Two years after the destruction of the Berlin Wall, the Soviet Union buckled. The Communist party was broken because the Russian Republic hindered to eject Gorbachev from office. In December 1991, the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) included Russian Republics. “The Russian Republic assumed leadership of the CIS, but the Soviet Union was no more.” The Cold War was a long drawn out battle between Democracy and Communism. The United States believed that a country should have the ability to choose its government; not be feared of it.
These two armed rebellions were Pancho Villa and Emiliano Zapata, both fought for the same rights and wanted to help the poor of Mexico. Although Villa’s lack of education, his background as a poor peasant and his ruthless war tactics appeared as disadvantages compared to middle class and educated Zapata’s organized methods, they both achieved their goals and had a major influence. On June 6, 1878 Pancho Villa was born to a poor peasant family (Katz p 7). At a young age Villa earned the reputation of being captured and escaping after breaking the law. He joined a group of outlaws that was led by Ignacio Parra and Refugio Alvarado and became a fugitive (McLynn p59).
Peter I “The Great”: Czar of Russia Peter “The Great” was an absolute monarch of Russia from 1682 until 1725. He is the most responsible sole person for “westernizing” Russia. The time period he lived in is known as the “Enlightenment” because so many European rulers were “Enlightened” in different ways and they impacted their governments, people, economy, etc. in a forward thinking way. The rulers would try to make their nations become more like what we are today, with ideas such as, no slavery, technological advancements, peace with other countries, etc.
The Russians departed Korea in 1949 followed months later by Americans. The Russians left behind a communist government in the north with a very strong Soviet-equipped army. The Americans handed control to the pro-Western government of Syngman Rhee. On June 24, 1950 the armies of North Korea, who were communist, invaded the pro-Western half of the peninsula. Within days they had occupied much of South Korea.
This group’s aim was to spread anti-Asian propaganda and influence legislation restricting Asian immigration (Japans Pacific Onslaught). Along with racism towards immigration, Japan felt as if though they were treated inferior to the United States during the Russo-Japanese War. Japan had defeated the Russian Fleet at the Battle of Tsushima. It was the first naval defeat by an Asian power of a Western power in that period. (Vat) After that, Japan continued its naval expansion after World War I.
During the beginning of the 1900s, there were plenty of revolutions and violence that took place. The Chinese revolution in 1911 and Russian Revolution in 1917 shared similar goals, they wanted to end the power of their current leader and establish a new one. For Russia, it was Tsar Nicholas II and for China it was the Qing Dynasty, Russia wanting a functioning communist government and Chinese revolutionaries wanted a democratic government. The first outcome is different in that China relied on agriculture to maintain its economy and Russia relied on industry to fuel its economy. The second outcome of the revolutions was that the countries were dramatically changed, two great powers were stopped and communist leaders eventually took over in the two countries.
With Japan growing their powers and repeating breaking the truce, United States made a decision to cut off oil and war supplies to Japan. Japan was United States number one importer for oil and war goods. It was a plan United States regrets. On December 7, 1941, Japanese forces struck American fleets in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Japan had formed alliances with Nazi German and Fascist Italy, forming the Axis Powers.
In June 1950, North Korean troops invade South Korea and take over the capitol of Seoul. By September of 1950, North Korea had taken over most of South Korea. As this happened, the UN decided to take action. Under General McArthur, UN troops begin to take back South Korea and much of North Korea. But fearing the loss of an ally and a Communist buffer to protect their Northeast provinces, China joined forces with North Korea to push back UN troops and stop their invasion.
A few days later another Japanese city, Nagasaki, was obliterated by a second atomic bomb. These attacks were in an effort to end World War II promptly. But were these horrific attacks necessary? Japan had already been shattered in the previous year,
President Truman called on Japan to surrender and when Japan gave an unsatisfactory reply, Truman decided to drop it on Hiroshima. A second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki and after a week, Japan surrendered. In 1941, shipments of war materials from the US to Britain were being sunk by German submarines so Roosevelt ordered the navy to use Destroyers. Gradually, the Allies developed ways of containing the submarine menace through the use of radar and sonar. Stalin ordered his troops to fight against the German invaders but suffered huge fatalities.