Homework Help RE:Reagan v Soviet Union

FreeRepublic ^ | 4/22/07 | self

[txroadkill]

Need some help with a Western Civ. paper I'm writing. It's over a book on the fall of the Soviet Union and it is really a Liberal piece of sh--- er, crap. It focuses on the economic ruin and corruption and completely discounts the Political roles of Reagan, Thatcher and Pope John Paul. In fact, it limits Reagan's contributions to one sentence stating that his "anti-communist speech did little to help things and caused the hardliners to move even further away from Glasnost". It's one of those "Socialism would have worked if it wasn't for the corrupt politicians" view points.

I've got a lot of good stuff on Reagan, Thatcher and even included the Pope's threat to resign and lead the Polish resistance if one Soviet tank crossed the boarder, but I'm about 600 words short so I'm looking for something else and a source to fill about any of the 3 or any other world leader I may have over looked.

Thanks!

[garylmoore]

Google isn’t as smart as FReepers

Bravo, good come back.

[redwhit]

Take a look at anything written by John Lewis Gaddis especially “The Cold War: A New History” for lighter reading (if you’re only 300 words short). For deeper and heavier Gaddis’ “We Now Know: Rethinking Cold War History” is great. For a military intro, try “The Cold War: A Military History” edited by Robert Cowley.” All should be fairly widely available.

Good luck

[txroadkill]

Thanks for the help All. I ended up going 300 words over and it was agony having to cut that much out. Not because I love my own writing, but because I had to cut so much of Reagan and Thatcher’s accomplishments.

I left the stuff I wrote about Pope John Paul II in, I’m not Catholic, but I think he doesn’t get as much credit as he should for the fall of Soviet communism. He was a very brave and committed leader and stood toe to toe with Brezhnev and never wavered. I loved the signs that were all over Poland that had the Soviet slogan, “The Party is for the People” and the Polish “vandals” added, “…but the people are for the Pope”.

Sad that so many in America take our freedom for granted. They have no concept of what it would be like to lose just a part of our freedoms and yet they look at our President who is trying to bring some of that freedom to millions around the world as evil and call him a Nazi.

[Draco]

Glad you followed up on the results. Let us know how the grade goes.

[SunkenCiv]

look for stuff about Reagan’s meeting with Gorbachev in, hmm, I think it was Iceland; for that matter, Carter’s boycott of the Moscow Olympics as a contrast with Reagan’s support for the resistance in Afghanistan. Reagan called the USSR an “evil empire”, brought largely symbolic battleships out of mothballs, supported the resistance in Nicaragua and Afghanistan (and for that matter, in eastern Europe, when he said, “tear down this wall!”), brought the hostages home from Iran, supported START rather than SALT II...