The Collapse of the Soviet Union Goal Understand

The Collapse of the Soviet Union Goal: Understand how the Gorbachev Revolution led to the collapse of the Soviet Union

Class Review: 643 -644 and 764765 Significance of uprisings in satellite countries (Hungary - 1956 and Czechoslovakia - 1968) and military response by Soviet Union? n Significance of Brezhnev/Brezhnev Doctrine ? n

Handout: 542 (old textbook) Textbook: pg. 764 Partner: Create a list of problems for the Soviet Union in existence prior to Gorbachev n Minimum = 3 problems n

Problems in the Soviet Union n Hungarian Revolution (1956) and Revolt in Czechoslovakia (1968) n n Both revolutions put down by Soviet forces Failure of Command Economy n Collectivized agriculture could not produce enough food for their people n Low output due to inability of government planners to correctly decide what to produce, how much and for whom n n n Products were inferior to western products n Workers cared only about quotas, not quality n Workers had job security for life Citizens stood in line to buy food and other basics n Central planners told farm and factory managers how much to produce and what prices to charge Huge military buildup, space race and Afghan War (1979 -1989) drained Soviet Economy Censorship: People could not speak out against government n n Sometimes factories didn’t receive supplies and shut down

Group Project: Writing a News Article n Tasks n n In your groups read pg. 765 -766 Assume the role of newspaper reporters n n Write a story summarizing the major changes that Gorbachev introduced in the Soviet Union Your story should include and explain at least: n n One political change One Economic change One foreign policy change You story must also include an eye-catching headline

Rubric n Story correctly identifies and explains n n n One political change (10 pts) One economic change (10 pts) One foreign policy change (10 pts) n Identifying = 5 pts and Explanation = 5 pts Eye-catching headline (5 pts) n Story is written in paragraph form/Reporter perspective (5 pts) n Total = 40 pts n