the USA found a way to get food to the people in Berlin, by airplane. The USSR couldn't handle the USA and gave up.

    UNIFICATION OF GERMANY
    The unification of Germany was an event that led to the end of the Cold War because the USSR was using a Communists government and the USA was using a Capitalist government the Germans favored the capitalist government because they had more freedom. More and more of the states that the USSR owned became independent because they wanted to have their own freedom and not have a communist government. This was the reason why the USSR gave up.

    THE COLLAPSE OF THE SOVIET UNION
    The USSR met in Kazakh city in 1991. The 11 representatives; Armenia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Moldova, Belarus, Ukraine, the Russian Federation, Azerbaijan, and Kyrgyzstan attended the meeting. In this meeting the states stated that they no longer wanted to work with the USSR. Thy wanted to become independent states. Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania had already claimed their independence. Georgia was the only state that stayed with the USSR. The president of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev tried to fix the USSR. However, he couldn't and resigned on December 25. This left the USSR to end the
    Cold War because they had no more supporters.

    THE SIGNING OF TH MAASTRICHT TREATY
    The Maastricht treaty was signed on February 7, 1992. The objective of this treaty was to end the communism in Eastern Germany, create a democratic legitimacy, create an economic and monetary union, and also try to create a foreign policy. Since communism was ended in Germany the Cold War was over because the USA had the same view.

    2). Why did the Cold War end?
    The major reason why the Cold War ended was because of the Maastricht Treaty. The Maastricht Treaty was what finalize the whole tension between the USSR and the USA. The treaty ended the Cold War and set the government to be a democracy. Although, there were many things that led to the end of the Cold War, further explained in question one, the Maastricht Treaty was what really ended the Cold War.

    Work Cited
    http://europa.eu/legislation_summaries/institutional_affairs/treaties/treaties_maastricht_en.htm
    http://www.history.com/topics/cold-war/fall-of-soviet-union
    http://www.ushistory.org/us/59e.asp
    http://www.nebraskastudies.org/1000/frameset_reset.html?http://www.nebraskastudies.org/1000/stories/1001_0140.html

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  7. 1. Certainly we know that no two people are the same, including twins. So when new leadership came a bout in Russia – Mikhail Gorbachev, the new leader of the USSR – began enforcing policies that he believed would better Russia. These policies took favor on a democratic government where people get their freedom and businesses run things. After living in a communist state for so long, the people were clueless on how to act, they had no experience whatsoever. Along with this new leadership in Russia and communism coming to an end, came the demolition of the Berlin Wall. This wall was used to split Germany between east and west (east was controlled by the USSR) but as the USSR began to collapse due to the decline of communism in Russia so did the Berlin Wall which therefore brought the unification of Germany making it official in 1990. Just the year after ironically came the collapse of the USSR. With this collapse came many free independent states the Soviet Union once controlled. This made their power weak and signified that it was the end of the war for communism. Along with this defeat came the signing of The Maastricht Treaty, this formed the European Union where they attempt to maintain peace by fixing issues with the environment, politics, and social policies (a better edition of the League of Nations practically).

    2. The Cold War had ended to due plenty of faults in the plans of the USSR. Especially when Gorbachev began using democratic policies (western ideals in which communism opposed) this began the downfall for them. The more western ideals they picked up on in the east the weaker they became because they were enforcing brand new policies that people hadn’t seen before in the east. Once this began happening came the struggling economy, the fall of the Berlin Wall which therefore united Eastern & Western Germany, and lastly the collapse of the USSR. All the states owned by the Soviet Union underwent their independence and weakened communism even more than it already was, signifying the end of the Cold War. The signing of the Maastricht Treaty was merely just but a means for making sure future wars don’t occur as bad as the Cold War or even on a larger global scale another World War.

    Workcited:

    http://www.ushistory.org/us/59e.asp
    http://history1900s.about.com/od/coldwa1/a/berlinwall_2.htm.
    http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/196399/European-Union-EU/224464/The-Maastricht-Treaty
    www.History.com/ColdWar

    ReplyDelete
  8. William Reis
    IB History
    Ms. Noce
    3/5/2015

    1) There were many events that led to the end of the cold war. Explain how each of the following played a role in this historical event:

    *New leadership
    - The new leadership can be describe when Gorbachev was the new leader of Russia in 1990. When he came in power many things around Russia was changed. He gave people more freedom that communism usually will. He gave the media more freedom than ever. Giving the people freedom, whenever the president did something morally wrong, he would be heavily criticized by the public. When he came in he also wanted to reform the system in Russia by competition within business and freedom, which is the complete opposite of Communism. And when you don't obey the rules of Communism the public will overcome the government.



    *Berlin wall
    - The Berlin wall was a division between the east and west which was created by the Communist Government of Germany. The whole purpose of this wall was to keep the fascists from entering the East side of Germany. The wall itself stood up till 1989, because the East Communist Party of Germany decided that GDR members could freely cross the border between both sides, When this was announced, many of people were crossing the border, meanwhile a whole lot of people were going at the wall with tools like hammer and started to actually break the wall down. The fall of the Berlin wall is to be believed to be one of the most symbolic moments for the end of the Cold War.



    *Unification of Germany
    - We can relate this topic back to the Berlin wall and the whole idea of having Germany separated into East and West. Germany was separated after the second world war, separated between the Soviets and the United States. The fall of the berlin wall is what brought back Germany together as a whole. This day of when Germany was a country again was called the Unity Day.



    *Collapse of the Soviet Union
    - The fall of the Soviet Union was basically the fall for the Communist countries in the West, meaning the east won, meaning democracy won over Communism! It all happened in December 1991, all 15 communist countries under the Soviet Union started to fall apart. The fall of Communism was also a ticket to the ending of the Cold War. The fall of Communism when the new leader Gorbachev came into power and started giving people ‘freedom’ and communism originally does not give people the freedom they would need to overcome the government. He failed to reform the country’s government and people criticized him heavily.


    *Signing of the Maastricht Treaty
    - The treaty was created in February 1992 after the end of the Cold War, this treaty was responsible for the creation of the European union. The treaty was signed by 12 different leaders from different countries. This treaty was to be focused on, “ unifying policies of defense, currency and citizenship among all member nations.” (Investopedia.com). The agreement of the treaty was in effect a year later in 1993 and since then, the treaty has been built on many other amendments up to this day.

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  9. 2) Why did the Cold War end?

    - The cold war ended because of new leadership and the fall of the Berlin wall. In 1980 when Ronald Reagan was the new president of the U.S. and he always mention the Russia as the “Evil Empire” and they kept investing their money on Military defense. By 1985 Russia was in trouble and they were not able to afford a arms race compared to U.S. Also Gorbachev wanted to renovate Russia, and he did that by allowing glasnost and perestroika, which is basically giving the people and business freedom. That is basically breaking the rules of Communism. To make this simple, we can say that a “relaxation” of the communist power motivated revolutionists to take advantage of this causing the Communism to fail, starting with Poland, then Eastern European Communists states. Then in 1991 Gorbachev was no longer in power and the Soviet Union was over. Communism was over, Cold War was over.


    "Berlin Wall." History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 11 Feb. 2015. .

    "East and West Germany Reunite after 45 Years." History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 01 Mar. 2015. .

    "The Cold War Museum." Cold War Museum. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Feb. 2015.

    BBC News. BBC, n.d. Web. 06 Mar. 2015. .

    ReplyDelete
  10. Naomie Bourdeau
    IB World History
    Ms.Noce
    March,8,2015

    Why did the cold war end?

    1) There were many events that led to the end of the cold war. Explain how each of the following played a role in this historical event:
    New leadership
    Getting a new leader for the Soviet was an event that lead towards the end of the cold war there was a new leader who came into the Soviet Union. His name was Gorbachev, he was the fourth leader while Reagan was president. He enforced many new policies. At the time between the two countries there were a lot of extreme tensed relations, before he took power in 1985.
    Berlin wall
    -This was an event that lead towards the ending of the Cold war. The Berlin wall was built by the USSR for the advantage of power. They wanted to stop the flood of refugees from the east to the west. This wall had a lot defusing for Berlin. It was very disastrous, although the USSR owned it, they did not want to rebuild it. There was millions of people dying trying to go over or under the wall. As the Cold War began to cross Eastern of europe thats when changes in relations happen in the West.
    Unification of Germany
    -The Unification of Germany happens after about one year of the fall of Berlin Wall. This was another event that led towards the ending of Cold War. The USSR kind of lost hope because they wanted to have their own power. Meanwhile the economy was hopeless.
    Collapse of the Soviet Union
    -The collapse of the Soviet happened because the USSR had met in Kazakh. There was a meeting that happened and within this meeting the states said that they no longer to be in partner with the USSR. They actually wanted to become independent. This left the USSR to end the Cold War because they had no more groups to be with them.
    Signing of the Maastricht Treaty
    -The Maastricht treaty was another reason why the cold war ended. This treaty was signed on February 7, 1992. The point of this treaty was to end the communism. Since communism was ended in Germany the Cold War was over because the USA had no more conflicts and the views were on the same point. It lead a great democracy.

    2) Why did the Cold War end?
    The reason why the Cold war ended because of the Maastricht treaty. It gave a huge resolution between USSR and USA it also set the democracy between them. There was peace at last.












    Work Cited
    http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2013/11/cold-war-start-end/
    http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2009/11/05/who_ended_the_cold_war/
    http://www.history.com/topics/cold-war/berlin-wall
    http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history

    ReplyDelete
  11. Erick Volquez
    IB History 12
    Ms. Noce
    Why did the Cold War end?

    1. The Cold War was based on many events that led to its entirety end which played a huge part into much about the components of what the world seems to know about this war. (New Leadership) that was rising in the USSR was one of reasons why the cold war came to an end. Gorbachev came into power and introduced policies that were ina way a lead into introducing western ideals to calm the riots and the revolution that was happening. This did not make things any better; what it did was that it caused to form a domino type fall of collapse in the Soviet Union leading to an event that the world would never forget, the fall of the Berlin wall which concluded the Cold War and the fall of the Soviet Union. (The Berlin war) was a war that divided Germany in eastern and western hemisphere as they had come to the point of being tired of losing due to their leaders. Some Germans thought that allying with the soviets would bring them peace but those who did not agree with his went towards democratic ideals which were supported by the United States and its allies. The wall was made to divide the powers so that there could be a complete separation of power but of course we know that after the wall fell there was not a divide and more of a unity as we know Germany today. (The Unification of Germany) came after the end of the Cold War bringing in unity of the Communist eastern Germany and the democratic Germany together to build up as one community. It was a bit difficult at first as the main reason why they divided because there was a difference in power ideals bit with the United States still having allied with democratic Germany, there was a reminded that WWII was still needed to be paid and by 2008 , the money that Germany owned the U.S was all given back. Finally, (the Maastricht treaty) was a treaty sing between Belgium and Netherlands in 1992 to compose the European Union to come together to form one currency; the Euro. This brought an end to the Cold war as now, most of the countries were willing to sign the treaty so there wouldn’t be any conflict again or any taking over lands as they knew that having the same currency would bring a new Euro Order and restore balance after years of war, death and complete chaos.

    2. After the Berlin Wall fell in Germany, that’s what the Cold War ended but, what caused the war to end all came from the USSR and their choices. Gorbachev, when taking over the Soviet Union in 1985, did not expect that a revolution would come into play. This pushed Gorbachev to introduce two new policies into the country, the glasnost and the perestroika. The glasnost policy was composed of allowing people to become of rank in and Soviet Officials and allows Western marketing goods and ideals into the USSR. The perestroika policy was composed of the idea that it was allowed to have limited market incentives to Soviet citizens. Gobarchev thought that putting forward these policies would help the Soviet Union become more stable but the rebellion this time came from the leaders themselves. By implementing western economical rules in marketing, the Soviet government was losing its roots and control over what the people where producing and this directly brought an imbalance with the strong hold of c communism and like dominos, one by one’s he powers that held the soviet union fell one by one. Eastern European communism countries began to fall leading to the communist end of Germany and the Berlin wall falling mad causing an end to the Cold War.

    WORK CITED:
    "The Cold War Museum." Cold War Museum. Web. 11 Feb. 2015. .

    "EUROPA." Treaty of Maastricht on European Union. Web. 08 Mar. 2015. .

    "The End of the Cold War."Ushistory.org. Independence Hall Association. Web. 06 Mar. 2015. .

    "Nikita Khrushchev." History.com. A&E Television Networks. Web. 06 Mar. 2015. .

    Rosenberg, Jennifer. "The Berlin Wall." Web. 11 Feb. 2015. .

    ReplyDelete
  12. Mu Ying Yu
    IB World History12
    Ms. Noce
    March 8, 2015

    1) There were many events that led to the end of the cold war. Explain how each of the following played a role in this historical event:

    1.New leadership
    -- Under Mikhail Gorbachev’s demand, he introduce two new policies to the country, one of the policy is the glasnost and the other one is perestroika. The two new policies gave Russians a new experience and had better life because glasnost continued to let Russia business open to western and perestroika authorize a new market to come in to USSR. The two policies helped improve the economy.
    2.Berlin wall
    -- The Berlin Wall was built in 1961. The purpose too built the wall was to spread Western and Eastern Germany, to prevent them cross the border. However in 1989, the border seen useless and caused the border to open to allowed them travel between each other.
    3.Unification of Germany
    -- The unification of Germany happened after the Berlin Wall event. It happened is because the Eastern and Western Germany wanted to unified with Austria in 1862 to form an overall. In the end, Germany accomplish the goal.
    4.Collapse of the Soviet Union
    -- The collapse of the Soviet Union lead to the end of the Cold War because at the time, the USA and the USSR was the most powerful country that can compete with each other. Due to Gorbachev’s new policies, it caused states to stand up for their own independence to separate from USSR. Therefore, it caused the USSR collapse.
    5.Signing of the Maastricht Treaty
    -- The treaty was signed in 1992. The treaty created the European Union but the purpose was to stop communism and to solved problems between countries also to create a new form of government. Since the treaty ended communism, the cold war also ended in Germany. The treaty was signed by many different countries’ leaders but it happened a year later.

    2) Why did the Cold War end?
    -- The Cold War ended because of the Maastricht Treaty and the collapse of Soviet Union. The Maastricht Treaty ended communism, ended the Cold War and created a new form of government called democracy. The USSR collapse also another reason because during the time, US and the USSR are the two superpower that against each other. But due to Gorbachev’s policies it caused states to separate from the USSR and caused collapse. Both the Treaty and the collapse caused to the Cold War.

    Work Cited:
    -http://www.history.com/topics/cold-war
    -http://europa.eu/legislation_summaries/institutional_affairs/treaties/treaties_maastricht_en.htm
    -http://www.coldwar.org/articles/90s/fall_of_the_soviet_union.asp
    -http://www.history.com/topics/cold-war/berlin-wall
    -https://history.state.gov/countries/issues/german-unification

    ReplyDelete
  13. Germairy Roman
    Ms. Noce
    IB History 12
    3/8/15

    There were many events that led to the end of the cold war. Explain how each of the following played a role in this historical event:

    When Mikhail Gorbachev came to power in the Soviet Union, he wanted to make huge changes. Gorbachev wanted to reform the Soviet economic and political system. He introduced a new policy called Glasnost, which helped to give people freedom of speech which and reduced the power of the communist party. The Berlin Wall was a symbolic wall and it was up during the events of the Cold War. The wall was built by the German communists to separate east Berlin from west Berlin. The wall was then destroyed on November 9, 1989 after more than 2 million people helped to destroy it with hammers, cranes, and bulldozers. After the Berlin Wall was destroyed in 1989, east and west Germany were put back together on October 3, 1990. Since the Berlin Wall was such a significant part of the Cold War, it going down symbolizes the end of the war. The wall coming down helped reunite Germany to a whole. I would say that the collapse of the Soviet Union came about when Mikhail Gorbachev came to power. He introduced new policies that went against communist ideas. Gorbachev is an important person because he contributed to the ending of the Cold War. The Maastricht Treaty was signed by Western European nations on February 7, 1992. The signed the treaty so that the nations can unite and also be on the same page when it comes to economics.

    2) Why did the Cold War end?
    There are many reasons of why the Cold War ended. The leadership of Gorbachev played a part in it because of his ideologies. There was also the Berlin Wall being destroyed which reunified Germany. It can also be said that the Cold War ended because of the signing of the Maastricht treaty.

    "Mikhail Gorbachev | Biography - President of Union of Soviet Socialist Republics." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d. Web. 22 Feb. 2015.
    "Berlin Wall." History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 11 Feb. 2015.
    "Cold War History." History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 11 Feb. 2015.
    "European Union Treaty Signed." History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 08 Mar. 2015.

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  14. 1). There were many events that led to the end of the cold War. Explain how each of the following played a role in this historical event:
    1. New leadership
    New leadership played a great role in ending the Cold War. As long as he lived, Stalin kept his “Iron Curtain” policy, despite them creating only more tension and suspicion between the East and the West. He refused to address any issues creating tension between the USSR and the USA, believing addressing such matters would mean appeasing to Imperialists. Upon his death, Mikhail Gorbachev took his place. He would amend Stalin’s past mistakes, and initiate the Westernization of Russia. This would also begin the end of the Cold War since Stalin’s policies which kept the Cold War latent would no longer be in place.
    2. Berlin wall
    The Berlin wall divided West and East Germany, USA territory and Soviet territory. A source of tension between East and West, the Berlin Wall is often recognized as THE Iron Curtain. On the west side, Germans lived prosperously and freely, while on the East side strong Soviet control and oppression was under effect and many lived in stagnation. Many fled the Eastern side to become free or rejoin their families. The fall of the Berlin Wall was both symbolically and literally the end of the Cold War, no division or armed tension between East and West.
    3. Unification of Germany
    With the fall of the Berlin Wall came the unification of Germany. Now that the former state of Eastern Germany had become independent from the Soviet Union, partly thanks to Gorbachev’s more liberal policies, other states suffering of stagnation under the Soviet Union demanded their independence. Thus, the Soviet Union began to break off and dissolve, weakening the already tattered USSR, soon ending the Cold War.
    4. Collapse of the Soviet Union
    The collapse of the Soviet Union meant it was no longer a superpower comparable to the United States. Therefore, the Soviet Union “lost” the Cold War “by default” as I would like to call it. Russia was in such a state that she had no option other than to end the Cold War, which isolated the Soviet states from the West, meaning that Russia was “by herself” economically. Hostilities had to end if Russia was to regain her strength and remain a sovereign state.
    5. Signing of the Maastricht Treaty
    The Maastricht Treaty was the formal end of the Cold War. The brutal, single-party systems of Soviet states were to be replaced with new democracies, enforced by the new European Union. The creation of the European Union also aimed to “fix” the former Soviet European states that were left in poor economic conditions resulting from Soviet control. For short, the Cold War, the Iron Curtain, and the Soviet Union were ended in this treaty.

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  15. 2.) Why did the Cold War end?
    I believe the main reason the Cold War ended was thanks to Mikhail Gorbachev, since his aim was to mend relationships with the West through the Glasnost and Perestroika policies, along with Liberalization in Russia to promote economic growth. Gorbachev broke the possible Stalinist chain of leaders that began with Stalin and followed with Nikita Khrushchev. Gorbachev’s policies and ideas gave way to the end of the flawed Soviet Union, Iron Curtain policies, economic stagnation, and the mismanaged Cold War.
    SOURCES:
    Chapter 18 IB Packet
    Kaplan, Fred. "Why Was Berlin the Key to the Cold War?" Slate.com. Slate, n.d. Web. 07 Mar. 2015.
    "A Concise Encyclopedia of the European Union --M--." A Concise Encyclopedia of the European Union --M--. Julian Hodge Bank, n.d. Web. 08 Mar. 2015.

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  16. William Portorreal
    IB History 12
    Ms. Noce


    1. New Leadership- When Mikhail Gorbachev took leadership he changed the economic practice and international affairs. He introduced perestroika and glasnost which gave Russia and the citizens more freedom and made the country open to trade with others. Mikhail being the leader led to the destruction of the Berlin wall.
    Berlin wall- This wall was built to separate West Germany from East Germany and it was there until the cold war. The Germans were hitting the wall with tools until they were able to break it down and many people were crossing the borders.
    Unification of Germany- The unification of Germany occurred after the Berlin wall was destroyed. One side was controlled by the United States while the other side was controlled by the Soviet Union. Once this wall was destroyed west and East Germany reunited.
    Collapse of the Soviet Union- Communism had started to fall apart and Democracy started to take over. The communists states under Russia and Russia themselves were falling apart, the 15 communists didn’t want to be controlled by the Soviet Union anymore and they became independent. Mikhail failed to reform Russia’s government and it fell apart and he couldn’t do anything about it.
    Signing of the Maastricht Treaty- This treaty was signed on Feb. 7, 1992, and the treaty established a European Union. It was basically created to help on the environment, social policies, policing and other issues within the European countries.

    2. Why did the cold war end?
    I think that the cold war had ended because of the fall of the Soviet Union. The cold war was basically about Russia trying to control Germany and political disputes between communists and democrats. Since the Soviet Union had fallen apart they no longer controlled Eastern Germany and communism came to an end. Once the Soviet Union fell apart it was over since democracy took over and Russia couldn’t fight back and Russia was a huge reason why there was a cold war in the first place. So it ended because of Mikhail and the end of communism.


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  17. Works Cited: http://www.history.com/topics/cold-war
    http://www.history.com/topics/cold-war/berlin-wall
    http://www.history.com/topics/cold-war/perestroika-and-glasnost
    http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/196399/European-Union-EU/224464/The-Maastricht-Treaty

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  18. Junior Fanfan
    Ms.Noce
    IB History
    03-08-2015

    New leadership
    New leadership was one of the causes of the Cold War. Mikhail Gorbachev was the leader of the USSR in 1985. Gorbachev tried to change Stalin and Lenin ways and many people did not appreciate Gorbachev trying to take away communism. Gorbachev tried to give everyone freedom.
    Berlin Wall
    The Berlin wall was the center of the problem. Four allied armies each occupied a piece of the Berlin wall. For example "at the end of world war II, the city divided into four sectors, each occupied by one of the four allied armies- U.S, Soviet,British,and French". Stalin got greedy and put a blockade that would separate them from the western part of Berlin. When the Berlin wall fell this was when the Cold War was coming to an end.
    Unification of Germany
    This took part towards the end of the cold war. This happened because the fall of the Berlin wall. When the Berlin wall fell the unification of the east and west of Germany were disputing because the Berlin wall was not there any more.
    Collapse of the Soviet Union
    Communism was falling apart in the Soviet Union and they looked to democracy for answers and the city under Russia's rule did not want to be run by communism. Mikhail failed to reform Russia.
    Signing of the Maastricht treaty
    The treaty was signed on February 7,1992 the treaty was established a European union. The treaty was to help the environment, social policies, and other issues.
    2. The Cold War ended when the Soviet Union fell. It ended because the Soviet Union was not able to control countries anymore. They no longer controlled east Germany and communism came to an end. The war ended because of Mikhail not being able to control his country, he let them fall apart and was not able to put them back together. Also communism came to an end so there was no need to keep fighting
    Work cited:
    Https://www.coldwar.org/articles/90s/fall_of_the_soviet_union.asp
    Https://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/war_stories/2009/11/why_berlin_mattered.html

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