Chapter Overviews

Chapter 21: The Contemporary Western World

Chapter Overviews

The last quarter of the twentieth century saw the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the end of the Cold War, the collapse of Communist rule in Eastern Europe, and economic unification of Western Europe. Eastern Europe nations transitioned to democracy. American popular culture had a global influence.

Section 1 Decline of the Soviet Union
The 1970s saw a relaxation of Cold War tensions, known as détente. The 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan brought back old fears of Soviet expansion. Tensions heightened further when Ronald Reagan called the Soviet Union an "evil empire" and began a new arms race. Leonid Brezhnev, the Soviet leader of the 1970s, had been uninterested in reform. However, Mikhail Gorbachev, who came to power in 1985, saw the need for radical change to save an ailing economy. Gorbachev coupled his domestic reform plans with an easing of Communist party control over the republics of the Soviet Union. Agreements with the United States sharply reduced nuclear arms stockpiles. In 1988, Gorbachev's reforms led to the breakup of the Soviet Union into independent republics in 1991. After the breakup, the country of Russia fought the attempt by Chechen rebels to break away. Meanwhile, the shift to a free-market economy produced economic hardship, social disarray, and a sharp rise in organized crime. From 1999 to 2008 Russia was ruled by Vladimir Putin, a former Soviet secret police officer, who made several economic reforms.

Section 2 Eastern Europe
The collapse of communism in Eastern Europe took varying forms in the late 1980s. In Poland the Solidarity trade union led a decade-long struggle for change. Often, the collapse of the Communist order was more sudden. In Czechoslovakia mass demonstrations ousted the Communists swiftly and with little violence. Ethnic pressures later led to the division of the country into Slovakia and the Czech Republic. The killing of thousands of peaceful demonstrators in Romania caused the army to withdraw its support for the repressive dictatorship. It quickly collapsed. Street protests also brought the fall of communism—and the Berlin Wall—in East Germany in 1989. Free elections led to German reunification. Yugoslavia split into multiple republics. Slobodan Miloševic's attempts to form a new Greater Serbian state produced two wars in which NATO blocked Serbian attempts to annex Bosnia and to strip Kosovo of its status as an autonomous province.

Section 3 Europe and North America
Economic problems plagued the West during the 1970s. A sharp increase in oil prices had ripple effects in most countries. After 1970 Western European nations moved toward economic union. Socialist François Mitterand tried unsuccessfully to remedy France's problems by expanding government ownership of business. Margaret Thatcher's budget cuts in Great Britain proved more successful but caused widespread poverty in old industrial areas. Although an economic boom in the 1980s at first helped West Germany absorb East Germany, German reunification proved to be more costly than originally thought. Subsequent economic problems led to a wave of anti-immigrant activity. In the United States, Richard Nixon left office after his misconduct in the Watergate scandal. Jimmy Carter lost his reelection bid under the cloud of a hostage crisis and high inflation. Ronald Reagan made cutbacks in social programs and ordered a costly military buildup. Bill Clinton oversaw an economic recovery in the 1990s. One of the most destructive terrorists acts occurred in September 2001, when terrorists piloted airplanes into the World Trade Center Towers in New York City and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., killing thousands. In Canada, the province of Quebec came close to seceding during the 1990s.

Section 4 Western Society and Culture
Since 1970, the Western World has experienced rapid changes in technology, the family, and women's roles. Western art and American popular culture dominate the globe. Ethnic and religious minorities in the West use a range of tactics, such as terrorism or peaceful demonstrations, to preserve their own culture and gain independence.