Unit 7
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units >unit 7> Collapse
of communism and the breakup of the Soviet Union
G.
Collapse of communism and the breakup of the
Soviet Union
| 1. |
Human and physical geography |
| 2. |
Background events, 1970 to 1987 |
| 3. |
Poland’s Solidarity and Lech
Walesa |
| 4. |
Mikhail Gorbachev
(perestroika and glasnost) |
| 5. |
Fall of the Berlin Wall and the reunification
of Germany—causes and impacts |
| 6. |
Ethnic
conflict in former satellite states, e.g., Kosovo,
Bosnia |
| 7. |
Changing political boundaries |
| 8. |
Challenges faced by post-communist
Russia—the world of Boris Yeltsin |
Focus Questions
| • |
Why did the Soviet Union's political
and economic systems collapse? |
| • |
What impact did the collapse of the
Soviet Union have on the United States, China, and India? |
| • |
How successful has Russia been in
its transition from a command to a market economy? |
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Vocabulary
| detente |
perestroika |
| ethnic cleansing |
satellite states |
| glasnost |
solidarity |
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Scholarship
| Barber, Peter. 2005. The Map Book. London: Orion Publishing Group. |
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| Blij, H. J. de, and Murphy, Alexander. 2003. Human Geography: Culture, Society, and Space, 7th Edition. New York, NY: John Wiley and Sons, Inc. |
| |
| Christian, David and William H. McNeill. 2004. Maps of Time: An Introduction to Big History. Berkley: University of California Press. |
| |
Friedman,
Thomas. 2005. The World Is Flat: A
Brief History of the Twenty-first Century. New
York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux. |
| |
McNeill,
J.R. and William H. McNeill. 2003.
The Human Web: A Bird's Eye View of World History.
New York: W.W. Norton & Company. |
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Helpful Hints
| • |
Help your students understand
the economic, social and political reasons why the Soviet
Union collapsed. |
| • |
Students should explore
the impact the failure of the Soviet Union's command
economic system has had on Eastern Europe and contemporary
Russia. |
| • |
Have students debate the
role Russia plays in the 21st century. What role
does Russia play in Central Asia and the Middle East? What
is Russia's relationship with Islamic Fundamentalism? |
| • |
Single causation is a historical
fallacy. Have students create a chart documenting
the events between 1970 thru 1987 leading up to the collapse
of the Soviet Union the chart should include the response
of the soviet leadership to these events. It is helpful
in drawing conclusions as to which groups and individuals
were responsible for the collapse. The chart will
aid in determining multiple causation. |
| • |
In their study of the collapse
of the Soviet Union, you may want to have students speculate
on such issues as as what roles of the former Soviet
leaders such as Vladimir Putin now play in Russia? What
commitment might these elites have to a new political
and economic system. |
| • |
Provide students with opportunities
to examine communism across time and place in East Germany,
Poland, Czechoslovakia, Bosnia, Chechnya, Ukraine, and
Kazakhstan. You may want to have small groups of
student to explore this topic and report out to the class
from work stations. |
| • |
Help student analyze and
evaluate the collapse of communism from conflicting and
competing viewpoints. |
| • |
Have students explore the
question, “What
challenges dose post-communist Russia face?” |
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Resources for Teachers (Books/Articles, Visuals/Music)
|
Arbel,
David, and Ran Edelist. 2003. Western
Intelligence and the Collapse of the Soviet Union
1980-1990. New York: Routledge. |
|
| |
|
|
Berkley,
Bill. 2002. The Grave Are Not
Yet Full: Race, Tribes, and Power in the Hear of
Africa. New York: Basic
Books. |
| |
|
Dallin,
Alexande, and Gail W. Lapadius. 1991. The
Soviet System in Crisis: A Reader of Western
and Soviet Views. Boulder: Westview |
|
| |
|
Davidson,
Phillip B. 1991. Vietnam at War: The
History 1946-1975. CA: Oxford
University Press. |
| |
|
Doder,
Dusko, and Louise Branson. 1991. Gorbachev: Heretic
in the Kremlin. New York: Penguin
Books. |
| |
|
Ferguson,
Niall. 2001 The Cash Nexus. New
York: Basic Books. |
| |
|
Friedman,
Thomas L. 2000. The Lexus and the Olive
Tree. Garden City, NY: Anchor. |
| |
|
Goldstein,
Donald M. and Katherine Dillon and J. Michael Wenger.
1999. The Vietnam War: The Story
and Photographs. Virginia: Potomac
Books (formerly Brassey's Inc). |
|
| |
|
Guan,
Ann Cheng. 2002. The Vietnam War From
the Other Side. New York: Routledge. |
|
| |
Hobsbawm,
Eric. 1996. The Age of Extremes, 1914-1991. New
York: Vintage. |
| |
Kotkin,
Stephen. 2003. Armageddon Averted. The
Soviet Collapse, 1970-2000. Oxford: University Press. |
| |
|
Lane,
David, and Cameron Ross. 1994.The Transition
from Communism to Capitalism: Ruling
Elites From Gorbachev to Yeltsin. New
York: St. Martin's Press |
|
| |
|
Legum,
Colin. 1999. Africa Since Independence. Bloomington & Indianapolis: Indiana
University Press |
|
| |
|
Mason,
David S. 1996. Revolution and
Transition in East-Central Europe. Boulder,
CO: Westview Press. |
|
| |
|
Porter,
Andrew. 1994. European Imperialism,
1860-1914. New York: Palgrave,
Macmillan |
|
| |
|
Shevchenko,
Arkady N. 1985. Breaking with Moscow. New
York: Ballantine Books. |
| |
|
|
Springhill,
John. 2001. Decolonization
Since 1945. The Collapse of European Overseas
Empires. New York: Macmillan. |
|
| |
|
Smith,
Bonnie, ed. 2004-05. Women's
History in Global Perspective.
Champaign, Ill: University of Illinois Press. |
| |
|
Tordoff,
William. 2002. 4th ed. Government
and Politics in Africa. Bloomington,
ID: Indiana University Press. |
|
| |
|
van
Oudenaren, John. 1991. Detente
in Europe. Durham and London, Duke
University Press. |
|
| |
|
Yergin,
Daniel and Joseph Stanislaw. 2002. Commanding
Heights: The Battle for the World Economy.
New York: Touchstone/Simon & Schuster. |
| |
Wide Angle: Window Into Global History (PBS)
"Breaking Up is Hard to Do" http://www.thirteen.org/edonline/wideangle/lessonplans/breakingup/index.html |
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Assessments
Editor's Note: All state examinations are
aligned to the New York State Learning Standards for Social
Studies and Social Studies Resource Guide with Core Curriculum.
The chart below specifies where these alignments have occurred
(from June 2000 to the present).
| Core
Curriculum: |
Global
History and Geography Regents: |
| 1. |
Human and physical
geography |
2. |
Background events,
1970 to 1987 |
| 3. |
Poland’s Solidarity
and Lech Walesa |
| 4. |
Mikhail Gorbachev
(perestroika and glasnost) |
| 5. |
Fall of the Berlin
Wall and the reunification of Germany—causes
and impacts |
| 6. |
Ethnic conflict in
former satellite states, e.g., Kosovo,
Bosnia |
| 7. |
Changing political
boundaries |
| 8. |
Challenges faced by
post-communist Russia—the world
of Boris Yeltsin |
|
August 2001 Thematic, Change-Turning
Points
June 2003 DBQ, Turning Points—the
Neolithic Revolution, the Age of Exploration,
the collapse of Communism in the Soviet
Union
August 2004 Thematic, Economic Systems |
|
| |
| 5. |
Fall of the
Berlin Wall and the reunification
of Germany—causes and impacts |
|
|
June 2004 Thematic, Turning
Points
January 2005 Thematic, Change (Political
Events) |
|
|
| |
| 6. |
Ethnic conflict
in former satellite states, e.g.,
Kosovo, Bosnia |
|
|
June 2006 Thematic, Conflict |
|
|
| |
| 8. |
Challenges
faced by post-communist Russia—the
world of Boris Yeltsin |
|
|
August 2002 Thematic, Change
(Individuals) |
|
|
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of communism and the breakup of the Soviet Union
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