New York State Curriculum Notes

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 

• To what extent was the collapse of communism in the Soviet Union a major turning point in global history?

• In what ways can it be compared to the fall of the Roman Empire and the Han Dynasty?

• What caused the collapse of communism in the Soviet Union?

• What was the impact of the collapse on the West? on Cuba?

• What role did nationalism play in the collapse of communism and the breakup of the Soviet Union?

• What historic ties did Eastern Europe have with Western Europe?

• Why did communism as an economic system collapse in the Soviet Union?

• What problems does Russia face as it moves toward capitalism?

Suggested Documents: Writings and speeches of Vaclav Havel, Mikhail S. Gorbachev, Boris Yeltsin, and Lech Walesa