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SS6H3: Explain conflict and change in Europe.
c. Explain how German reunification contributed to the collapse of the Soviet Union and
led to the end of the Cold War
Comic Strip Project (SUMMATIVE): Create a comic

series that shows how the reunification of Germany
led to the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Directions: You will create a main character who is living in Berlin following World War
II. Your character supports democracy and does not like communism. Create a 5 panel
comic strip using Canva. The criteria for each panel is listed below. After the criteria
there is a timeline of events. I have color coded where each panel's information can be
found by scrolling down.
Panel 1:: Have your character observe Premier Joseph Stalin (Soviet Union)
arrive at Berlin and begin building the Berlin Wall with communist supporters. Include
WHY they were building the wall.
Panel 2: Show your character observing the Berlin Airlift and describe WHY
it was happening.
.
Panel 3: Show that the Soviet Union was running out of money because of
excessive spending on the Arms Race (nuclear weapons) and the Space Race with the
United States. It was also spending excessive amounts of money on paying for
soldiers, repairs, attack dogs, and guarding their borders , etc.. This eventually led to
the Soviet Union going bankrupt.
Panel 4. Show your character helping break down the wall. Show that the
significance of the fall of the Berlin wall is that it was proof that the Soviet Union
no longer had the money or political power to continue the Cold War or support
its allies
PANEL 5. End the episode: Soviet-occupied East Germany, officially known as

the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was reunited with West Germany on October
3, 1990. This is known as "reunification." The reunification of Germany represented the
end of the Cold War, which meant the Soviet Union was no longer able to politically
unify its member states against the west. The Soviet Union collapsed a year later.
Timeline of the Cold War
● Beginning in 1945, the Cold War was a period of distrust and
misunderstanding between the Soviet Union and its former allie in the
west, the U.S.
● The Soviet Union was a communist country that believed a powerful central
government should control the economy as well as the government
● The U.S. believed that businesses should be privately owned
● After WWII, Soviet dictator Josef Stalin placed most of the Eastern European
countries, known as the Eastern Bloc, under communist control
● The U.S. led the Western Bloc countries
● The line separating the two was called the “Iron Curtain”
● Another problem of the Cold War was the division of Germany
● At the end of WWII, the Allies divided Germany into four sections to keep a
Nazi Germany from regaining power
● The United States, Great Britain, France each controlled Western Germany
and the Soviet Union controlled Eastern Germany.
● In 1948, the western allies wanted to reunite Germany but the Soviet Union
disagreed
● The Soviet Union declared their section of the country East Germany
(communist) and the remaining sections became West Germany
(democratic)
● Even the capital of Berlin in East Germany was divided into east and west
• In 1961, communist leader/dictator Joseph Stalin of the Soviet Union built

the Berlin Wall
• He wanted to separate the communist part of the city from the free
(democratic) sections of the city because too many of the communist
citizens were fleeing to West Berlin, the free part of the city. This was
known as the "Brain Drain''
• Berlin was divided into Eastern Berlin (which was communist and controlled
by the Soviet Union) and Western Berlin (which was democratic and
controlled by Britain, France, and the United States)
• In June 1948, the Soviets blockaded all land and water traffic into western
Berlin hoping to make Britain, France, and the United States leave the city.
(Remember Berlin was in East Germany which the Soviet Union occupied.)
• However, in response, NATO flew supplies into Berlin to help those in need.
This became known as the Berlin Airlift. It lasted for 15 months and delivered
more than 2.6 million tons of cargo.
•
• Space Race- Following the Second World War, the United States and the Soviet
Union competed to see who had the best technology in space. This included
events such as the first satellite to orbit Earth, the first human-crewed spacecraft
and the first person to walk on the Moon.
• Arms Race - During the Cold War the United States and the Soviet Union
became engaged in a nuclear arms race. They both spent billions and
billions of dollars trying to build up huge stockpiles of nuclear weapons.
Near the end of the Cold War the Soviet Union was spending around 27% of
its total gross national product on the military. This was crippling to their
economy and helped to bring an end to the Cold War.
• Many countries under communist rule (for example Belarus, Armenia, and
Czechoslovakia) tried to break away from the Soviet Union, but the Soviets
sent the military into these countries to keep them in line. It was VERY
costly trying to patrol the long borders!
• Countries created alliances were created to project themselves because they
were afraid of a nuclear war
• NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) was formed in n 1949, the

Western European (democratic) countries plus the U.S. and Canada
• Warsaw Pact - alliance signed by the Eastern Countries
• The countries were evenly matched

• The world took sides, communist or democracy, socialist or free market
• The Soviet Union influenced other communist countries and dictatorships
around the world
• The Soviets occupied the largest country in the world
● The Soviets had military and space technology, a worldwide spy network
(KGB) and one of the largest stockpiles of nuclear weapons in the world
● The United States was the 3rd largest country in the world and had the
largest navy. They also had powerful military support from NATO
● The Soviet Union was spending more and more of its money putting down
revolts within its country, protecting its borders, and keeping up with the
U.S. in the nuclear arms race
● By 1985, the Soviet Union's economy was so unstable that Mikhail

Gorbachev, the head of the Soviet Union, reduced government control of
business and increased freedoms for Soviet citizens
• These actions helped to improve relations with the U.S. and inspired people
in other Eastern Bloc countries to demand freedom for communist rule
• In November 1989, the Berlin Wall was torn down, and Germany began the
process of unifying (combining).
• People around the world celebrated
• The significance of the fall of the Berlin wall is that it was proof that the
Soviet Union no longer had the money or political power to continue the
Cold War or support its allies
● Without Soviet support, the East German government let go of their power. A
new government was elected and the reunification of Germany was official.
● East and West Germany were made one country in 1990. This is known as
the Reunification of Germany!
● The Cold War was over
● The Soviet Republics that had once been separate countries began seeking
their independence too.
● The Soviet Union collapsed and was no more!
● The main cause of the collapse of the Soviet Union is because they were
running out of money. The reunification of Germany was possible because
the Soviet Union began the struggle financially (Arms Race and Space
Race), which meant it lacked the resources to maintain control over other
states in Eastern Europe and could not control its large/many borders.
They were spending more money than what they had trying to keep up with
the U.S.
● The Soviet Union collapsed into 15 independent countries with Russian the
largest: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan,
Ukraine, and Uzbekistan.

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SS6H3: Explain conflict and change in Europe.

Comic Strip Project (SUMMATIVE): Create a comic

PANEL 5. End the episode: Soviet-occupied East Germany, officially known as

● Another problem of the Cold War was the division of Germany

• In 1961, communist leader/dictator Joseph Stalin of the Soviet Union built

• NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) was formed in n 1949, the

• Warsaw Pact - alliance signed by the Eastern Countries

• The countries were evenly matched

● By 1985, the Soviet Union's economy was so unstable that Mikhail

● The Soviet Union collapsed and was no more!

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