Burton's Global Page

To begin with, the Soviet Union nearly went broke as a result of the Cold War weapons race. Their system could not produce enough ordinary goods, such as clothing or cars in which the Soviet people had given up hope of a better life ahead. This was a very sad thing and was thought to be the end of the world for the Soviets. But In the mid-1980s, a new leader came to power in the Soviet Union. And his name is Mikhail Gorbachev. Gorbachev was determined to improve life in Russia. And In the process, he helped bring the Cold War to an end.
He was known to be the person who called for more freedom for his people. And He and U.S. president Ronald Reagan agreed to destroy many of the weapons their countries had built. Gorbachev encouraged change in Eastern Europe, and he said that Soviet troops would no longer keep communist governments in power there.
I believe that Gorbachev is a person that the Soviet people were really thankful for because without him, communism wouldn't end.
To elaborate more on what he did, he loosen up the Soviet Union's communism political system, which eventually made it a better and improved system by allowing people to suggest and think on how to improve their nation.
One great example of this development was when he advised the owners of the factory to keep producing or make more products in order for the people to buy more or unlimited goods.
By the way, Glasnost was one of his policy of openness where he improved the government's accountability, openness, discussion, and etc. This allowed to improve their economic reorganization.
I believe this is a really good thing for the Soviets because through change and improvement in their economy, a hope of a better life will be given for those people who were suffering and are in need of change in their lifestyle.
Another great policy of Gorbachev was called Perestroika. Perestroika was a Soviet reform policy that allowed the political and economic "restructuring" in the former Soviet Union.
This developments happened in 1986. Meanwhile, Gorbachev's goal on this was to reorganize (decentralize) control of the Soviet's industry and agriculture and some private ownership.
This was the beginning of the time where he tried to let the people speak of what they wanted to speak or to protest on what they would like to protest so that the government can do something about it and might as well fix it for the sake of the country.
And the greatest development soon happened when Russia has finally inched toward democracy. The government no longer tries to control every aspect of Russian life, as it once did. And thankfully a good elected president now leads the country. Factories also have been sold to private companies. And most of all, land has been given to private citizens and businesses.
I believe Mikhail Gorbachev had done a great job. And without his ideas and perspective of improvement and development, the Soviets wouldn't have independence and couldn't have a better life.

Posted by Burton at 5:07 AM | Permalink | Comments

The collapse or the fall down of Communism occurred because of several things. It was more than a political event because it changed a lot of things because the whole world was affected as well. The powerful bond between economics and politics created a situation that was different for the ''successor'' states of the Soviet Union. The communist regime was like the whole idea of the life of the Soviets. And Karl Marx ideas were great but sooner his ideas affected every aspect of the Soviet's life negatively that people in Russia were left with little democratic belief or feelings.
Well first of all, there was no clear idea how it started but some historians say that it started with the people during the Cold War. The Russians saw how the Americans could buy and own lots of cool and nice things that the Russians couldn't because of communism, which prevents them from getting anything they want because everything is equal and all property and wealth is owned in a classless society by all the members of that society.
And the Russians couldn't also have very beautiful houses than the other person because all should have an equal value of what they own. This caused a lot of the soviets to get jealous where everyone started to think deeper on what's going on. The Soviets were also striving to get big income because they we're proving that they were a superpower nation. So they build atomic weapons, which happened because of the nuclear arms race against the U.S.
The space race also created a big impact in their economy that money was declining in their nation.
After days and days went by, people wanted to get rich or increase their income because they thought they were getting behind or were certainly affected by their political system, which is communism.
This are the times were things got really uncertain, difficult, and painful for the Russians or Soviets that they soon faced the seemingly impossible task of a new change in their political system.
And if there would be a new administration then that administration must address human rights issues such as living conditions and the supply of staple goods or other things in this new form of administration. But this makes the expectation of a full democratic switch impossible because the Russians are already having a hard time during those times because of low income.
Another few reasons of the collapse was that, capitalism began to spread into some parts of Russia. And the U.S. supported that country. As a result, Russia was separated in half where the other one is of capitalism and other is of communism. The ones who were in capitalism could eventually look for higher jobs with higher income. But the problem here was that the communist got jealous about this and felt bad that they couldn't have higher jobs with good salary. So eventually the people in the communist side was really mad at this because they thought it's very unfair that they work so hard but still were given the same amount of money with the other person who doesn't work hard.
Lately, large statues were shattered that even people in both countries believed that through doing this, it would be possible that there might be a missiles attack on each other. This however became just a theory of a missile war, called MAD, which is known as mutually assured destruction. Although it is a good thing that this didn't happen because if this happened then everyone might think that this not-so-legitimate-reason led to an utter destruction.
Well to make this event shorter, the countries of Eastern Europe sooner got rid of their communist leaders. In 1989, the Berlin Wall came down. And Europe was no longer divided. Finally, parts of the Soviet Union declared their independence.
And thankfully The Cold War ended with the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe in 1989, and the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991.

Posted by Burton at 5:13 AM | Permalink | Comments

Apartheid is basically a political system where white South Africans ruled. Just so you know, Apartheid means "apartness" or "separateness" in the Afrikaans language.
This political system allowed the small, white population of South Africa to control the country's large, black population.
However this political system was a bad idea because it made most of the black South Africans poor during apartheid. And it also gave them very few rights. And as a result they couldn't vote or live near the whites, which I believe is a very rascist type of idea. Also the worst thing that happened here was that millions were forced to live in shacks in shantytowns because of this separation.
Although there was a great person who didn't like this political system and made a difference. And that person's name is Nelson Mandela.
When Mandela was living his life as a young man, he faced difficulty in life just like us. But his experiences are worse than us because he was a black young man. And under apartheid, black people couldn’t vote or hold certain jobs during those years. And when the whites controlled the government, the Blacks where separated from them and lived in separate areas and also went to different schools, which are less nicer than the white schools. I believe this is the most worse racism that happened for the blacks, which is really a bad and sad thing for them.
So Mandela on the other hand, opposed this system because it was cruel and unfair. But In 1944, everything changed when Mandela joined a group called the African National Congress (ANC). This Congress opposed the rule of South Africa where the whites alone had the most opportunities. This congress was a great one because they believed that South Africa belonged to everyone, whatever the color of their skin. And I believe that's a good thing.
The reason why people especially the Africans, like Mandela so much and became a hero was because he was a good leader in the ANC and a gifted speaker who encouraged people to break the apartheid laws. However the government saw Mandela as a trouble maker who tried to stop him. But even though he was arrested several times and was put to prison he still believed that the possibility of freedom and independence will happen. So Mandela continued to fight despite he was being slowed down by the government. And after he was released he still fought for an end to apartheid. The people really saw his courage, confidence, and strength that even though the government sentenced him to five years in prison (1962), was accused of working to overthrow the government (1964), and where his sentence-to-life in prison increased, he still never stop fighting.
In fact during his time in prison, he became the world's most famous political prisoner, which as a result leaders around the world demanded Mandela's freedom because they believe in independence and wanted apartheid in South Africa to end.
This then became the beginning of the protest in the streets against apartheid.
Mandela became a truly great leader when the government couldn't stop the trouble, and he was the only one who could. And also for being very popular for winning the support of many South Africans. This became the result of his released in prison in 1990 after spending 27 years there. For this reason, he became the leader of ANC in 1992, which was the time he had all the opportunity of ending apartheid.
Many white people were worried about this at first because they thought they will get in trouble when the blacks will be given equal rights. When Mandela worked with South Africa's president, he was able to promote peaceful relations between blacks and whites in which they both won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993.
In 1994 the years of excitement and happiness started to happen because for the first time in South Africa's history, men and women of all races could already vote. This was also the time when Mandela became the first black president of South Africa and brought an end to the hated apartheid system.
These are the valuable events and some reasons why people like him so much. And for doing and achieving these great things, he is certainly considered to be a hero.

Posted by Burton at 5:38 AM | Permalink | Comments

In the 20 year period from 1955 to 1975, Africa changed so much in many different ways. And that's because of certain events. One specific event that gave change to Africa was the granted independence in 1960 to the Congo. This resulted in a strong and sudden change in Africa's political, social, and living conditions, which became a great development. And also because of this, other more cities or places in Africa started to have independence.
Their nation was led by prime minister Lumumba, who was a great man that ruled a divided country in Africa. However, Lumumba was murdered for having communist connections and for revealing information to the United Nations about Tshombe's rebellion. The worst thing that happened here was that after Lumumba's death, Tshombe became their leader but only ruled for a time that didn't last long because again, Mobutu overthrew him.
This was sad for the Africans because they lost two leaders that gave change to their nation. But this was not the end of the world for the Africans.
After WWII, The Africans began to chase or pursue independence. But it was hard for the Africans to do this since the European colonial powers, France and Britain, were still in control of their nation. So they thought in order to have independence, they should rebel against the Europeans. But this wasn't easy for the Europeans since their main source of raw materials for their factories are located in Africa. So they were thinking and planning on how they will give the nation back to the Africans.
The main reason why France and Britain were having a hard time on giving back the land back to the Africans was because they needed money and raw materials to restore and improve their countries due to the destruction that was resulted by WWII. So The Europeans believe that money should be used to control the colonies they have in Africa.
When things started to be in good shape for the Europeans, they started the Negritude movement. However, this resulted in a revolution because the Europeans endangered the Africans and threatened them as well. Another reason for the revolution was that the Africans were very desperate on having independence and were eager to do anything just to have independence.
When things started to get so rough for the Europeans, they started to let most of the Africans work in the government because they thought it can give change. But it turned out they were mistaken because it wasn't a big change after all. This eventually led to the Mau Mau and Kenya rebellion where the English had seized farmland that was really important for the Africans.
So sooner the Africans find a way to get rid of the Europeans in which they decided to take the land back through fighting the Europeans, and of course with the help of their leader named Jomo Kenyatta, who was a conservative nationalist. Mau Mau thought and believed that the only to achieve control of the high lands is to threat or scare the Europeans, which was also a reason to avoid an "All Out War" that he thought he might use. Although it's a good thing it didn't happen.

Posted by Burton at 5:23 AM | Permalink | Comments

The Cuban Missile Crisis was a very close hot-war that could possibly happened on the confrontation between the U.S. and the Soviets as well as Cuba during the times of the Cold War.
It was a very close call between these two great nations to start nuking each other, while awaiting for the unspoken signal from the president. But it was a remarkable decision and choice that JFK and the Russians made that saved billions of lives that people were extremely showered with happiness when the bombings were canceled.
The Soviet missiles were already placed in Cuba, which Cuba was very near from Florida and other places near the U.S. And due to the fact that the soviets had great technology and weapons with mass destruction, the U.S. is very easy to be penetrated with the USSR's attack. This was a very terrifying moment not only to the U.S., but also to the whole world as well.
People are even staying in tunnels and undergrounds just to avoid being harmed by the harmful radiation of these nukes that could kill millions if any of it would be launched.
At first the U.S. government wasn't really informed by this disturbing news until the C.I.A. notice the pending attack by the U.S.S.R. that will be launched if the Americans will continue to invade Cuba. President J.F.K., who I believe is a very great and brilliant man, ordered spy planes and airplanes to search and see what was going on. But the Soviets spot one of their spy planes and shot it down.
It was a good thing however that the C.I.A. was able to collect photographs to the America's U-2 spy plane that revealed missile bases being built in Cuba.
I believe this was a very critical moment for the whole world that things were really uncertain, difficult, dangerous, and a worrying time that every decision is crucial because if the Soviets will nuke the U.S. then eventually the U.S. will nuke them back. And then all the radiation will go to the atmosphere, and people will start dying, suffering, and things will get really messy and stuff. This experience that the Soviets and the U.S. are having at that moment makes me think back and remember the bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
We all know that the atomic bomb that was dropped on those cities were extremely dangerous and destructive that hundreds of thousands of people died in Japan. And if the U.S. and Soviets will continue to nuke each other, then it feels like they haven't learned anything from the events that happened in Japan and what destruction these weapons can bring.
This attempt on the attack was kept too long because each nation was waiting for every bad move that each of them will do. And if that will happen, nuclear bombs will then be launched.
But suddenly things changed when President J.F.K. made a decision that couldn't be forgotten by the world when he made the agreement with the Soviet Union. It was a deal that if the Soviets will back off, then the United States will no longer invade Cuban territory. And an unexpected answer also saved the world when the Soviets replied by telling the U.S. that they will comply with the agreement if the Americans will take their missiles out of Turkey. It was then the time the war ended when the U.S. did what they said.
These things that happened at that time was considered "the hottest moment in the cold war" because this was the only time that the Cold War was very close to begin into a Nuclear War.
But I'm glad that didn't happen. I know everyone felt the same way.
I believe these events are very valuable in the history of mankind because the decisions made by these two great nations saved the world. And not only that, it also tells us that the decisions they made really proves that they are indeed truly great nations.

Posted by Burton at 5:21 AM | Permalink | Comments

NATO was basically formed after the America's policy of isolationism that continued after World War I when European countries created the League of Nations.The purpose of the League of Nations was to establish a collective security system.
But at that time it was believed that the U.S. Senate didn't like to join the league despite the support of President Woodrow Wilson for it.
The policy of isolationism ended or "disappeared" as what most historians say, when Japan attacked US in WWII, which was the event that forced America to join WWII. When the war ended, the Americans were involved on another system. That system was a system of alliances and regional defense associations.
These system or associations included the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the Organization of American States (OAS), and the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO). These collective alliances were required when the United States happened to enter 40 years of "mutual distrust" with the USSR, which became a war known as the "Cold War."
So basically, NATO was a treaty signed on April 4, 1949, at the beginning of the Cold War. It served as a regional defense alliance that was created by the North Atlantic Treaty. It allied the United States with Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, and the United Kingdom.
The real purpose of the treaty was to defend Western Europe against any possible attack by the Communist nations led by the USSR.
But the Soviets saw this as a threat because they felt they were the only country that had little allies at this point on, while the Americans had mutual agreement with a lot of countries.
So as a response, Russia made the "Warsaw Pact" to counter NATO.
This was kind of a Communist military alliance and a treaty of Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance that was formed in 1955.
This made the Russia or USSR allied with Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania. This alliance was controlled by the USSR.
But first of all to stick with the point, America started this pact because they were afraid and worried of the USSR that maybe they might attack U.S. anytime. So they thought of having allies, which might serve as a protection if anything bad could possibly happen and to stop communist from spreading throughtout the world since the U.S. and the Soviets have different economies.
The U.S. also thought that the NATO was an effective way of giving a powerful figure for the United Nations as well as to scare the USSR from attacking the U.S. and its allies.
But beneath this whole Cold War, these two strong nations didn't want to fight with each other because they know that if they will, the world will get into trouble because of their technology advances and military weapons such as, nuclear bombs and hydrogen bombs that could easily destroy the whole world if they will drop it on one-another. And of course the result will be extremely horrible. And these two great nations will then disappear from the explosion and impact if anything like that could happen.
But the NATO and Warsaw Pact on the other hand, was basically a defense organization just in case a "Hot-War" might occur.

Posted by Burton at 5:20 AM | Permalink | Comments

"The Right Stuff" was a great movie about the Cold War. It was basically a film telling a story about the events that happened on the competition of the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. with each other. And the main focus was competing in Space.
First it happened in 1947, when a group of Pilots and determined men gathered at a remote Air Force base in the California high desert. Their mission was to break the sound barrier by using a small rocket-powered test plane called the X-1. The only problem was that others had tried to break it before, and not all had survived, which most of them eventually failed. In fact, some of the people thought of the sound barrier as a "demon that lived in the sky", waiting to destroy and risk any men who dared to confront it, which was also said by the Narrator as the movie was starting. This actually became my favorite scene when Chuck Yeager was able to successfully beat the sound barrier by closing in on the deadly Mach-1. But still no one knew this at that time, except for the Americans because they want to keep this as secret or classified. So this was basically what the Cold War is about. The US and the USSR were keeping secrets away from one-another, and where competing in technology to find out who's the best.
Meanwhile, the Soviets wanted to be first in space. So they had an idea of lunching the first satellite into space called "Sputnik," which became successful. But the Americans were really upset about this because of the Soviet's brilliant idea. They were worried that the Russians might drop bombs to them easily from space. So lately, the Americans wanted to compete and be the best in space.
After this short event, everything was suddenly focused on the race for space. So NASA gathered and looked for the first best American Astronauts, which they called in pilots. So they trained them, especially their body to be able to survive in space.
Meanwhile as NASA were training the pilots, the US were shocked that the Soviets had beaten them again when they launched the first man into space. But it was remarkable that the Americans soon founded a way to compete with them. They made a capsule and John Glenn, who was one of the Astronauts, successfully made it to orbit. And then, this proved the fact that the Americans matched the Russians in the space race.
I believe the Americans won the race not only because of their technology and stuff, but also of their strength and confidence shown on fighting the cold battle.
In addition to the space race, Gordo Cooper finally got his chance and proved he has "the right stuff." This happened when the Americans continued the countdown of the Mercury-7 mission, and Cooper rides the rocket into space, that set records for the longest space flight.

Posted by Burton at 5:20 AM | Permalink | Comments