An American History

1072 ★ CHAPTER 27 From Triumph to Tragedy

would not intervene. The climactic

event took place on November 9 when

crowds breached the Berlin Wall,

which since 1961 had stood as the Cold

War’s most prominent symbol. One by

one, the region’s communist govern-

ments agreed to give up power. In 1990,

a reunified German nation absorbed

East Germany. The remarkably swift

and almost entirely peaceful collapse of

communism in eastern Europe became

known as the “velvet revolution.”

Meanwhile, the Soviet Union itself

slipped deeper and deeper into crisis.

Gorbachev’s attempts at economic

reform produced only chaos, and his

policy of political openness allowed

long- suppressed national and eth-

nic tensions to rise to the surface. In

August 1991, a group of military lead-

ers attempted to seize power to over-

turn the government’s plan to give

greater autonomy to the various parts

of the Soviet Union. Russian president

Boris Yeltsin mobilized crowds in Mos-

cow that restored Gorbachev to office.

Gorbachev then resigned from the

Communist Party, ending its eighty-

four- year rule. One after another, the republics of the Soviet Union declared

themselves sovereign states. At the end of 1991, the Soviet Union ceased to

exist; in its place were fifteen new independent nations.

The sudden and unexpected collapse of communism marked the end of

the Cold War and a stunning triumph for the United States and its allies. For

the first time since 1917, there existed a truly worldwide capitalist system. Even

China, while remaining under Communist Party rule, had already embarked

on market reforms and rushed to attract foreign investment. Other events sug-

gested that the 1990s would also be a “decade of democracy.” In 1990, South

Africa released Nelson Mandela, head of the African National Congress, from

prison. Four years later, as a result of the first democratic elections in the coun-

try’s history, Mandela became president, ending the system of state- sponsored

racial inequality, known as “apartheid,” and white minority government.

The Goddess of Democracy and Freedom, a
statue reminiscent of the Statue of Liberty, was
displayed by pro- democracy advocates during
the 1989 demonstrations in Beijing’s Tiananmen
Square. After allowing it to continue for two
months, the Chinese government sent troops to
crush the peaceful occupation of the square.