Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev

Mikhail was the man credited with helping end the Cold War was born into a peasant family on March 2, 1931, near Stavropol. He joined the Communist Party in 1952 and completed a law degree at Moscow University the following year. He came to the attention of Politburo members Mikhail Suslov and Yuri Andropov, who got him elected to the Central Committee in 1971 and arranged foreign trips for their rising star. In 1978 he was back in Moscow, and the next year he was chosen as a candidate member of the Politburo. Gorbachev lost the political initiative. This now belonged to the leaders of the various Soviet republics, in particular the president of Russia, Boris Yeltsin. At the end of the year, Gorbachev was forced to resign as president of a Soviet Union no longer in existence. Since that time, he has been blamed by many Russians for their current political and economic predicament. In the West, he remains the 1990 Nobel Peace Prize winner who helped end the Cold War.

The Collapse of Communism

The first factor which contributed to the failure and eventual collapse of
communism was the fact that the Communist party's domination was
illegitimate from the beginning,communism never had popular public support from the start. The second factor is that communism never really had the support of the people there were constant social parties that were opposite communism.

Apartheid and Nelson Mandela

Apartheid was a system of segregation enforced by the National Party(NP)in South African government between 1948 and 1994. South Africa gained self-governance as a dominion within the British Empire and were expanded and formalised into a system of legitimised racism and white nationalism after 1948. Nelson Mandela was an anti-apartheid activist and leader of the African National Congress. He spent 27 years in prison on convictions for crimes that included sabotage committed while he tried to end apartheid. Among opponents of apartheid in South Africa and internationally, he became a symbol of freedom and equality.

African Independence

The story of Africa's independence started after World War two, people wanted change at that time only Egypt, Liberia and Ethiopia were independent. Africa saw the Indian's as a inspiration as the Indian's were in self rule. So Indian independence gave momentum for Africa's independence.Everywhere the mood was hopeful as people were inspired by the vision of a new society free of European control.

The Cuban Missile Crisis

The Cuban Missile Crisis was a battle between the U.S, the Soviet Union and Cuba during the Cold War. It was noted that the confrontation would of led to a full scale nuclear war. After the Cuban revolution the U.S grew concerned most notably President Kennedy of Fidel Castro and his government. Thinking and knowing that the Soviets had Nuclear weapon President Kennedy assembled the EXCOM(Executive Committee of the National security council) The Excom quickly discussed three courses of military actions. Which were an air attack on the missile, a full military invasion,and a naval blockade of Cuba, which would then be quarantined.

NATO and the Warsaw Pact

NATO is a military alliance that was established by the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty. It was established when the Treaty of Brussels was signed by Belgium,Netherlands,Luxembourg,France. This alliance would then later become the Western European Union.
The Warsaw Pact was an organization of communist states in Central Eastern Europe. This treaty was modeled on the NATO treaty both treaties were similar in that there was a political Consultative Committee, followed by a civilian secretary general, that was the only similarities between the two. Members of the pact pledged that if they were attacked they would help each other.

"The Right Stuff"

The film the right stuff is a film about the space race between the U.S and USSR. The film showed the very competitive nature of both these nations. Both nations wanted to send men into space for space exploration. Not only that but also land on the moon, and send space satellites. It was more of a rivalry between the U.S and the USSR in the Cold War.
In the film it was quite obvious who was leading the victory, the Soviet Union was successful in sending the first man into space while the U.S was experimenting with chimps which made them look weak at what they were doing, Meaning the U.S was scared of what might happen if sending a man into space. they did not want to take that risk.
What I will remember from the film and the Cold War is that it was a rivalry during the Cold War, and that it was one of the most expansive thing that the U.S has done during the time, meaning the money spent on space exploration.