From Then to Now: Tibets Struggle for Freedom
From Then to Now: Tibet’s Struggle for Freedom by Hayley Von Normann Tibet is known for its wondrous mountains, beauty, and the unique, culture-rich people that live there--but many people do not know of the story behind what they see, and the real situation in Tibet. It first began in 1949, when the People’s Liberation Army of the PRC began to invade Tibet, this was when Mao Zedong first came into power. He wanted to “peacefully liberate” Tibet, and sending his army there, Tibet was practically theirs in a short amount of time. In 1951, the Chinese government imposed the “17-Point Agreement for the Peaceful Liberation of Tibet” on the Tibetans; it was signed only from pressure and fear. Tibet became an Autonomous Region of China, and has been since that day. As time passed, resistance against the Chinese occupation rose, and in result the Chinese repression increased a great amount too. This repression includes the imprisonment of monks and other leaders, the destruction of religious building and many other worse things. The Dalai Lama fled to India, where he presently leads the Tibetan government-in-exile. Human rights are constantly violated in Tibet today still, and they yearn to be free. Acts such as self-immolation, exiling to India or Nepal, and constant uprising are common. The question is, then, will Tibet be free? On September 30, 2006, a group of
Why did communism collapse in Eastern Europe and the USSR?
Why did communism collapse in Eastern Europe and the USSR? There are many reasons that led to the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe and the USSR. Communism was struggling throughout the 1980’s and policies and treaties that were introduced, such as Solidarity and The Sinatra Doctrine were not helping its strength and support. As more and more revolutions against the ideology were sparked, the domino affect came in to play, creating huge gaps in the iron curtain and ultimately leading to the collapse of communism not just in Eastern Europe but throughout the superpower of Russia as well. One factor that played a role in the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe and also the USSR was the reforms and policies of Michael Gorbachev. Gorbachev abandoned the Brezhnev Doctrine, which was the Soviet Unions policy of intervening with a communist country if they were under the threat of invasion. Instead, Gorbachev created the Sinatra Doctrine. This contributed to the collapse of communism greatly as it stated that the Soviet leadership had decided to let all countries including its Warsaw Pact allies determine their own form of government, which was against the rules of communism. In 1986, Gorbachev continued an anti-alcohol program that he previous ruler, Andropov, had started. The price of vodka was increased, the legal drinking age was increased from 18 to 21 and the
How did Stalin take over Eastern Europe between 1945 and 1949?
Michaël October 2013. Lebrun How did Stalin take over Eastern Europe between 1945 and 1949? The Soviet take-over of eastern europe started before the end of the second world war. As the Red Army drove the Nazis westward, Soviet leaders already tried to have friendly government installed into the territories. When World War II ended, it was Stalin's goal to conquer all of eastern europe. Indeed, despite the common agreement that all eastern european governments would be politically independent, Stalin had announced at Yalta that it was of paramount importance to him to have some control over the eastern european countries, explaining that this would serve as a deterrent to new potential attacks. After Germany's defeat, Stalin's Red Army remained in the occupied zones, which came as a surprise to the other powers. Stalin wanted to have complete control over those countries as he progressively made them more and more subservient to him and consequently influenced their regime into more and more communism. He did this through fear and by rigging the election polls. The whole region was known as the "Soviet Bloc" or the "Eastern Bloc", and Stalin's Red Army was there to intimidate and eliminate the opposition. The secret police was also intimidating through
What was the nature of the Apartheid State?
History Essay: What was the nature of the Apartheid State? The following piece of work will examine Apartheid which was a policy followed by the Afrikaner “National Party” between 1948 and 1994. Apartheid was invoked in 1948 when the National Party got into power. Apartheid is derived for the Afrikaans word and its direct translation is ‘apartness’. This was the racial segregation of Blacks and Whites. This was also when Black South African life’s started taking a downturn. Racism towards the Blacks had already been an issue that was fairly common amongst the Boers and Afrikaners even before 1948. The Afrikaners already had a superiority complex towards Blacks but as the apartheid starting taking place, it increased. The Afrikaners were given two choices, apartheid or integration. ‘ The choice before us is one of these two courses: either integration, which would in the long run amount to national suicide on the part of the whites; or ‘apartheid ‘, which claims to preserve the identity and safeguard the future of every race.’ The White Afrikaners were economically uncertain; the worried about things such as work, towns and money. The Blacks were already taking over the skilled jobs and congregating around towns. This concerned the White Afrikaners greatly. The United Party who offered integration would keep things going this way but the National Party who
International Relations: Revision Notes (Post WWII & Cold War)
Cold War Development 1943-56 Tehran Conference 1943: FDR, Churchill & Stalin meet to suggest that there should be two ‘spheres of influence’, one for western capitalism and one for eastern communism Yalta Conference 1945: Agreement that there should be allowances for spheres of influence, as well as establishment of the UN, and that USSR troops would aid USA in fighting Japan Potsdam Conference 1945: (Truman takes over for USA) Size of Germany decreased, and split into four sections for each of the four countries (USA, Britain, France and USSR) Change in Truman’s attitude noticed with the successful test of atom bomb, Stalin reverses his promises on a free mixed government in Poland A War with Words & Alliances Suspicion between USSR and USA continues, and the Long and Novikov Telegrams are sent in 1946. Long Telegram to USA: USSR ready to destroy capitalism, unable to coexist with communism, USSR building up its military power for war Novikov’s Telegram to USSR: USA preparing public for war, and desired to dominate the world 947: Truman Doctrine and Marshall Plan: A shift from isolationism * Choice between communism and democracy * America had the responsibility to fight for freedom * America would offer economic aid and military resources to help other countries * Communism should be limited in the ‘containment’ policy * Marshall plan offered
Explain why Soviet & Warsaw pact forces invaded Czechoslovakia in 1968 (12)
Explain why Soviet & Warsaw pact forces invaded Czechoslovakia in 1968 (12) In 1968 Dubcek challenged the communist leadership in Czechoslovakia, and reformed Czechoslovakia’s policies, starting the Prague Spring. This lead to the Soviet and Warsaw pact forces eventually invading Czechoslovakia, due to fears that Czechoslovakia would move away from communism due to legalisation of opposition political groups, less censorship leading to a fear of weakened Soviet rule, and the reform of allowing political criticism. The most important reason for the Soviet and Warsaw pact forces invading Czechoslovakia in 1968 was due to Dubcek’s reforms that lead to the legalisation of opposition political groups. By allowing opposition groups, the USSR feared that if communism proved to be unpopular despite Dubcek’s reforms there was the possibility that the opposition groups which were legalised would be able to gain the public’s support, and could lead to an implementation of a capitalist rather than communist government in Czechoslovakia. An implementation of a new government would mean that the USSR would lose one of its satellite states, and have its overall influence on surrounding countries reduced, at the same time increasing the USA’s capitalist influence. The fears of Soviet influence being reduced was increased by the fact that Dubcek’s reforms lead to less
Hitler's Foreign Policies and the Outbreak of War.
Foreign Policies Did Hitler achieve his all his aims? Adolf Hitler aimed to destroy the hated Versailles settlement, build up the army, recover lost territory such as the Saar and the Polish Corridor, and bring all Germans within the Reich by creating Lebensraum. Hitler wanted the Polish Corridor because it would mean the country would be divided in two and there were lots of Germans there like in Sudetenland. He wanted Rhineland because he wanted to destroy the Versailles agreement. He wanted Austria because he was an Austrian and there were 8million German speakers there. His aims occurred due to Nazi ideology that the treaty was bad, Aryan race was the best, communism was bad and Jews were bad. He achieved all of his aims because he had destroyed the Versailles settlement by invading Rhineland in 1936, invading Poland in 1939 and breaking the Anschluss by invading Austria in 1938. This meant that all that Hitler wanted he got without any hindrance because Britain only wanted peace so they did not react and France did not want to start another war as they were still recovering. This also allowed Hitler to gain a lot of confidence. Did Hitler’s policies cause the war? Most of Hitler’s policies did not contribute to causing the war because when Hitler tried to conquer Austria in 1934 by political pressure no one reacted. When Hitler invaded Rhineland in 1936 Britain
Key Features of the Warsaw Pact and NATO
Explain the key features of the Warsaw Pact of May 1955 One of the key features of the Warsaw pact is that it was formed as a response due to West Germany joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO). It was established in 1955 as retaliation and as a safety measure against the threat from the NATO countries. It was made up of Eastern European Countries. The Warsaw Pact was very similar to NATO and was signed by The Soviet Union, Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, and Romania. Another key feature of the Warsaw Pact is it demanded a spirit of “sincere co-operation” and it will undertake a sense of international peace and it also said that it will reduce armaments and it will prohibit atomic bombs, hydrogen bombs and other weapons of mass destruction. However, this never occurred because all of them feared the West and they did not want to be vulnerable and because the Cold War was still present there was a lot of tension hence the re-armament continued and there was an arms race to s ee what nation had the biggest and best army and weaponry. The final key feature of the Warsaw Pact is that it allowed for the Red Army to be based in all member states. This gave Soviet Russia and Khrushchev a lot of control over all of the Eastern European nations as his army was stationed inside the countries and this also provided a defence
The Collapse of Communism in Eastern Europe and the USSR
The Collapse of Communism in Eastern Europe and the USSR . What part did Mikhail Gorbachev play in: a. ending the Cold War, b. ending communism control in the countries of Eastern Europe and c. reforming the USSR. 2. Describe how communist control came to an end in Eastern Germany and how German reunification was achieved by October 1990. 3. Make notes on the collapse of communism in the USSR. . Mikhail Gorbachev was in a way the key figure in ending the Cold War, communism control in Eastern Europe and in reforming the USSR. Thanks to his policies of ‘glasnost’ (openness) and ‘perestroika’ (restructuring), Gorbachev was able to bring drastic changes into all of Eastern Europe and the USSR. He had committed himself to reform the Soviet Union and was not prepared to shore-up a Soviet-dominated structure in Central and Eastern Europe which was failing economically and was threatening to bankrupt the USSR if it continued to try and match the USA as a political and military force. Gorbachev took many initiatives on détente, arms control, improving relations with China and in slackening Russia’s heavy involvement in Afghanistan which was taking its toll. He offered many major concessions in the ongoing arms control negotiations. In 1986, he negotiated with American President Reagan in Reykjavík and dramatically offered massive cuts in Soviet armament, which
The Massacre at Oradour-sur-Glane
Oradour-sur-Glane - 10th June 1944 Towards the end of the Second World War, in a peaceful part of France, there took place a particularly horrible murder of 642 men women and children. On the 10th of June 1944, a group of soldiers from the Der Führer regiment of the 2nd SS-Panzer Division Das Reich entered and then surrounded the small village of Oradour-sur-Glane, near to the city of Limoges. At first, they told the Mayor, Jean Desourteaux, that there was to be an identity check and that everyone must go to the Champ de Foire (fairground) whilst this took place. After rounding up all the inhabitants that they could find, the SS then changed their story from that of an identity check, to one of searching for hidden arms and explosives. The soldiers then said that whilst they searched for the arms, the women and children must wait in the church and the men in nearby barns. The women and children were marched off to the church, the children being encouraged by the soldiers to sing as they went. After they had left, the men were divided into six groups and led off to different barns in the village under armed guard. When the people were all safely shut away the SS began to kill them all. A large gas bomb, seemingly made out of smoke-screen grenades and intended to asphyxiate the occupants, was placed in the church, but it did not work properly when it went off and so the