Survey
* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
World History: Connections to Today C H A P T E R 20 Europe and North America (1945– Present) Copyright 2001 © Prentice Hall SECTION 1 The Western World: An Overview • The Cold War divided Europe into two hostile camps: the western democracies, led by the United States, and the communist bloc, dominated by the Soviet Union. • The nations of Western Europe recovered fairly quickly from World War II. They expanded social programs and introduced the welfare state. By the 1980s, however, an economic slowdown forced cuts in social programs. • Western Europe’s recovery from World War II was helped by economic cooperation among the nations of the region, who formed organizations such as the Common Market and the European Union. Chapter 20, Section 1 SECTION 2 The Western European Democracies • Under the Conservative leadership of Margaret Thatcher, Britain reversed many programs of the welfare state. • After a period of ineffective leadership and colonial wars in France, Charles de Gaulle began rebuilding French prosperity and power. • After World War II, West Germany, aided by the United States, achieved an “economic miracle,” while East Germany, under communist rule, stagnated. After the collapse of communism, Germany was reunited in 1990. Chapter 20, Section 2 SECTION 3 North American Prosperity • After World War II, the United States used its vast economic and military resources to prevent the spread of communism. • As the American economy prospered, the United States government pursued bold new social programs to help the poor and disadvantaged. • The civil rights movement helped reshape American society, securing increased rights for African Americans, Native Americans, Hispanics, women, and other groups. • Canada enjoyed a postwar economic boom, but the Quebec separatist movement and the immense impact of the neighboring United States posed difficult challenges to defining a national identity. Chapter 20, Section 3 SECTION 4 The Soviet Union: Rise and Fall of a Superpower • The Soviet Union emerged from World War II as a superpower, with a sphere of influence from the Baltic to the Balkans. • Although Stalin’s successors eased some of his most repressive policies, they continued to suppress dissenters at home and forcefully assert Soviet control over its satellites in Eastern Europe. • The Soviets enjoyed some economic successes in military and space industries but had severe problems in such areas as agriculture and production of consumer goods. • Efforts by Mikhail Gorbachev to reform inefficiencies in government and the economy led to the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Chapter 20, Section 4 SECTION 5 A New Era in Eastern Europe • After World War II, local Communist parties, backed by Soviet power, gained control over the nations of Eastern Europe, from Hungary to Bulgaria. • In 1989, a “democracy movement” swept Eastern Europe. One by one, communist governments fell, and Eastern European nations, free to settle their own affairs for the first time since 1945, set out to build stable governments and free-market economies. • After shaking off Soviet domination, nations of Eastern Europe faced economic challenges and ethnic conflicts. Chapter 20, Section 5