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Showing results 11 – 17 of 17
Glossary Term – Person
Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Gorbachev (1931– ) was the general secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and, briefly, president of the Soviet Union. Gorbachev came to power as general secretary in 1985, following the death of Konstantin Chernenko. As the Soviet leader, Gorbachev implemented major political and economic reforms in an attempt to modernize and restructure the country. In 1989–1990, Gorbachev supported reform in the Soviet-bloc, and as Communist governments in eastern European countries began to collapse, Gorbachev agreed to the...
Teaching Resource
Bruised Egos, Battles, and Boycott: The 1980 Moscow Olympics
Background
Politics and sports have intermingled since the inception of the Olympic Games in Greece, but not until the 1980 Olympics did people fear that politics might destroy the Olympic movement and spirit. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the United States of America battled each other ideologically, economically, militarily, culturally, and politically in a very long Cold War that spanned more than forty years (1948–1991). In the midst of the Cold War, the two countries often met in sporting arenas around the world...