Collapse of Communism

By the late 1970's, Communism was in crisis in many parts of the world. The population of Communist China had almost doubled under the power of Mao Zedong, & the Chinese government was barely able to provide food for its people. Dissatisfactions with Communism in the Soviet controlled countries of Eastern Europe was growing.

The Soviet Union was confronted with serious economic problems, an unsatisfied middle class & many disappointments with the Communist political system. Many non-Russians resented the power of ethnic Russians and began to demand more control over their owns problems. Also, corruption was growing among the Communist party. In western Europe, Communist parties faced declining electoral support by the late 1970's

By the late 1980's most Communist countries had experienced long periods of very little or no economic growth. Centralized planning planning proved to be inefficient, & was behind with the development of new technologies. Most Communist countries was not able to compete economically with Japan and the industrial powers of the West.

The collapse of Communism also made the Berlin Wall fall. The Berlin Wall separated East and West Germany. East Germany was Communist. West Germany was capitalists. The tearing down of the Berlin Wall was more of a symbolic act, showing the fall of the Soviet Union and Communism. In order to be truly unified, the Germans felt that the Berlin wall needed to come down.