|
|
|
|

|

|
|
Visual History of the World
(CONTENTS)
|
|
|
The Contemporary World
1945 to the present
After World War II, a new
world order came into being in which two superpowers, the United
States and the Soviet Union, played the leading roles. Their
ideological differences led to the arms race of the Cold War and
fears of a global nuclear conflict. The rest of the world was also
drawn into the bipolar bloc system, and very few nations were able
to remain truly non-aligned. The East-West conflict came to an end
in 1990 with the collapse of the Soviet Union and the consequent
downfall of the Eastern Bloc. Since that time, the world has been
driven by the globalization of worldwide economic and political
systems. The world has, however, remained divided: The rich nations
of Europe, North America, and East Asia stand in contrast to the
developing nations of the Third World.

The first moon landing made science-fiction dreams reality in the
year 1969.
Space technology has made considerable progress as the search for
new
possibilities of using space continues.
|
|
|
|
The Soviet Union and its Successor
States
|
SINCE 1945
|
|
|
see also: United Nations member states -
Russian Federation,
Ukraine,Belarus,
Moldova,
Armenia,
Azerbaijan,
Georgia,
Estonia,
Latvia,
Lithuania,
Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan,
Tajikistan,
Turkmenistan,
Uzbekistan
|
|
After the Second World War, all of Eastern Europe came under the
influence of Stalin's totalitarian system, which led the Soviet Union
into the Cold War. The system was relaxed to a degree under his
successors, who were increasingly bound to a "collective leadership."
The party's claim to autocratic rule was not seriously questioned until
Gorbachev. In the turbulent years of 1989-1991, the structure of the
Eastern bloc crumbled, and then the Soviet Union itself collapsed,
disintegrating into a federation of autonomous states. While the Central
European countries sought bonds with Western Europe, autocratic
presidential regimes established themselves in most of the former Soviet
republics.
|
|
The Baltic States and the Caucasus
|
Since gaining independence the Baltic States turned toward the West,
establishing democratic structures and joining the European Union. Since
2003 Georgia has moved toward democracy.
|
|
Strong independence movements emerged in the Baltic States as early
as 1987, recalling the countries' traditions of independence after 1918.
In 1990, Lithuania and Latvia were the first Soviet republics to declare
their 2, 3
independence; violent coup attempts in both states by Moscow loyalists
were averted. In all three Baltic Soviet republics, the people voted for
independence in referendums, and independence became a reality for them
in the wake of the coup attempt against Gorbachev in August 1991.
The Baltic nations' transition to stable democratic conditions after the
Western model was made easier through membership in the United Nations
(1991) and the Council of Europe (1993-1995), as well as economic
assistance and cooperation treaties with the West.
The 1 withdrawal of
Soviet troops and border treaties with neighboring countries were
completed by 1994.

2 Demonstrators wave the Lithuanian flag in front of the parliament
building in Vilnius, January 9, 1991
|

3 A young man waving the Latvian flag during a demonstration demanding
independence from the Soviet Union, Riga, January 14, 1991
|

1 Soviet troops withdrawing from Lithuania, March 3, 1992
|
Latvia was the first Baltic country to apply for
4
membership in the European Union, on October 27,1995, and
8 Estonia and
Lithuania soon followed.
After strengthening their economies and
parliamentary systems, the three were among the ten new EU members on
May 1, 2004.
In the Caucasus, bloody fighting began as early as 1989 over the
5
Nagorno-Karabakh region, whose predominantly Armenian population
declared its independence from Azerbaijan in 1991.

4
Young Lithuanians celebrating their country's accession to the European
Union at a concert on the Cathedral Square in Vilnius, April 30, 2004
|

8
Tourists in the old town of Tallinn, capital of Estonia, 2001
|

5 Soviet forces on the border between Armenia
and Azerbaijan, January 22,
1990
|
In 1993 Armenia
invaded Azerbaijan in support of the enclave; the two CIS members
finally agreed to a cease-fire the next year. In Azerbaijan, the former
Communists, led by Heydar Aliyev, returned to power in 1993.
Nagorno-Karabakh elected its own president in 1997, although he is not
recognized by the Azerbaijani government and the situation remains
tense. Armenia and Azerbaijan both became members of the Council of
Europe in January 2001.
Ethnic tensions also rose to the surface in Georgia during 1989, when
Georgians and South Osse-tians clashed; the same year, Soviet troops
crushed pro-independence demonstrations in Tblisi.
The national opposition, led by 7 Zviad Gamsakhurdia, won the first multiparty
elections in 1990 and declared Georgia independent in 1991.
President Gamsakhurdia was deposed in January 1992 after heavy fighting
and the former Soviet foreign minister, 6
Eduard Shevardnadze, was elected as
his successor. Shevardnadze stabilized the economy with the earnings
from oil exports and contracts with the West, but he also consolidated
his own personal power through a presidential constitution. His regime
was characterized by repression and corruption. The peaceful
demonstrations of the people following manipulated parliamentary
elections on November 22, 2003, forced Shevardnadze to resign. New
elections held in January 2004 were won by the main opposition candidate
and leader of the United National Movement, Mikhail Saakashvili, who
then became president.
|

7 Zviad Gamsakhurdia, the first post-Soviet Georgian president
|

6
Eduard Shevardnadze, president
of Georgia, addressing the national
parliament, April 30, 2000
|
|
|
|
The Central Asian States
|
The former Soviet republics of Central Asia formed authoritarian
presidential regimes that combined modest economic reform with old
political elites.
|
|
Like their Caucasus counterparts, the former Soviet republics of
Central Asia experienced political turbulence after independence. They
all share a resurgent and often politicized Islamic base, whose radical
adherents gained access to weapons and propaganda material through the
uncontrolled borders of Afghanistan. The regimes of these states
exercised a virtual monopoly over political life in the state .
In Turkmenistan, Communist party head 9
Saparmurat Niyasov was elected
president and head of government in 1990 by the Communist Assembly, and
he increased his authority with a new constitution in 1992.
That year,
he was re-elected to the presidency unopposed. In 1999, Niyasov
appointed himself president for life.
Tajikistan became independent in 1991, and 12
Emomali Rahmonov assumed
power as head of state a year later.
He declared war on Islamists and
called on CIS troops to help against armed rebels in 1993-1994. After
Afghan-supported rebels gained control of a part of the country in 1996, Rahmonov concluded peace talks with them and even allowed them to
participate in the government in 1998.
A strong personality cult
supports the power of the president of Kazakhstan, an independent
state since 1990, and observers were unsurprised by his manipulated
re-election in 1999 with 97 percent of the vote.
Similarly improbable election victories and autocratic tendencies have
characterized the regimes of the other Central Asian states.
11 Nursultan
Nazarbayev, Kazakhstan's president since 1990, keeps his country
relatively stable through economic ties with the West, cordial political
relations with Russia and China, and the exploitation of the country's
15 oil and mineral reserves.

15 Oil production in Kazakhstan: drilling
platform in the Caspian Sea, 2005
In 2000, he assumed some lifelong powers.
President 10 Islam Karimov has held power in Uzbekistan since 1990, ruling
over the 14 predominantly Muslim population with an iron hand.

14
Uzbek Muslims praying in a mosque in
the capital city Tashkent, 2001
Uzbekistan provided bases for the American-led coalition during the
invasion of Afghanistan in 2001.
Kyrgyzstan, the smallest of the republics with perhaps 5 million
citizens, was run by President 13 Askar Akayev from
1990 to 200s and encouraged the development of a market economy.
In 1998
Kyrgyzstan became the first former Soviet republic to join the World
Trade Organization (WTO). After heavy fighting between government troops
and Islamist rebels in 1999, Akayev began a severe crackdown against
dissidents. In March 2005 he was forced to flee the country amid violent
anti-government protests. Opposition leader Kurmanbek Bakiyev then
became acting president ahead of fresh elections due in July.
|

9 Saparmurad Niyasov, president of the Central Asian Republic of
Turkmenistan, 1997
12
Emomali Rahmonov, the Tajik president, 1993
11 Nursultan
Nazarbayev
10
Islam Karimov, the authoritarian president of Uzbekistan since 1990
13 Askar Akayev, president of the Central Asian Republic of Kyrgyzstan
|
|
see also: United Nations member states -
Russian Federation,
Ukraine,Belarus,
Moldova,
Armenia,
Azerbaijan,
Georgia,
Estonia,
Latvia,
Lithuania,
Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan,
Tajikistan,
Turkmenistan,
Uzbekistan
|
|
|

|