SS- 5th test

Aim: Cold war ends

In the late 1960s, the United States sent the U-2 spy plane to take images of where Russia keeps their weapons. The American pilot, Gary Powers, was told by the United States to kill himself if his plane gets shot down. The Russians did indeed shoot down his plane, but Powers didn’t kill himself. The Americans claimed that this was a weather plane, but the Russians didn’t believe them. This event damaged the United States’ relationship with Russia.

In the 1960s, the Berlin wall was also built.

In the 1970s, the Cold war began to thaw. Communism began to fall apart because of the economic contrast between communism and capitalism.
1. Communism-
a. China- had the Great Leap Forward, which failed.
b. North Korea had low production of poor quality.
c. In East Germany, everything was gray.
d. Cuba
e. Russia- enormous shortages.
2. Capitalism-
a. The Japanese became the “Asian tiger”- were a strong and rising country.
b. South Korea had a lot of technology.
c. In West Germany, the people had a good quality of life.
d. United States - land of plenty.

Russia had enormous corruption in the government. Communist officials were privileged, while regular people had a poor quality of life. If someone had protectsia, they got luxuries.

By the 1970s, Russia was a nation of alcoholics. People would drink a lot so they could drown out all their problems. People would do anything to get alcohol.

In the 1970s, some refusniks- people who stayed observant were allowed to leave Russia. The majority of the people unfortunately didn’t stay observant.

In the 1970s, Russia was led by Brezhnev, who made efforts to improve relations with the W. This was known as détente- relaxing of the tensions of the Cold war. Ex. The United States finally recognized China as a country. Nixon agreed to have diplomatic relationships with China- he went there to visit. Russia and the United States came up with the SALT (Strategic arms limitation talks) treaty- it was all about limiting arms. By the late 1970s, SALT II- about long-range missiles.

In 1979, détente ended when Brezhnev came up with the Brezhnev Doctrine- Russia has the right to do what it wants to help keep communism alive anywhere in the world.

In Afghanistan there was a small communist group against a Muslim non-communist group. Russia helped the communist group. The fighting lasted in Afghanistan for ten years. Russia lost half of a million soldiers. About one million Afghanis died. Brezhnev wouldn’t stop fighting and Russia fought until 1985, when Mikhail Gorbachev took over.

Aim: Gorbachev’s reforms

In 1985, Gorbachev became the leader of Russia. He took several actions to bring the Cold War to an end.

Gorbachev made it known that he was not as tough in communism.

Gorbachev’s reforms:
1. Glasnost- end of censorship. People can now speak out against the government.
2. Perestroika- introducing capitalism- free market reforms. The result of this was economic chaos because the people didn’t know how to run businesses. There was inflation- people’s money couldn’t get them too far anymore.
These reforms introduced elements of capitalism and some democracy.

At this time, Gorbachev pulled the Russian troops out of Afghanistan. The result of this was that the satellite nations thought that maybe now they could break away. From 1989, the satellite countries began to declare independence and they were all successful.

Hungary, Czechoslovakia, and Poland all declared independence. They set up governments and quickly elected presidents. In November of 1989, East Berlin broke away and the Berlin Wall fell. This symbolized the end of the Cold war and that the Iron Curtain had fallen.

The Soviet Union’s republics began to break away one by one. Gorbachev tried, but then realized he didn’t have the strength to keep the republics. In the end, the only thing left of the Soviet Union was Russia.

Gorbachev faced opposition from:
1. Liberals- they felt Gorbachev should go all the way and make Russia into a democracy.
2. Conservatives- they wanted communism back.

Gorbachev reassigned. The liberals held the elections and Yeltsin became the president of Russia. Yeltsin tried making Russia into a democracy but it was impossible.

Now, Russia is leaning toward communism.


Aim: Independence for satellite nations

After Czechoslovakia broke away, it split in 2:
1. Czech Republic- led by President Vaclav Havel. He was a professional writer.
2. Slovakia

Hungary broke away in 1989.

The Polish people hated being under communism because Poland is a Catholic country and communism doesn’t go for religion. In the 1980s, a group of shipyard workers organized the Solidarity Movement to gain independence from the Soviet Union. The leader of the Solidarity Movement was Lech Walesa. The movement started with about three or four-dozen people but within a few months, millions joined. In 1989, Poland broke away, and Walesa became president. Poland had economic problems and Walesa was blamed. He wasn’t voted in as president again.

Challenges of newly independent satellites:
1. Economic- most of the satellites wanted to become capitalist. As a result there was inflation because people were setting their own prices.
2. Unemployment- the government no longer had to provide jobs so people had to find their own jobs.
3. Crime- many people were engaged in crime because they saw no other way to make a living.

For the first few years, countries had worse economies than under communism. Many applied for NATO- they were hoping to get money. The United States helped and NATO now became stronger.


Aim: Europe post Cold war/ communism collapse

1. Germany- in the early 1990s, East and West Germany were reunited. The west had the difficult challenge of absorbing the east and becoming one. This challenge was particularly different because the west was much more advanced than the east in many areas. There was social unrest and the rise of the neo-nazis (aka skinheads).
By now Germany has integrated successfully.
2. Yugoslavia- is located in the Balkans and was established as a country after World War II. There were many types of Slavic peoples living there. Yugoslavia wasn’t a satellite nation, but was nevertheless communist, and was headed by a dictator named Tito. The strong government was able to prevent fighting among the different peoples. In the 1990s, when communism collapsed, the Yugoslavian people decided to overthrow the communist government. There was an immediate result of division into many different nations:
a. Croatia- consists of Serbs and Croats. The Croats didn’t want the Serbs in their territory and began killing them out. This is known as ethnic cleansing.
b. Bosnia- consists of Serbs (Christian) and Muslims. There was an all out war known as the Bosnian war. The Serbs in Bosnia got help from the Serbs in Serbia.
c. Kosovo- there were Albanians that lived there who wanted their own country. The Serbian leader, Slobodan Milosevic led a fight against the Albanians. He became notorious because he ignored requests to stop the killing. Eventually, he got killed.

Where was the United Nations? The United Nations ignored it. This led to a lot of criticism. About ½ million people were killed by ethnic cleansing before the United States got involved. Eventually, NATO sent troops.

Aim: China introduces capitalism

Communism most likely collapsed because of economic failure.

How was China affected by the collapse of communism? As long as Mau was alive, communism stayed the same. When Mau died in 1976, China was in a disastrous state- there was no agricultural output and people were starving.

Mau was replaced by Deng Xia Oping, who was considered to be like Gorbachev. He introduced some private ownership of business and got rid of the communes. In addition, he introduced four modernizations:
1. Agriculture
2. Industry
3. Science and technology
4. Defense

In order for this program to work, he also introduced the responsibility system- people can make some profit for themselves. For example, farmers were givin individual plots of land and a certain percent of the crop could be sold for a profit. This was motivation. The same thing happened in factories. This is called limited privatization.

In the 1980s, Deng invited foreign investors. They brought in technology, businesses and jobs for the Chinese. At this time, China was compared to a bird and a fish- they were a mixed breed of communism and capitalism.

Impact of these changes:
1. Enormous gap between the rich and the poor- some people were motivated while others didn’t know how to deal with capitalism. This created resentment and people resorted to crime and corruption.
2. Demand for more freedom

In 1989, there was enormous demonstration born out of a desperate attempt for freedom. This event was held at Tiananmen Square and later became known as the Tiananmen Square Massacre. Thousands of Chinese gathered and demanded freedoms- human rights. The government didn’t know how to react and some hard line communists who were there said to crush the demonstration. The Chinese sent troops and tanks and about three or four thousand people were killed. The world was shocked. This event was a human rights violation.

China is still a strict country.

In 1997, China got Hong Kong back.

Aim: Japanese economic growth post World War II

By the time World War II was over, Japan was in horrible shape:
1. Bad economy
2. People were starving
3. Hiroshima and Nagasaki were in shambles
4. People were demoralized

The United States decided to help Japan set up a democratic capitalist system. They set up a democracy and started setting up a capitalist system.

The United States occupied Japan for a few years to help them.

The great economic challenge of Japan was that they had minimal natural resources. Japan had previously gotten all their resources from their colonies, but they lost all their colonies after the war. Japan had to now pay for resources.

Japan was successful in building up its economy over the next several decades. They built up their economy until they became known as an economic miracle.

How did Japan achieve such economic success?
1. United States occupation
2. Built modern factories based on technology
3. Money was put towards the economy instead of the defense
4. Japan placed high tariffs on imports. This gave Japan a good balance of trade- they were selling more and buying less.
5. Disciplined work force- take work seriously.
6. Education- was very advanced, especially in math and science. There was a 0% illiteracy rate.

By the 1990s, Japan had a recession. They were almost out of it when the global recession hit.

Aim: Western European nations choose democratic socialist system

There are different types of economies:
1. Command- the government makes all the economic decisions.
2. Capitalist- people make decisions. There is also private enterprise/free market- people have their own businesses based on the concept of supply and demand.
3. Democratic Socialist- mixed economy. Many businesses are owned by the government and the people own about 50% of the businesses. Examples are Britain, France and Italy.

Well-fare states- government takes care of the people’s needs. The philosophy behind well-fare states is “cradle to grave”:
1. Social security
2. Pay healthcare
3. Pensions

Challenges of well-fare states:
1. People pay very high taxes- about 50% of people’s incomes went to the government. In the past ten years, people have been living longer and the government has to pay out more money. The population has also declined, so there is less money coming into the system.
2. Inferior healthcare- doctors are getting paid by the government so they aren’t as motivated to become specialists in their fields because they wont get more money. In addition, there are shortages of doctors because they don’t make lots of money. As a result there are delays.

The United States has a capitalist system-most businesses are owned by private people. About three million people, about 1/6, have no health care.

Aim: European nations unite economically

After World War II, several Western European nations organized the European coal and steel community- trade coal and steel with each other without putting tariffs on each other. It was so big a success that a few years later it became the European community- no tax on any of each other’s goods.

In the 1990s, it changed its name to the European Union (EU).

Eastern European countries have been trying to join.

The European money, the euro, is used by every member.

Aim: History of the state of Israel, 1948-2000

Twenty-four hours after the formation of the state of Israel in 1946, there was a war initiated by Egypt known as the War of Independence. Israel managed with what the United States gave them. Unfortunately, Israel lost some land, including part of the Old City and the Kossel.

The Six-Day war was fought in 1967. Israel always got the occupied territories of:
1. Gaza
2. West Bank
3. Sinai Desert
4. Old City- was the most emotional significance of the war.

After the Six- Day war began the rise of terrorism. Most of the Palestinians moved to the outskirts where Israel didn’t have claim on territory. The people lived in refugee camps. This was a training ground for terrorism. It was here that the big terrorist group, the PLO (Palestinian Liberation Organization), formed, headed by Yasir Arafat.

In 1972, the PLO organized the Entebbe attack. They hijacked an airplane going from the United States to Israel, and sent it to Uganda.

In the 1980s, Germany held the Olympics. Israel sent eleven of their top athletes, all of whom were murdered by the PLO.

In 1973 was the Yom Kippur war. This was a surprise attack led by the Egyptians. Israel won and kept their land. The apposing nations retreated.

At this time, people began achieving peace in the Middle East. In 1979, the Camp David Agreement was formed. It was between the prime minister of Egypt, Saddat, and the prime minister of Israel, Begin. Israel wanted recognition in exchange for the Sinai Desert. Egyptians were furious at the results and murdered Saddat.

In 1987 was the first intifada- Palestinians began to act out more openly.

In 1993, in an attempt to stop the intifada, Rabin and Arafat signed the Oslo Accords- Israel gave up parts of Gaza. Rabin was murdered shortly after.

After, the second intifada began- suicide bombings became much more popular.

In 2004, Sharon gave up the rest of Gaza and some of the West Bank, which meant he was uprooting settlements.

Aim: Israel- 2000 to present

In October 2004, the second intifada broke out and it lasted for a couple of years. The terrorist groups that were responsible were Al Aqsa and Hamas. There was constant bombings in hotels, restaurants, busses… Israel reacted by increasing security. They became really good at preventing attacks.

In 2005, Jews were expelled from Gaza settlements. Most people left, but many didn’t want to. Gaza was eventually emptied out.

The Israelis continued to struggle against terrorism. The most recent struggle was Operation Cast Lead. The Israelis marched into Gaza in order to achieve their goal of weakening Hamas.

Aim: Lebanon

In the 1980s, there was a civil war that lasted for ten years. Lebanon had a population made up of both Muslims and Christians. After 1967, many Palestinian refugees moved to Lebanon, creating a Muslim majority. The Muslims didn’t want Christians in their government. This was the cause of the civil war. Many people were killed. The 1990s was spent rebuilding Lebanon.

Aim: Iranian revolution

In the years after WWII, the shah was Reza Pahlevi. He was modern and wanted Iran to be a modern country. He therefore introduced western civilization into Iran. The United States supported him, and Iran was now their friend politically.

In Iran, people wanted the shah out and Khomeini in. Khomeini was very religious. He believed that Iran should be ruled by the Shoria (religious laws from the Koran). The shah exiled Khomeini, making Khomeini more popular. In 1979, the shah escaped to the United States and Khomeini became the new leader of Iran. He had millions of supporters.

Under Khomeini:
1. All western influences were banned
2. Rights were taken away from woman

Iran and the United States now had a terrible relationship. Khomeini took the United States embassy hostage. All the workers were put in jail. They were released after a little more than a year.

Aim: Iran and the spread of Islamic fundamentalism (Muslim extremism)

Under Khomeini, Iran became a very religious country. The term for very extreme Muslims is Islamic fundamentalism. Many people gravitated toward this extremism.

When Khomeini died in 1989, Iran had a very less religious leader who wasn’t appreciated and left a few years later.

Next came President Ahmadinejad. He was a very courageous leader who wasn’t liked by the west. He also openly denied the Holocaust. Now, he is building nuclear weapons and the US isn’t happy with this because he is irrational. (Iran is among the top ten most dangerous countries for the United States.)

Islamic fundamentalism has been spreading to other countries with Muslim populations. Iran attracted Muslims to become more radically religious in countries like Egypt, Saudi Arabia… In Turkey, it is the “in” thing to wear head coverings.

Iran is against everything the western world stands for.

Aim: Afghanistan- Taliban

Afghanistan is mostly a Muslim country.

In the mid 1990s, the Taliban (a very religious group) came to power. The Taliban are a prime example of what such religious people can do to society:
1. Men can’t shave
2. Men have to wear long robes
3. Women have to wear traditional clothing such as the Burka.
4. No art
5. No music or dancing
6. No education for girls, not even with a tutor.
7. Woman can’t go out without related male accompaniment.
Most people didn’t like such strict rules.

If the Taliban felt that people were against them, they would go into that area, close off the whole thing, bring all the people into the streets and kill them all.

A terrorist group formed from the Taliban, known as Al Qaeda. Al Qaeda is led by Osama bin Laden. Bin Laden rose to notorious fame after the attack on the twin towers on September 11, 2001.

After the attack, the Taliban became an enemy to the US. Bush and NATO sent troops to Iran and forced the Taliban from power. In a few months, Iran got a free government with no more harsh laws. There are still troops in Afghanistan.

Afghanistan grows 95% of the opium in the world.

Aim: Iraq

Ever since the 1970s, Iraq was led by the dictator Saddam Hussein. The Iraqis had no imposition of religious law, but he was a terrible dictator:
1. Hussein demanded loyalty, and those that he felt were disloyal, were dealt with in torture chambers.
2. Hussein was paranoid and had palaces with many underground tunnels. He lived a few stories below the ground.

In 1980, Iraq started up with Iran- border fights. War lasted for ten years.

Aim: Iraq- Persian Gulf war, 1991

Kuwait is an oil rich country on the tip of Iraq. Iraq was jealous, so they decided to invade. In 1990, Iraq invaded Kuwait, and was successful in getting it in a couple of weeks.

Kuwait had been a modern country, and now the western countries can’t do business with it. This was very serious for the United States.

Hussein said that Israel would be next, and following the capture of Kuwait, Iraq sent long-range missiles into Israel. The Israeli government was scared that the missile heads contained dangerous diseases, so every building had a sealed off room, and everyone wore gas masks. From all the forty missiles that Iraq sent, only one person was killed.

The US had two reasons to get involved:
1. Kuwait
2. Israel

With help from NATO, troops marched into Iraq and forced Iraq out of Kuwait within two months. Bush Sr., who was the president at the time, received a lot of criticism because many people felt he didn’t do the whole job because he didn’t get Hussein.

After September 11, 2001, Bush Jr. decided to target Iraq. What’s the connection?
1. Someone had to pay and it was going to be Iraq.
2. Bush didn’t want other terrorist groups to think that the US was vulnerable.
3. He picked Iraq because he knew that his father was blamed for not getting Hussein.

The United States accused Iraq of having weapons of mass destruction. The United States demanded that Iraq let them send UN inspectors in to check the situation out. If weapons were found, the United States would attack Iraq. The United Nations inspectors were refused, so the United States attacked in 2003 saying that they can’t tolerate such a threat.

The United States first attacked with the air force- “shock and awe”. After a few weeks, the United States marched in with ground troops. There was no Iraqi army to appose them. Most Iraqis were thrilled that Hussein was no longer in power.

After a few months, struggles broke out between the Sunis and Shiites. Saddam’s supporters became terrorists and would target United States troops and United States supporters. There was constant bombing and attacks.

The United States learnt a lesson- you can’t just march in and offer democracy on a silver platter. Bush became really unpopular.

In 2005, the United States found Hussein, but the war still continued. For the past six months or so, the situation in Iraq stabilized.

OPEC (Organization petroleum exporting countries)

The countries that have oil control the prices of oil, such as Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Nigeria… The purpose of this is to have a monopoly or cartel. Then, a couple of countries could control prices and get rid of competition.

OPEC has been tough on the United States. In the 1970s, OPEC didn’t sell oil to us for a few months. About a year ago, they raised the oil prices but they realized that we were beginning to become less dependant on their oil, so they lowered the price.

Aim: Latin America case studies

Some of the common challenges that Latin American nations shared:
1. Single cash crops- only one commodity. Many countries got used to growing one item. This is bad because:
a. No variety
b. It limits the economy- can’t export too much.
c. If the crop doesn’t grow, the country will go under.
2. Unequal land division- largest gap between the rich and poor. The rich own all the land and the poor live on nothing. Many people blame the Europeans for this. Today, they are working on re-dividing the land more evenly.
Illegal immigration- come to America because of the economic opportunities
3. Overcrowded urban areas- because people feel that it’s the only place they can get ahead.

Disagreement between the conservatives and liberals- the liberals want the land to be redistributed and the conservatives want to stick to the status quo. Many of the liberals are priests and it makes them popular when they fight for land redistribution and other things.

Nicaragua- many Latin American nations in the past twenty years have been moving toward democracy because it has more opportunity.

From the early 1800s to the 1970s, Nicaragua had a strong military dictatorship. This dictatorship was supported by the United States. The United States sent financial help and assistance because Nicaragua was removed from Communism.

In the 1970s, a strong communist/Marxist group called the Sandinistas. They overthrew the military dictatorship. Now, Nicaragua was a communist country.

A democratic rebel group called the Contras rebelled against communism and the Sandinistas- the United States helped them. In 1990, the Contras were successful in overthrowing the Sandinistas and Chamorro became president.

Aim: Mexico

As in many Latin American nations, Mexico had a dictator after they got their independence. In the 1880s, when Hidalgo got independence for Mexico, a dictator took over. Under this dictatorship, the minority was wealthy and got things from the government. The poor people were disadvantaged.

In 1910, there was a revolution. Mexico was the first country in Latin America to overthrow their dictator, Diaz. The credit went to the two groups who organized the revolution:
1. Zapata- was a Native American and led the Indians.
2. “Poncho”villa- was considered as a dangerous criminal in the United States.

The first president was Carranza. He was from the only political party in Mexico called the PRI. This political party was so strong that no one else could form another party. In 1917, under Carranza, Mexico set up a constitution, which:
1. Gave woman more rights.
2. Land reforms- gave some land to the poor,

By the 1960s, riots and protests against the PRI broke out because people wanted another political party. In 2000, there were free elections.
1. PRI
2. PAN- Fox.

Fox won and brought an era of much more democracy into Mexico. Under Fox, the United States, Canada and Mexico formed NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement). NAFTA got rid of most taxes on items. NAFTA is a positive interaction between the United States and Mexico because it enhanced economic relations.

Mexico had drug lords who were drug trafficking into the United States. The drug lords have their own army. The United States told Mexico to stop the drug trafficking or there would be consequences.

The Zapatistas, a rebel group in Mexico, claim the Native Americans are still ignored and don’t have rights. The Zapatistas are very dangerous. They want land and better healthcare.

Aim: Argentina

Argentina is a country in South America. It is rich in resources such as wheat and beef.

In the early 1900s, there were several civilian governments. In the 1930s, a military coup took over Argentina.

In 1940, Juan Peron became an extremely popular politician. He had the support of:
1. A large division of the army.
2. Many workers- they felt he would change Argentina for the better.
3. Had the popularity of his wife Evita. She spoke to crowds of poor people who understood her because she used to be poor.

1n 1946, Peron became the leader of Argentina. After he won, he became a full-fledged dictator. As a dictator, he bought changes to Argentina:
1. Workers got more rights-
a. Forty-hour work week
b. Paid vacations
c. Pension plans
2. Imports- less imports from foreign countries.
3. Repressive government- extreme censorship. He threatened the people badly, in a way that didn’t allow freedom. There was one newspaper and the government controlled the radios.
He became well exposed to fascism from Hitler, and after World War II, he invited Nazis into Argentina.
4. Less exports= huge economic problems.

Evita somehow kept her husband in power. When she died in 1952, Peron was pushed out by a military coup.

For about the next 30 years, Argentina was ruled by many military coups.

In the 1970s, Argentina had a brutal military government and there were all sorts of military groups against them. The government began reacting strongly- people disappeared off the streets- there were thousands of “desaparecidos”. This was known as the Dirty war.

By the 1980s, democracy was established in Argentina along with Haiti, Al Salvador, Guatemala…Today, there is an unstable democracy.

They have an economic crisis- Argentina was at a low point and then the world economic crisis began.

The government is notoriously anti-Semitic.

Aim: Panama

In the early 1900s, the US built the Panama Canal. It was returned in 2000 in an effort to have better relations with Panama.

In the 1950s, Panama’ s president, Noriega, was sending drugs into the United States. In 1989, the US went into Panama and surrounded his house. He stood trial in the United States and is now in jail in Miami.

Aim: Haves and Have-nots

Characteristics of haves and have-nots:
1. Haves-
a. High GDPs (gross domestic product)- value of what the country produces in a year.
b. Political stability.
c. Modern transportation systems that are sufficient.
d. Abundance of food and nutrition.
e. Capitalist economy.
2. Have- nots (aka LDCs- less developed countries)-
a. Low GDPs.
b. Unstable governments- this makes it hard to make money. There can also be civil wars.
c. Insufficient infrastructure.
d. Famine.
e. Transitioning to capitalism or are communist.

Examples of haves and have-nots:
1. Haves-
a. United States
b. Canada
c. West Europe
d. Japan
e. South Korea
f. Australia
g. New Zealand
h. Israel
2. Have-nots-
a. South Africa
b. Sub-Saharan Africa
c. North Korea
d. China- on the way to becoming a have.
e. India- on the way to becoming a have.
Many countries fall in the middle.

Why do haves help the have-nots? Because of globalization- increased communication among nations. This is sometimes referred to “global village”- world seems smaller because of technology. We care about have-nots because we are more connected with each other. It’s in our best interests to help these places because it helps us and protects us. We help for selfish reasons- their instability affects us.

Aim: Effects of globalization

Globalization is the coming together of countries in this “global village”.

Effects:
1. Cultural diffusion- cultures mix. People respect other people’s cultures. The more we mix with other countries, the more diffusion there will be.
2. Interdependence- countries needing other countries.
a. Resources
b. Trade
3. Outsourcing- sends jobs to other countries. (Ex. Dell in the United States and India)
4. Multinational corporations- big businesses have branches in many countries. This makes the world seem smaller.

Aim: Global hot spots

Hot spots- areas in the world where there is tension.

China has most of its population in the east because there r deserts and mountains in the west. Tibet is located in the mountains- it’s very secluded. The question over the years is if Tibet is part of China or not. China claims so, while the Tibetans say they are not.

The people of China and Tibet are very different. The Tibetans are religious Buddhist. Their leader is called the Dalai Lama; he’s respected worldwide.

Tensions increased in the 1950s when the Chinese became communism and wanted to wipe religion. They invaded Tibet and forced them to under the yolk of communism. Most Tibetans fled to India, including the Dalai Lama. China wanted the Chinese to move to Tibet to absorb the remaining Tibetans into their culture.

In 2008, there was increased violence when China hosted the Olympics. The Tibetans found this as a great opportunity to attract attention to themselves and they began protesting against China. The Chinese gunned many of them down and then made up to talk.

North Korea became a communist country after World War II. Their leader was Kim Sung.

The border between North and South Korea is very important to them, and is therefore untouchable.

There was only one political party- the Democratic People’s party. After Sung died, his son Kim Jung II took over. The people call him “dear leader” even though he’s a brutal tyrant.

Human rights were greatly violated- prison system is the cruelest in the world. There is an organization called the Amnesty International, which makes sure prisoners worldwide are treated humanly. They said that the human rights violations in North Korean prison systems are the worst.

In 1990, there was a famine and thousands of people died from starvation.

North Korea has nuclear weapons. They have made false promises to shut down their weapon programs. North Korea is about the only country that is producing nuclear weapons. They are also trying them out.

Economy:
1. South Korea- “Asian tiger”
2. North Korea- the entire economy collapsed after communism fell because they were getting support from Russia.