Europe Today 7th Period
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EUROPE TODAY KEY TERMS

Ceausescu, Nicolae
Commonwealth of Independent States

détente Détente was an era of reduced tensions between the United States and the USSR under Brezhnev in the 1970's; because of the Soviet Union's decline in power, the US saw them as less threatening and became more willing to negotiate with them. Examples of defining moments of détente include SALT I and the following Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, Willy Brandt (chancellor of West Germany) and his Ostpolitik, or Eastward-looking politics of Non-Aggression with the USSR and eventual cooperation with East Germany, and the Helsinki Accords of 1975. —Connie

European Coal and Steel Community
European Economic Community
“Fortress Europe” (anti-immigration policies in Europe)

glastnost Glastnost was Gorbachev’s policy of “openness.” It allowed the public to access the formerly concealed and sometimes scarring truths of Soviet history and increased Gorbachev’s popularity on the international stage, especially in the United States. However, within the USSR, the uncovering of the atrocious crimes committed during the regimes of Stalin and Lenin shocked many citizens. Glastnost also motivated Eastern European countries to break away from the Soviet Union. -Grace

Helsinki Accords The Helsinki Accords were a set of agreements mainly concerning the US and the USSR signed by every single European country except Albania. In the Helsinki Accords, America agreed to recognize Soviet control over Eastern European countries (a statement that didn't really change anything, but like with horrible Christmas gifts, it was the thought that mattered), and the USSR agreed to recognize all human rights of the people in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, which was actually enforced by Helsinki Watch Groups, which monitored human rights violations, increasing the transparency behind the Iron Curtain for the West. —Connie

Honecker, Erich
John Paul II
Maastricht Treaty - The Maastricht Treaty, formed in 1992, solidified the European Community by renaming it the European Union, and beginning plans for a unified currency, the Euro. The euro would not be introduced until later. The treaty also created the three pillars the union, which are three branches of the EU government. - Hayes

Milosevic, Slobodan
perestroika
Putin, Vladimir
Reunification of Germany
SALT I
S.D.I. (aka “Star Wars”) - SDI, or the Strategic Defense Initiative, was a defense plan first implemnted by Ronald Reagan. It used a system of satellites that would use lasers to destroy missiles in mid-flight. It was nicknamed star wars, but never was put into functioning use until President Obamas term. - Hayes

Solidarity

Walesa, Lech Lech Walesa was the leader of Solidarity and the hero of the resistance movement in Poland. After the 1987 economic crisis and Jaruzelski’s referendum, Walesa organized peaceful demonstrations and negotiated for democratic elections. The government agreed to create a senate, and Solidarity won all 161 open seats. In 1990, Walesa became president of the first noncommunist government in the Soviet bloc, an event that inspired many other satellite states to revolt. -Grace

Thatcher, Margaret
Vatican II (Second Vatican Council)
Velvet Revolution
Havel, Vaclav
World Trade Organization
Yeltsin, Boris