Introduction
We've witnessed the rise of the Iron Curtain, Possible nuclear meltdown, conflicts and wars fought far away from the main two powers, a race to the stars, and now it all finally comes down to the end with the breakup of Soviet Russia.
Task
Today we're going to try and break down the 4 core reasons of the Soviet Unions failure, those reasons being Resources, Gorbachev, Glasnost, and Perestroika. We will answer some basic exercise questions for each content readings.
We will also do an activity where we look at a map of Cold War Europe and recognize the Iron Curtain between the West and the East. Then once that's completed we're going to write an open ended 2 paragraph essay on why the Collapse of the Union was a good or bad thing. No wrong answers, just be you!
Finally we're going to look at this map of Europe during the Cold War and using reviews and content from before
Process
First go read https://www.history.com/topics/cold-war/fall-of-soviet-union at "Mikhail Gorbachev’s Glasnost and Perestroika" and stop when that paragraph is completed, this is to get a slight in depth look at the causes and to get a good formal idea of who Gorbachev is, and what both Glasnost and Perestroika mean and how they affected the breakdown.
Secondly, watch this short video
This will aid you in understanding more key details especially in terms of the resource problem. After watching the video, try and come up with a solution you think you could have acted on if you were Mikhail Gorbachev, 2-3 sentences.
Thirdly
Read this article at point II "Why communism failed" https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2017/11/07/lessons-from-a-century-of-communism/ This is more of an overarching read on the whole nature of communism. This sheds light on all of the previously listed reasons.
Finally view this map and mark with a dark marker the Iron Curtain between the West and the East.
After you finish, write a two paragraph essay on why or why not the Soviet Union's failure was a good thing or not. Keep in mind that the fall led to the US assuming position as "world police" and has left a lot of weight on the US's soliders.
Evaluation
Be sure answers are serious answers and follow along the sentence number requirements after each exercise.
When image is printed draw the Iron Curtain line with a black sharpie and be sure it is clear.
Be sure closing paragraph is serious and two paragraphs.