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  • Tag Archives: all about Ronald Reagan

    An Independent Country, Late 20th Century

    The Early 1990s

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    George H.W. Bush was elected president in 1989 after serving for two terms as Ronald Reagan’s vice president. Bush’s presidency was troubled by economic struggles at home and conflict abroad.

    Fun Facts

    • Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein sent 120,000 troops to Kuwait, a tiny, neighboring country. Western leaders feared another oil shortage or rising oil prices if Hussein gained control of Kuwait, a major oil supplier.
    • President Bush and his advisors formed a coalition with 28 nations to block trade with Iraq. They hoped that they could use economic sanctions to push Hussein to leave Kuwait. Hussain wasn’t going anywhere and the U.N. approved military efforts to remove Hussain by force. This effort was the Persian Gulf War.
    • In January, 1991, a U.S. led military force launched air strikes against Hussein. This effort became known as Operation Desert Storm. Most of Hussein’s air force was destroyed.
    • A month later, ground troops arrived and within days, Iraq surrendered. Fewer than 600 American soldiers had died and America celebrated this military victory.
    • Unfortunately, Hussein went back to Iraq still in power. He rebuilt his military and began building chemical and biological weapons.
    • During the late 1980s, Communism had crumbled in several Eastern European countries. In 1991, the Soviet Union collapsed, marking the end of Communism here. The region was divided into 15 independent republics, such as Lithuania. The world celebrated with these republics, many of whom had once been independent countries.

    Vocabulary:

    1. Dictator: a leader who rules with absolute power
    2. Air strike: a military assault achieved by fighter planes, missiles, and weapons
    3. Biological weapon: a weapon that causes harm by spreading bacteria or other toxins

    Questions and Answers:

    Question: What was the outcome of the Persian Gulf War?

    Answer:  The short-term outcome was that Kuwait was free and the region’s oil reserves were protected. Long-term, though, the Persian Gulf War probably increased Arab anger at Western involvement. Many American soldiers returned with serious physical and mental health problems caused by exposure to chemical weapons and trauma.

    Learn More

    Visit Scholastic to learn more about the Persian Gulf War.

    An Independent Country, Late 20th Century

    Foreign Affairs in the 1980s

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    Internationally, the early 1980s were a tough time for the U.S. Arab nations became increasingly opposed to Western interference and terrorists hijacked planes and bombed buildings to make their point. The late 1980s ushered in the end of Communism in several countries and the collapse of the Soviet Union, an event that seemed impossible just a few short years earlier.

    Fun Facts

    • Nixon and Carter had both attempted to improve relationships with the Soviet Union, but relationships soured when the Soviets invaded Afghanistan in 1979. Reagan called the Soviet Union the “evil empire.” He urged Congress to develop a defense system capable of destroying incoming missiles and build up the country’s arsenal of nuclear missiles.
    • Arab terrorists, angered at America’s support of Israel in Arab-Israeli conflicts, launched terrorist attacks that continue to be a problem today. For example, 40 people were killed in 1983 when the U.S. Embassy in Beirut was bombed. That same year, terrorists drove a truck loaded with bombs into U.S. Marine headquarters in Beirut, killing 241 Americans.
    • President Reagan wanted to help anti-communist guerillas (Contras) fighting in Nicaragua. Congress ordered a halt to all aid to the Contras. Some of Reagan’s top advisors, known as The Enterprise, hatched a secret scheme to get money for the Contras by selling arms to Iran. Although Reagan’s involvement in this scheme was never fully unraveled, when this plot became known, six members of the secret group were charged with minor crimes. This was known as the Iran-Contra Scandal and it made only a small dent in Reagan’s popularity.
    • Relations with the Soviet Union had been tense since after World War II, but the Cold War came to an end in the late 1980s. A new Russian leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, came to power and appeared willing to work with the U.S. Reagan and Gorbachev agreed to reduce their weapons.

    Vocabulary

    1. Hijack: to take control of a plane by force
    2. Scheme: a plan

    Questions and Answers

    Question: Was the wall in Berlin a real wall?

    Answer: Soviet leaders built the wall in 1961 to separate and contain Communist East Germany from West Germany, which was a democracy controlled by France, England, and the U.S. The wall was built over night and prevented anyone on the east side from escaping to the west. People were trapped. Some lost their jobs or couldn’t see their families who were on the west side of the wall. This wall was a literal symbol of the division between freedom and oppression.

     Mikhail Gorbachev increased liberties and freedom in the Soviet Union. His ideas spread to other Eastern European countries. These countries, including Poland, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, and Romania, overthrew their Communist governments and demanded democratic governments. In November, 1989, Germans tore down the Berlin Wall. Throughout Germany – and the Western world – people celebrated their freedom.

    Learn More

    Visit the BBC to learn more about the Berlin Wall.

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