History Courses For Dr. Christopher C. Lovett
|
History Courses For Dr. Christopher C. Lovett |
|
Updated as of 2 October 05 Today in History: On October 2, 1780, Major John Andrι, a British spy associated with Benedict Arnold, was executed on this day in history. Quote of the Day: "In my view we are much worse off now than when we went into Iraq. This is not a partisan position. I voted for these guys." A senior figure at a military-sponsored think tank as told to James Fallows in "Bush's Lost Year" in The Atlantic Monthly (Oct. 2004) Take the Ann Coulter Quiz Where are you politically? Take the Neocon Quiz and find out. "History is Far too Important to be left to History Professors" Teaching isn't such a novel idea
Bibliography:
History of Disease Contemporary Terrorist Organizations Map of Islamic Terrorist Cells in the U.S.A.
|
The Fall of the Soviet UnionModern World CivilizationSpring 2008Stalin and the Cold War Following in the wake of the German defeat. Stalin believe that whomever occupied a region had the right to impose their own social system on it. Hence, Eastern Europe was now in the Soviet sphere. In time, he thought the British and Americans would clash and he would inherit the remainder.Stalin and Heightened Cold War Tensions Stalin would not let Eastern Europeans states join the Marshall Plan. He cut off Berlin and started the crisis that resulted in the Berlin Airlift. He threatened to recognize East Germany. He was a winner in the Chinese Civil War in 1949. And his support for Kim Il Sung and the start of the Korean War.The Start of the Doctors Plot It started with the murder of Solomon Mikhoels, a leading Jewish/Yiddish actor on Jan. 13, 148. This was the start of the war on Cosmopolitans. In November Stalin waged his last battle against Jewish culture. The Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee was dissolved. 25 leading Jewish writers were arrested and eventually executed in the Lubyanka in 1952.The Last Purge The purge started on Jan. 13, 1953. Jewish doctors were accused of being paid agents of Israel. Who were supposed to poison Soviet leaders. Arrests were taking place. Fears were felt in the Jewish community that this would led to deportations. When Stalin suddenly died on March 5, 1953, the fears came to an end.Background Born in 1894 on the border zone with the Ukraine. He came from a peasant family. Joined with the Bolsheviks and fought in the Civil War. Stalin and the Purges elevated his career. He initially was one of Stalins loyal followers. With the death of Stalin, he and is ally Nikolai Bulganin won the struggle for control.Gaining and Holding Power He and Bulganin defeated Beria and Malenkov. Beria was executed. In 1956 at the XX Party Congress he attacked the crimes of Stalin. But he would no tolerate dissent. This was obvious with the crushing of the Hungarian Revolt in 1956. Khrushchev did seek accommodation with the West.Khrushchev and Crises Just when you though things were getting better. Along came the U-2 Crisis in May 1960. Followed by the Berlin Crisis and the Building of the Berlin Wall. Then the Cuban Missile Crisis. Still he was the first Soviet leader to advocate peaceful coexistence.Khrushchevs Fall Khrushchev was humiliated by the Cuban Missile Crisis. Plus his Virgin Lands program irritated his party colleagues. Resulting in a conservative coup led by Leonid Brezhnev. Forcing Khrushchev to retire to his dacha outside of Moscow. He died in 1971.Return to Russian Power Aleksei Kosygin became the Premier. But the real power was with Brezhnev as General Secretary of the Communist Party. He ended reforms initiated by Khrushchev. This was a godsend to the bureaucracy. Especially for the KGB which flourished under Brezhnev.Prague Spring to Dιtente When the Soviets and Warsaw Pact invaded Czechoslovakia in 1968 marked the birth of the Brezhnev Doctrine. Likewise aiding the North Vietnamese during the Vietnam War. But reaching out to Richard Nixon in 1972 with the SALT Agreements. Then along came Afghanistan.The Soviet Economy During The Brezhnev Years Brezhnev was growing feeble. As his government and Soviet Society was in state of decline. Agriculture and the domestic economy suffered. Because of the massive spending on defense for the Army, Navy, and Air Force. Something that the economy could not fully tolerate. Brezhnev died on Nov. 10, 1982 at 75. The Soviet Union had 10 more years.The Soviet Afghan Quagmire Communist power was established in Afghanistan on April 27, 1978. The Communist President Nur M. Taraki ushered in a wave of reforms that angered many Afghans. Soon the Afghans rose up and rebelled first in Herat in March 1979. Soon Taraki was toppled and another puppet was installed.Soviets Seek to Stabilize Afghanistan stabilizing the country by garrisoning the main routes, major cities, airbases and logistics sites. relieving the Afghan government forces of garrison duties and pushing them into the countryside to battle the resistance. providing logistic, air, artillery and intelligence support to the Afghan forces. providing minimum interface between the Soviet occupation forces and the local populace; accepting minimal Soviet casualties; and, strengthening the Afghan forces, so once the resistance was defeated, the Soviet Army could be withdrawn.Why Did The Soviets Fail? The Soviets deployed 40th Army to Afghanistan. Too few troops 90,000 to 104,000 to cover an area five times the size of Vietnam. All told 620,000 served there. The Americans had 500,000 men. Soviet military doctrine did not support such an operation. Unable to win the war early contributed to slow death. Introduction of American Stingers.Casualties and Manpower Officers served a two-year tour. Enlisted men served 18 months. 14,453 dead (9,511 KIAs, 2,386 died of wounds, 2,556 died of disease or in accidents). 10,751 were invalided out of service because of the war. Many were scared because of the war.Soviet Leadership During the Afghan War Brezhnev Chernenko Andropov GorbachevCollapse of the Evil Empire M. S. Gorbachev experienced the disaster of Afghanistan. And the disaster of Chernobyl in 1986. Gorbachev, more than many others, realized that the Soviet Union need normalization in international relations. This happened in 1987. Gorbachev then introduced Perestroika and Glasnost. Both would led to the collapse of the Soviet Union.The Walls Come Tumbling Down Hungary announced that the barriers with Austria were coming down. The communist party in Poland retired in Jan. 1989, with elections Soon East Germans rushed to Czechoslovakia for visas. Soon the walls came down on Nov. 10, 1989. Soon the regime in Bulgaria come down as well. Followed by the collapse of Nicolae Ceausescu on Dec. 25, 1989.Too Far, Too Fast Gorbachev admitted too much. Katyn and Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact. The reforms angered the Party establishment. While they did not go far enough for the Baltic States. The Party Conservatives realized that something had t be done. The August Coup was in the works (Aug. 19, 1991).The August Coup The liberals wanted further change in Russia. Including a multi party state and more civil liberties. Pressing Gorbachev for greater reform measures. Angering the conservatives who arrested Gorbachev on August 19, 1991. Then declared a state of emergency. But the effort collapsed.
|
