AP Euro Notes Chapter 30.1
Why did the Soviet Union Collapse?
* One analysis in the U.S. argued that the Soviet Union dissolved because the Reagan Administration had forced the Soviet Union into an arms race that it could not afford and that led to its collapse. * Most believe that the Soviet Union fell primarily as a consequence of conditions inherent in its system, with the huge inefficiencies in the Soviet economy. -Mikhail Gorbachev had tried to stop the decline in the 1980s with radical reforms, but it was already too late. * Another factor to be considered was that the multiethnic character of the Soviet Union, with many of the minority nationalities demanding more autonomy and independence for their regions, brought about the final collapse.
The United States: Move to the Center
* After 12 years of Republican administrations, the Democratic Party captured the U.S. presidency in the elections of November 1992. -George H. W. Bush's inability to deal with the deficit problem, as well as an economic downturn enabled Democrat Bill Clinton to become president. * Bill Clinton, a southerner, claimed to be a "new Democrat," who favored fiscal responsibility and a more conservative social agenda. -In his first term, Clinton reduced the budget deficit. -He signed a bill turning the welfare program back to the states, while pushing measures to provide job opportunities for those removed from welfare. -By seizing the center of politics, Clinton was able to win reelection in 1996, with the Republicans having a majority in both houses of Congress. -Clinton was helped by an economic revival. -A steady reduction in the annual government budget deficit strengthened confidence in the national economy. * Clinton's 2nd term was overshadowed by presidential misconduct coming from his affair with a White House intern. -After a partisan fight, the U.S. Senate acquitted Cllnton on two articles of impeachment brought by the House of Representatives. * George W. Bush won the presidential election in 2000. -Al Gore had won the popular vote, but Bush narrowly won the electoral vote, after a controversial victory in Florida, which was decided ultimately by the U.S. Supreme Court. * The 1st four years of Bush's administration were mostly occupied with the war on terrorism, and the U.S. led war on Iraq. -The Dept. of Homeland Security was established after the 2001 terrorist attacks to help protect the U.S. from future terrorist acts. -Bush pushed tax cuts through Congress that favored the wealthy and produced record deficits like the Reagan years. -Bush weakened environmental laws and imposed regulations to benefit American corporations. * In November 2004, Bush was narrowly elected to a second term. -From 2005 to 2007, Bush's popularity plummeted as discontent grew over the war in Iraq, financial corruption in the Republican Party, and his administration's poor handling of relief efforts after Hurricane Katrina. -The many failures of the Bush administration led to the lowest approval ratings for a modern president and led the way for a dramatic change in American politics. * Barack Obama, who campaigned on a platform of change "we can believe in" and ending the war in Iraq, had an overwhelming Democratic victory in the 2008 elections. -The democrats were aided by the collapse of the American financial system in the fall of 2008. -In 2009, Obama moved quickly to deal with the worst economic recession since the Great Depression. -Obama persuaded Congress to pass a sweeping health care bill to provide most Americans with health insurance. -Obama helped enact legislation to regulate the financial institutions that brought about the financial crisis. -He emphasized the need to combat global warming. -He emphasized the need to combat the decline in the educational system. -Obama was reelected for a second term in the fall of 2012.
The New Russia
* A new power struggle occurred in Russia after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. -Yeltsin wanted to bring about a free market economy as quickly as possible. -Former Communists and hard-line nationalists, with the support of organized crime mobs, tried to place limits on Yeltsin's powers. * Yeltsin fought back and planned a new Russian constitution that would: -Abolish the Congress of People's Deputies. -Create a two-chamber parliament. -And establish a strong presidency. * A hard-line parliamentary minority resisted and in October 1991 urged their supporters to take over government offices. -Yeltsin responded with military forces storming the parliament building and arresting hard-line opponents. * Yeltisn used his victory to consolidate his power in parliamentary elections in December. * During the mid-1990s, Yeltsin tried to implement reforms that would set Russia on a course toward a pluralistic political system and a market economy, but it was difficult. -Post-Communist Russia was still fragile, and corruption was widespread. -The Russian people questioned whether the new capitalist system was superior to the old Communist one. -A war in the Caucasus, where the Muslim people of Chechnya sought independence from Russia drained Russia's resources and exposed the rundown state of the Red Army. * Yeltsin won reelection as president in 1996.
The Reunification of Germany
* After the ongoing oppressiveness of the Erich Honecker regime, a flight of refugees and mass demonstrations occurred against the regime in 1989. -A 1/2 million people flooded the streets of East Berlin on November 4, 1989 shouting "The wall must go." -The German Communist government gave in to popular pressure and on November 9th opened the entire border with the West. -Hundreds of thousands of Germans went across the border, mostly to visit and return. -The Berlin Wall, a long-time symbol of the Cold War, became the site of massive celebrations and thousands used sledgehammers to tear it down. * By December, new political parties emerged. -On March 18, 1990, in East Germany's 1st elections ever, the Christian Democrats won 50% of the vote. * The Christian Democrats supported rapid monetary unification. -On July 1, 1990, the economies of West and East Germany were united. -The West German deutsche mark became the official currency of the two countries. * Political reunification of Germany occurred on October 3, 1990, after months of political negotiations between West and East German officials, as well as with the U.S., Great Britain, France, and the Soviet Union.
Western Europe and the Search for Unity
* After the revolutions of 1989, Western Europe faced new political possibilities and challenges. -Germany was united. -New opportunities for thinking of all of Europe as a political entity emerged. -Eastern Europe was no longer cut off from Western Europe by the Iron Curtain of the Cold War.
Toward a United Europe
* At the beginning of the 21st century, the EU established a new goal to incorporate into the union the states of eastern and southeastern Europe. -Many of these states are poorer than the older members, which raises concerns that these nations might weaken the EU. * EU members have established a set of qualifications for membership to demonstrate a commitment to market capitalism and to democracy, the rule of law, and human rights. -Joining the EU could add to the stability of these nations. * In 2004, the EU added 10 new members to include, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia. -The population of the EU increased to 455 million. -In 2007, the EU expanded to add Bulgaria and Romania. -In 2013, Croatia joined the EU.
The Putin Era
* At the end of 1999, Yeltsin resigned suddenly and was replaced by Vladimir Putin, a former KGB member. -Putin vowed to strengthen the role of the central government in Moscow. -Putin also vowed to return the breakaway state of Chechnya to Russian authority, with fighting continuing into 2000, and the capital city of Grozny in near ruins. -Putin wanted to adopt a more assertive role in international affairs. -In July 2001, Putin allowed the unrestricted sale and purchase of land and tax cuts aimed at boosting economic growth. * Although the economy grew with a budget surplus, serious problems remained. -Putin tried to deal with these problems by centralizing his control of over the system and silencing critics, like the Russian media. -Putin was criticized in the West, but was praised by many in Russia for restoring pride in Russian society. * In 2008, Dmitry Medvedev became president of Russia, when Putin could not run again according to Russia's constitution. -Putin became prime minister instead and shared power with Medvedev. * In 2012, despite public protests, Putin was again elected president to a 6-year term.
Toward a New Western Order
* Between 1945 and 1985, a new political order following WWII had left the Western world divided between the prosperous, capitalistic West and an impoverished, Communist East. * In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the Soviet Union and its Eastern European satellite states underwent revolutionary upheaval that dramatically altered the European landscape and left many Europeans with new hopes and new fears.
The Gorbachev Era
* Mikhail Gorbachev, was born in 1931 into a peasant family, who worked on a farm and received the Order of the Red Banner for his agricultural efforts. -The award and his good school record enabled him to enter law school at the University of Moscow. -After receiving his law degree in 1955, he became first secretary of the Party in the city of Stavropol, and then first secretary of the regional Party committee. -In 1978, Gorbachev became a member of the Party's Central Committee. -In March 1985, Party leaders elected him general secretary of the Party, and he became the new leader of the Soviet Union. * In February 1986, at the 27th Congress of the Communist Party, Gorbachev made clear the need for reforms in Soviet Society. -Centralized planning had stifled innovation, and the Soviets had fallen behind in high technology, esp. in the development of of computers for private and public use. -Most noticeable to the Soviet people was a decline in the standard of living. * The cornerstone of Gorbachev's radical reforms was "perestroika" or "restructuring." -Gorbachev called for the beginning of a market economy with limited free enterprise and some private property. -Gorbachev soon realized that in order to achieve economic reform that political and social reform would also have to occur. * "glasnost" or "openness" was one of the most important features of perestroika, in which Soviet citizens and officials were encouraged to discuss openly the strengths and weaknesses of the Soviet Union. -"Pravda," the official newspaper of the Communist Party began to include reports of official corruption, sloppy factory work, and protests against government policy. * The arts also benefited from the new policy. -Previously banned works were now published. -Music based on Western styles, such as jazz and rock began to be performed openly. * Political reforms were equally revolutionary, and at the Communist Party conference in 1988, Gorbachev called for the creation of a new Soviet parliament, called the Congress of People's Deputies, whose members would be chosen in competitive elections. -The 1st meeting convened in 1989, the first such meeting since 1918. * In early 1990, Gorbachev created a new state presidency to consolidate his power. -The new position was a consequence of a separation of the state from the Communist Party, with the powers of the office of the first secretary of the Party lessened. -In March 1990, Gorbachev became the Soviet Union's 1st president. * A serious problem Gorbachev faced evolved from the multiethnicity of the Soviet Union, as tensions previously kept in check under the iron grip of the Communist Party now resurfaced. -With 92 nationalities and 112 languages, ethnic groups took advantage of the new openness to protest what they saw as ethnically motivated slights. -When violence erupted, the Soviet Army had difficulty controlling the situation. * From 1988 to 1990, nationalist movements emerged in the republics that made up the Soviet Union. -Many were motivated by ethnic concerns, with calls for independence. -1st movement occurred in Georgia in late 1988. -Then Latvia, Estonia, Moldova, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, and Lithuania. -On March 11, 1990, the Lithuanian Supreme Council proclaimed Lithuania an independent state.
The War in Bosnia
* Bosnia-Herzegovina, Slovenia, and Croatia were recognized as independent states by the U.S. and many European states in 1992, but it not stop the Serbs from invading Bosnia. -By mid 1993, Serbian forces had acquired 70% of Bosnian territory. -The Serbian policy of "ethnic cleansing," or killing and forcibly removing Bosnian Muslims from their lands, reminded people of the atrocities of Nazism of WWII. -About 8,000 men and boys were killed in the Serbian massacre at Srebrenica -Despite worldwide outrage, European governments failed to take a decisive and forceful stand against Serbian activities. -By 1995, some 250,000 Bosnians had been killed, and 2 million were left homeless. * Military offensives by mostly Muslim Bosnian government army forces and by the Croatian army regained territory that had been lost to Serbian forces. -Air strikes by NATO bombers, which were advocated by President Bill Clinton, were launched in retaliation for Serb attacks on civilians and weakened the Serbs. * All sides were encouraged by the U.S. to end the war and meet in Dayton, Ohio in November of 1995 for negotiations. -A formal peace treaty was signed in Paris on December 14th that split Bosnia into a union of a Serb republic (with 49% of the land) and a Muslim-Croat federation (with 11% of the land) -NATO agreed to send a force of 60,000 troops (20,000 from the U.S.) to monitor the situation between them.
Contemporary Canada
* Brian Mulroney, a conservative, who had come to power in 1984, sought greater privatization of Canada's state run corporations and negotiated a free trade agreement with the U.S., which many Canadians bitterly resented and cost him his popularity. -In 1993, the Liberal leader, Jean Chretien became prime minister. -Chretien's conservative fiscal policies, with strong economic growth, enabled his gov't to have a budgetary surplus by the late 1990s and led to another Liberal victory in elections of 1997. -Charges of widespread financial corruption in the government, led to a Conservative victory in 2006 and Stephen Harper became the new prime minister. * Crisis continued over the French-speaking province of Quebec. -In the late 1960s, the Parti Quebecois, headed by Rene Levesque, ran on a platform of Quebec's secession from the Canadian union. -Underground separatist groups resorted to terrorist bombings, in a effort toward dreams of separation. -In 1976, the Parti Quebcois won Quebec's provincial elections and in 1980 called for a referendum to negotiate Quebec's independence from the rest of Canada. -Quebec voters rejected the plan in 1995 and debate continues to divide Canada.
The Revolutionary Era in the Soviet Union
* By 1980, the Soviet Union was ailing, and when Mikhail Gorbachev was chosen Party secretary in March 1985, a new ear began in the Soviet Union.
The Aftermath
* By 2000, the Serbian people had tired of all the violence and in the fall elections ousted Milosevic. -The new Serbian gov't, under Vohislav Kostunica, moved to cooperate with the international community and begin rebuilding the Serbian economy. * On June 28, 2001. the Serbian gov't allowed Milosivec to be put on trial before the international community for crimes against humanity for ethnic cleansing policies. -Milosevic died in prison in 2006 before his trial ended. * 30,000 NATO troops remained in Bosnia for several years to keep the peace between the Serb republic and the Muslim-Croat federation. -In 2004, 7,000 troops from the European Union replaced the NATO troops. -More than 30 international organizations have worked at rebuilding schools, roads, and sewers. * In Kosovo, NATO military forces were brought in to maintain an uneasy peace, due to hatred between Kosovo Albanians and the remaining Serbs. -United Nations officials worked to create democratic institutions. -The European Union provided funds for rebuilding the region's infrastructure. * The last political vestiges of Yugoslavia ceased to exist in 2004 when the Kostunica government officially renamed the truncated country Serbia and Montenegro. - Two years later, Montenegrins voted for independence. -In 2008, Kosovo declared its independence. -Finally all six of its constituent republics Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia, Macedonia, and Montenegro were independent, and a new one Kosovo was born.
Germany Restored
* Chancellor Helmut Kohl benefited from an economic boom in the mid-1980ss, but discontent with the Christian Democrats increased, and by 1988, their political prospects diminished. -Reunification benefited the Christian Democrats, and in the first all-German election in 1990, Kohl's Christian Democrats won 44% of the vote, while the Free Democrats received 11%. * The revitalization of eastern Germany would take more money than was originally thought, and Kohl had to raise taxes substantially. * The collapse of the economy in east Germany led to extremely high unemployment and severe discontent. -One reason for the problem was the gov'ts decision to establish a 1:1 ratio between the East and West German marks. -This policy raised salaries for East German workers, but increased labor costs and caused companies to hire workers abroad. * East Germans were also haunted by past memories. -The opening of the files of the secret police (the Stasi) showed that millions of East Germans had spied on their neighbors and colleagues, and even spouses and parents during the Communist era. -A few senior Stasi officials were put on trial for their past actions, but Germans wanted to forget the past. * To reduce the debt incurred because of economic reconstruction in the east, the gov't threatened to cut back on social benefits. -This increased resentments between east and west Germany. * Helmut Kohl's conservative coalition was defeated in elections in 1998 and a new prime minister, Social Democrat Gerhard Schroder came into office. -Schroder had little success in solving Germany's economic problems and lost the next election. * In 2005 elections, Angela Merkel, leader of the Christian Democrats became the 1st female chancellor in German history. -Merkel pursued health care reform and new energy policies, and played a leading role in the European Union. -After 2009 elections, she began a 2nd term as Germany's chancellor and led the EU nations in attempting to solve the financial problems of several EU members including Greece, Italy, Spain, and Portugal.
Corruption in Italy
* Corruption has continued to trouble Italian politics. -In 1993, hundreds of politicians and business leaders were under investigation for their involvement in a widespread scheme to use political bribes to secure public contracts. -Public disgust with political corruption was so great, that in April 1996, Italian voters gave control of the government to a center-left coalition that included the Communists. -In recent years, Silvio Berlusconi, owner of a media empire, dominated Italian politics, even though he became involved to protect his own business interests. -He lost to Socialist Romano Prodi in 2006, and Berlusconi again became prime minister in 2008, only to resign in 2011. * After the European economic crises, Italy faced severe economic problems. -Mario Monti, an Italian economist was chosen to replace Berlusconi, and he resigned at the end of 2012. * In his first 6 weeks of office, Monti passed new legislation that proved politically unpopular: -raised the retirement age. -increased property taxes. -simplified the tax code. * Elections in 2013 led to the formation of a coalition government under Enrico Letta, a center-left politician.
The End of the Soviet Union
* During 1990 and 1991, Gorbachev struggled to deal with Lithuania and other problems caused by his reforms. -He tried to appease conservatives, who complained about growing disorder, and liberal forces, esp. in the Soviet republics, who favored a new decentralized Soviet federation. -Gorbachev tried to cooperate with Boris Yeltsin, the president of the Russia Republic, who had been elected in June 1991. * By 1991, the conservative leaders of the traditional Soviet institutions, the army, government, KGB, and military became worried about the coming dissolution of the Soviet Union and the impact on themselves, so they planned a coup, against Gorbachev. -On August 19, 1991, discontented rightists arrested Gorbachev and attempted to seize power. -Gorbachev and Yeltsin resisted, along with thousands of Russians, who had become accustomed to their new liberties, so the coup disintegrated quickly. * The attempted coup actually sped up the process of the disintegration of the Soviet Union, and despite pleas from Gorbachev, the Soviet republics moved for complete independence. -Ukraine voted for independence on December 1, 1991. -A week later, the leaders of Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus announced that the Soviet Union had "ceased to exist," and would be replaced by the voluntary Commonwealth of Independent States. * Gorbachev resigned on December 25, 1991 and turned over his responsibilities to Boris Yeltsin, the president of Russia.
France: Right and Left
* Francois Mitterand won a second term as president in 1988, although France's economic decline continued. -In 1993, French unemployment was at 10.6%. * In the elections of 1993, the Socialists only won 28%of the vote, and a coalition of conservative parties gained 80% of the seats in the National Assembly. -France's move to the right was strengthened when the conservative mayor of Paris, Jacques Chirac was elected president in 1995, and re-elected in 2002. * In 1995, with growing resentment toward foreign-born residents, many French voters advocated restrictions on all new immigration due to increased unemployment and large numbers of immigrants from North Africa. -Chirac pursued a plan of sending illegal immigrants back to their home countries. * In the fall of 2005, anti-foreign sentiment produced a backlash, as young Muslims in Paris rioted against their dismal living conditions and lack of employment opportunities, and tensions have remained between the French populace and the Muslim community. -Nicholas Sarkozy, was elected president in 2007 and promised to address the immigrant issue, but didn't have much success. * France moved to the left and elected Socialist candidate Francois Hollande as president on May 6, 2012 due to growing concerns over Europe's financial problems. -Hollande vowed to raise taxes on the wealthy, regulate banks, and address the economic crisis.
The Disintegration of Yugoslavia
* From its beginning in 1919, Yugoslavia had been an artificial creation, with the peace treaties combining Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes into a new state. -Known until 1929 as the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes. -After WWII, Marshal Tito had managed to hold together the 6 republics and 2 autonomous provinces that constituted Yugoslavia. -After Tito's death in 1980, no strong leader emerged and responsibilities passed to a collective state presidency and thee League of Communists of Yugoslavia. * At the end of the 1980s, Yugoslavia was caught up in the reform movements, and the League of Communists collapsed, and new parties emerged. * The Yugoslav political scene was complicated by the development of separatist movements. -In 1990, the republics of Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Macedonia began to lobby for a new federal structure of Yugoslavia that would fulfill their separatist desires. * Slobodan Milosevic, who had become the leader of the Serbian Communist Party in 1987, emphasized nationalism, and rejected the proposed federal structure. -He asserted that these republics could only be independent only if new border arrangements were made to accommodate the Serb minorities in those republics who did not want to live outside the boundaries of a Greater Serbian state in 1991. -Serbs constituted 11.6% of Croatia's population. -Serbs constituted 32% of Bosnia-Herzegovina. * After negotiations among the 6 republics failed, Slovenia and Croatia declared independence in June 1991. -Milosevic sent the Yugoslavian army, which he controlled, into Slovenia, without much success. -In September 1991, he began a full assault against Croatia, capturing 1/3 of Croatia's territory in destructive fighting.
Post-Thatcher Britain
* In 1990, after Margaret Thatcher had dominated British politics since the 1980s, the Labour Party was revived after Thatcher tried to impose new taxes. -She tried to replace local property taxes with a flat-rate tax payable by every adult, that she maintained would make local gov'ts more responsive to its electors, but many argued that it would enable the rich to pay the same rate as the poor. -In 1990, after anti-tax riots broke out, Thatcher's popularity fell to an all-time low, and at the end of November a revolt within her party caused her to resign as Britain's longest-serving prime minister. * John Major, of the Conservative Party became prime minister in April 1992., but he failed to capture the imagination of the people. * Tony Blair, of the Labour Party, won a landslide victory on May 1, 1997 and became the new prime minister. -He was a moderate with youthful energy that invigorated the political scene. -Adopting centrist politics, similar to those of Bill Clinton, his party dominated the political arena. -Blair was a prominent leader in forming a international coalition against terrorism after the attacks on 9/11. -3 years later his popularity fell when he supported the U.S. war in Iraq, when most Britains opposed it. -Blair was in power until 2007, when he stepped down and allowed Labour Party leader Gordon Brown to become prime minister. * After elections in 2010 were inconclusive, the Conservatives won the largest number of seats in Parliament, but were short of a majority. -Gordon Brown resigned a few days after the elections, and Conservative David Cameron became prime minister.
The Fall
* Martial law was imposed in Poland in 1981, and in 1988 new demonstrations led the Polish regime to agree to Parliamentary elections. -The newly elected Solidarity coalition was allowed to form a new government, ending 45 years of Communist rule. -Gorbachev, with his new policy of non-intervention, took no action to reverse what happened. -In December 1990. Lech Walesa, the head of Solidarity became the new Polish president. * In Hungary, in 1989, the Communist regime tried to institute reforms, due to growing dissatisfaction among the masses. -Political parties in Hungary called for Hungary to become a democratic republic. -After elections in March 1990, a new coalition government was formed to commit Hungary to a democratic government. * In Czechoslovakia in 1989, government attempts to suppress mass demonstrations in Prague and other cities in 1988 and 1989 led to more and larger demonstrations. -In December 1989, as demonstrations continued, thee Communist government lacking support collapsed. -President Gustav Husak resigned and at the end of December was replaced by Vaclav Havel, a longtime dissident playwright, who had played a strong role in bringing down the Communist government. -Havel went on a goodwill tour to Western countries. * In Romania, Nicolae Ceausescu rejected Gorbachev's reforms in Eastern Europe, and opposition grew as a result. -When Ceausescu took extreme measures to reduce Romania's external debt and economic difficulties, many Romanian's were unhappy with a sharp drop in their living standards. -Then, after a ruthless crushing of a demonstration in Timisoara in December 1989, which led to other mass demonstrations. -The dictator was booed at a mass rally on December 21, 1989 and the army refused to support any more repression. -Ceausescu and his wife were captured on December 22 and were executed on Christmas Day. -Leadership was now in the hands of the National Salvation Front.
The War in Kosovo
* Peace in Bosnia did not bring peace in other areas of Yugoslavia. -In 1999, a new war erupted over Kosovo, which had been an autonomous province within Yugoslavia in 1974. -Kosovo's inhabitants were mainly ethnic Albanians, who were allowed to keep their Albanian language. -Kosovo also had a Serbian minority who considered Kosovo sacred territory because it contained the site where the Ottoman Turks had defeated Serbian forces in the 14th century in a battle that became a defining moment in Serbian history. * In 1989, Yugoslav president Milosevic, who had become a Serbian nationalist, stripped Kosovo of its autonomous status and outlawed any official use of the Albanian language. * In 1993, some groups of ethnic Albanians founded the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) to fight against Serbian rule in Kosovo. * The U.S. and NATO sought to arrange a settlement after the Serb forces began to massacre ethnic Albanians. -After months of negotiations, the Kosovo Albanians agreed to a peace plan that would give ethnic Albanians in Kosovo broad autonomy for a 3-year period. -When Milosevic refused to sign the agreement, the U.S. and NATO began a bombing campaign that forced the Yugoslavian gov't into compliance.
Eastern Europe: The Revolutions of 1989 and the Collapse of the Communist Order
* Stalin's postwar order had imposed Communist regimes throughout Eastern Europe, but discontent with their Soviet regimes always simmered below the surface in these satellite states. -Mikhail Gorbachev made it clear that he would not intervene militarily in any revolutions in 1989.
The Unification of Europe
* The European Community - Austria, Finland, & Sweden joined the European Community (EC) in 1995, which then had 15 members. * The EC was primarily an economic union, not political. -By 2000 it had 370 million people, was the world's single largest trading entity, and transacted one-fourth of the world's commerce. -In 1986, the EC created the Single Europe Act, which opened the door by 1992 to a united internal market, eliminating all barriers to the exchange of people, goods, services, and capital. * The Treaty on European Union, also called the Maastricht Treaty, attempted to create a true economic and monetary union of all EC members. * On January 1, 1994, the EC renamed itself the European Union (EU) -Its first goal was to introduce a common currency, called the euro, adopted by twelve EU nations in 1999. -On June 1, 1999, a European Central Bank was created. -As of January 2013, the euro had officially replaced 17 national currencies. -The euro serves 327 million people. -The euro became the 2nd largest reserve currency after the U.S. dollar. * In 2010, a crises occurred when Greece's public debt threatened its bankruptcy, as well as financial difficulties for many European banks. -To avoid disaster, other EU members, led by Germany, put together a financial rescue plan for Greece. -Afterwards, other countries in the eurozone, including Italy, Spain, Portugal, and Cyprus had financial problems.
Goals
* The European Union also established a common agricultural policy, under which subsidies are provided to farmers to enable them to sell their goods competitively on the world market. -The policy provides aid to the EU's poorest regions. -The policy provides subsidies for job training, education, and modernization. * The end of national passports enabled millions of Europeans greater travel flexibility. * The EU has been less successful in setting common foreign policy goals, mostly because individual nations see foreign policy as a national prerogative and are reluctant to give that up to an overriding institution. * The EU has created a military force of 60,000 to be used chiefly for humanitarian and peacekeeping purposes, because the EU's goal is peaceful conflict resolution, not war. * In 2009, the EU ratified the Lisbon Treaty, which created a full-time presidential post and a new voting system that reflects the size of each country's population. -It also provided more power for the European Parliament in an effort to promote the EU's foreign policy goals.
After the Fall
* The fall of Communist governments in Eastern Europe during the revolutions of 1989 led to a wave of euphoria in Europe. * In 1989 and 1990, new governments throughout Eastern Europe worked hard to scrap the old system and introduce the democratic procedures and market systems they believed would revitalize them, but the process was not simple or easy. -Most Eastern European countries had little or no experience with democratic systems. -Ethnic divisions reemerged with a vengeance. -The rapid conversion to market economies was painful. -The adoption of "shock therapy" austerity measures led to much suffering, with unemployment at 13% in Poland. * At the beginning of the 21st century, many of these states, esp. Poland and the Czech Republic were making successful transitions to free markets and democracy. -In Poland, Aleksander Kwasniewski, a former Communist, was elected president in November 1995, and pushed Poland toward a prosperous free market economy. -His successor, Kech Kaczyriski, emphasized the need to combine modernization with tradition. -In July 2010, Bronislaw Komorowski was elected president to succeed Kaczyriski, who had died in a plane crash in April. * In Czechoslovakia, Czechs and Slovaks disagreed over the makeup of the new state, but agreed to a peaceful division of the country. -On January 1, 1993, Czechoslovakia split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia. -Vaclav Havel was elected the 1st president of the new Czech Republic. * In Romania, president Traian Basescu lead the country to economic growth and the rise of the middle class. * Post-Cold war Eastern European states desired to join NATO and the EU (European Union), the two major institutions of the Western European unity. -In 1997, Poland, Czech Republic, and Hungary became members of NATO. -In 2004, 10 nations, including Hungary, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovenia, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania joined the EU. -Romania and Bulgaria joined in 2007. -Croatia joined in 2013. * Not everyone was convinced that integration was a good thing. -Eastern Europeans feared their countries would be dominated by investment from prosperous Western Europe. -Western Europeans were concerned about the influx of low-wage workers from Eastern Europe. * The global financial crisis of 2008 added to the economic problems of Eastern Europe.
Problems
* While the EU has been successful, problems still exist. -Some oppose it because it is not accountable to the people. -Many Europeans do not regard themselves as "Europeans" but are committed to national identity. -The European economic crisis exposed weaknesses of the EU. -Countries that use the euro do not have a unified monetary policy. -The European Central Bank does not serve all nations equally, as members of the Governing Council and the Executive Board tend to vote in favor of national interests, instead of pro-European interests. -Europeans will need to unify politically to solve their economic problems. -Although there are problems, EU members remain committed to the EU.
