History of Western Civilization - Free Paper Sample

Introduction

August 1980, a shipyard worker goes to the Lenin Shipyard canteen in Gdansk Poland. Trying to purchase the regular pork chop meal, he realizes there has been an over 80% increase in the price of the meal. He and his coworkers angrily down their tools declaring a strike. In two weeks, 1.5 million Polish workers down their tools in Solidarity. This seemingly innocuous move leads to the formation of the Solidarity trade union movement and inspires the Baltic nation of Estonia to fight for its independence. (Baker, 175-194)

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Solidarity Movement

The rise of the solidarity movement in Poland emboldened the Estonians to fight against the inequalities in their county brought by Soviet communism. Seeing how the Polish citizens were brazenly going against the Soviet Union showed the Estonians that fighting against its oppressors was a possibility. Estonia began her struggle for independence with the most important element of their fight being to expose the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact (1939-1941). This document signed by Stalin, then Soviet Union leader, contained secret protocols that allowed the USSR to use military force against her colonies and the ability to raid them if needed. The pact also contained clauses that allowed Hitler, then the German premiere, to raid Poland leading to the break out of the First World War (Kirby, 69-95). This pact existed for fifty years before Estonian politician Igor Ghazin exposed it publicly after obtaining archive documents from the USA, while the Soviet Union denied its existence. Finally, after political action and protests, the Russian Federation declared the pact void which led to the declaration of Estonia as an independent state in August 24th 1991 by the newly formed Russian federation chairman Boris Yeltsin. The abolishing of this pact also gave Lithuania, another member state of the Soviet Union, the confidence to push for her independence. After Lithuania came Latvia, finally Russia herself declared Independent was putting the last nail on the Soviet Union coffin.

The Invasion

During this tumultuous time, the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in the Middle East (1979). The invasion was to quell protests against the leadership in Afghanistan. Due to the cold war, the US stepped in to fund rebels fighting against the Soviet invasion, and they were called the Mujahedeen (Arabic for those engaged in the struggle). (Kirby, 69-95).A Holy war (Jihad) was declared by the Mujahedeen attracting fighters from all over the Middle East, among these fighters was a well-educated Saudi Arabian called Osama Bin Laden and a brutish thug named Abu Musab Al- Zarqawi.

After experiences in the war, both men formed their groups with Osama's group Al Qaeda launching global warfare against all the 'enemies" of Islam. Al Qaeda, led by Bin Laden, attacked the World Trade Centre in New York, September 11th 2001. This led to the US president declaring war against Iraq where Bin Laden had returned to after the Afghanistan, war changing the landscape of terrorism. The fight against Al Qaeda and the death of Bin Laden allowed Al Zarqawi's group ISIS ( Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) to thrive and involve itself in a civil war happening in Syria.

Conclusion

Thus, ISIS became one of the most brutal terror groups in modern history and started attacking Countries all across the globe in its efforts to create an Islamic state Worldwide (Warwick, 453). The fall of the Soviet Union and the US taking advantage of this to strengthen might be directly linked to the existence of global terror, the most pressing issue facing the modern world at the moment.

Works Cited

Barker, Colin. "Fear, laughter, and collective power: The making of solidarity at the Lenin Shipyard in Gdansk, Poland, August 1980." Passionate politics: Emotions and social movements (2001): 175-194.

Kirby, David. "Incorporation: The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact." The Baltic States. Palgrave Macmillan, London, 1996. 69-85.Warrick, Joby. Black flags: The rise of ISIS. Anchor, 2015.