African Independence

Africa had changed a lot in the 20 year period because there were many great leaders who were trying and working hard to lead their nation to freedom. One of the reasons that this was possible was because the people that were governing them were staring to lose power because of the 2 world wars.
Another reason that Africa had changed was because some changes were necessary such as boosting up the economy and trying to fix what the white people had ruined for them. One major driving force that led these people to their independence was their national pride.
There were a couple of leaders to help their country gain independence. Kwame Nkrumah helped Ghana gain independence. Like many great leaders, he had to be arrested a countless of times but he managed to accomplish many things this way.
Jomo Kenyatta was also another great leader. He helped his country gain independence which was named after him for recognition and being a hero.

Nelson Mandela and Apartheid

In South Africa there was a policy known as apartheid which was racial segregation by the government. Black people were not allowed to vote and were stripped from other rights that the white people had. This policy came from the white people who were a small percentage in South Africa.

Nelson Mandela was a great leader who was one of the people to end apartheid in South Africa. He had to go through jail and be imprisoned for 27 years to become president right after his release. Nelson Mandela fought hard. He believed in non-violence but he was tested and when he had to fight he fought hard. Nelson Mandela was arrested many times but the white people could never slow him down. This is why people admire him. Nelson Mandela never gave up and he freed his country almost single-handed.

Mikhail Gorbachev

The communist rulers in the Soviet Union were coming to an end when the leaders started getting older. The Communist Party had to choose someone else to take charge because the previous leader, Leonid Brezhnev had died. Mikhail Gorbachev was chosen to take over which is when he started to improve the Soviet Union. One of the things that Gorbachev did was put a Glasnost policy into action. Glasnost means openness which mean that Gorbachev encouraged other reformers to bring in ideas to improve the political and economic systems. Many Soviet citizens took advantage of this policy and started to complain about many things that they wished would be improved or fixed.
Another action that Gorbachev did was introduce the idea, Perestroika. Perestroika means economic restructuring. During this time Gorbachev started making changes to the economy and the way things work such making people put up small businesses in an effort to improve the economy.
Gorbachev also introduced a third new policy known as democratization. This was meant to loosen up the hold on the political system so that it can improve. This policy called for a new legislative body which allowed people to vote from a list of candidates instead of them being chosen by the communist party.

The Fall of communism

Communism in Soviet Union started to fall in 1991. Communism fell in Eastern Europe because people started to abandon dictatorial communism. Communism collapsed in Soviet Union because the economy started to go down and people started to get a sense of nationalism. Soviet Union was over.
The Berlin wall was torn down as a cause of the fall of communism. People wanted to tear down the Berlin Wall to form a democratic Germany. After it was torn down, Doctors and scientist' were able to go to east Germany.
The fall of communism changed many things around and affected many places and people. The fall of communism ended the cold war and people no longer had to worry about MAD. People who were farmers had to get better paying jobs and had to do more for themselves. Soviet Union split up into many countries each with their own flags.