Timeline: Soviet Union, China Timeline Judy & Joy

1976

Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai die

1978

Deng XiaoPing becomes leader of China

1978

Four Modernizations

1979

Soviet-Afghan War

December 1979 to February 1989

1985

Democratization

1985~1991

1985

Glasnost and Perestroika

1986

Chernobyl IU Incident

1986

The Explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant is not included in the book, why do you think it is not? How did it contribute to the collapse of of the Soviet Union?

Perhaps the editor did not think it has direct effect on the fall of Soviet Union.Before the incident, Gorbachev had been spreading the idea of glasnost, and when the incident happened, the people in the era believed him.According to Gorbachev, he stated that "'the explosion' made absolutely clear how important it was to continue the policy of glasnost." The incident might not be the most important reason for the Soviet Union to collapse, but it sure made people's thoughts change.

1987

US-Soviet INF Treaty

1989

Declaration of the Martial Laws

1989

In China, the Tiananmen Square massacre and the lack of political freedom is presented to the Chinese people as a trade-off for the economic growth in the 1990s. Do you think this was the correct path for the Chinese leaders to take?

We think it is a right policy to boost the economy first and then give people freedom after the economy because it would be harder to accomplish the goals the other way around with so many different voices. However, we don't think China did it the right way. We do not think running people over with tanks is the correct thing to do. One important factor of using this policy is to let people have high cohesion, and if you can't do that, don't use this policy.

1989

Tiananmen Square Protest

1989

Crackdown on protest

1989

Deng--Zemin

1990

Gorbachew New Leader of USSR

1990

lithuania independence

1991

How was the attempt coup of 1991 similar to how the Russian Empire collapsed in 1917?

the leaders were both kidnapped by the revolutionistsIn both events
the soldiers stood on their own by resisting to obey the government and slaughter the masses

1991

Lithuania January 1991 Events

1991

Kidnapping of Gorbachev Coup Attempt

1991

Should Gorbachev be held responsible for the collapse of the Soviet Union?

Gorbachev was responsible for the collapse of the Soviet empire to a point. He was beyond determined to reconstruct the country by installing more demonstrations. The introduction of reforms includes Perestroika and Glasnost, which rebuilt the Soviet economy and opened the government to any criticism. He did nothing to prevent the growth of solidarity, which allowed people to have more freedom of speech. With more freedom, there were more opportunities for people to overturn the government.