Mikhail Gorbachev and the collapse of communism

Mikhail Gorbachev was elected as the new leader after Brezhnev's death due to the fact he was young, his energy and political skills. Mikhail Gorbachev led the Soviet into a second Russian Revolution. He made changes in the Soviet Union, one was glasnost which allowed churches, books to be published that were previously banned. This brought many changes reporters were now allowed to look into social problems and criticized government officials in public. He also had another reform called perestroika which restructured the economy. He was trying to revive the Soviet economy. The Soviet Union and the Communist party became more open due to these reforms. Glasnost is one of the reforms by Gorbachev which means openness since the media was open and people can actually say their opinion. The reforms made by Gorbachev led to a series of democratic revolutions in the Eastern Bloc countries and eventually the fall of the Soviet Union and Communism in most countries

The collapse of communism

Communism collapse in Eastern Europe and the USSR because since people got paid the same no matter what people start to become lazy and there was less work done , business went down and prices went up.then people were inspirited to become capitalism , they saw how other countries enjoyed capitalism. Demands for reform spread across East Germany in the fall of 1989 and led to the end of the Berlin wall .basically communism ended with the help of the cold war since people weren't trying hard enough in communist countries the economy went bad and Russia had no more to keep on with the cold war.Mikhail Gorbachev, He wanted to be on better terms with the Soviets and realized the struggle of the people. He wanted Germany reunified. And later in 1989 things heated . East Berlinheld demonstrations against their communist government. Authorities had to handle the situation with matters of force. East Berliners were beaten and arrested that night, some even took sledgehammers and tried to break apart the wall to get into east Berlin. Finally in like November they started to take the wall down. Families that were separated were reunited after not seeing each other for many years.

Nelson Mandela and Apartheid

The Apartheid was a system of government where you might have the same same job as someone else but because of the color of your skin, the other person would get paid more in a week than what you would get paid in a year. Also, they would underestimate your ancestors and their way of life. Nelson Mandela is such a hero because he sacrificed himself in order to achieve South Africa's freedom. Mandela at first was the leader of a political movement called the African National Congress (ANC). As the leader of this political movement, he fought for the rights of colored skin people in Africa which he knew were been unfairly taken away from them. He was sentenced to life in prison, unfairly, since the government didn't want him around to influence people to realize what the government was doing. After 27 years in prison, he was freed and was elected president of Africa. Mandela is so admired by the authors of these articles and sites because he freed so many people, including himself, from the injustice the Apartheid government was offering them. He saved a lot of people from continuing with that lifestyle, which they didn't deserve, by being in prison for so long, sacrificing himself in such a brave way. i Think he had a lot of courage and was a very kind person to do this.