HIS 100 Module Three Activity Context Template
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Southern New Hampshire University *
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100-X3536
Subject
History
Date
Dec 6, 2023
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Pages
2
Uploaded by AmbassadorFlagKookabura40
HIS 100 Module Three Activity Template: Historical Context
Replace the bracketed text below with your responses.
Identify the topic you chose to explore:
•
I chose the Chernobyl nuclear accident to explore.
Describe the historical context surrounding your historical event.
•
At the time of the Chernobyl nuclear accident, Ukraine, was a part of the USSR. The USSR
encompassed 15 countries: Russia, Ukraine, Georgia, Belorussia, Uzbekistan, Armenia,
Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Latvia, Lithuania and
Estonia. (History, 2009) These countries followed the Communist political and economic model,
which emphasized replacing private property and a profit-based economy with public ownership
and communal control of major production and natural resources. (Dagger, 2022) This economic
position created tensions between the United States and its allies, because the US, and other
countries at the time, followed a capitalist economic model. (Office of the Historian, n.d.) Some
key players in this event include Mikhail Gorbachev, the General Secretary of the Communist
Party of the Soviet Union at the time of the disaster, and
Boris Scherbina, the Ukrainian Soviet
politician who was responsible for managing disaster relief. (History ,2022) This event could be
assumed to further escalate tensions as it wasn’t until Apri
l 28 that the USSR informed the world
of the nuclear disaster because the country of Sweden demanded an explanation after they
picked up higher radiation levels near their plant. (History, 2022)
Describe
a key historical figure or group’s participation in your historical event.
•
Mikhail Gorbachev, the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union at the
time of the disaster, ordered hundreds of thousands of people to aid in the clean-up response of
Chernobyl. These people included first responders such as fire fighters and labor workers, such
as miners to respond and aid to the clean-up efforts. (History, 2022)
Explain the key historical figure
or group’s
motivation to participate in your historical event.
•
After the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, the world was watching Ukraine and the USSR. The nuclear
disaster released an incredibly large amount of radiation into the atmosphere. If left ignored
and not disposed of properly, the USSR posed a dangerous risk to world’s nations.
Naturally, one
can assume Gorbachev would want to take charge and get ahead of this disaster quickly to
diffuse tensions.
Articulate how the historical context caused or influenced your chosen historical event.
-
Understanding the USSR’s role
and political climate prior before 1986 is essential to
understanding why the Chernobyl nuclear disaster happened. Earlier in the 20
th
century,
Ukrainian scientists were researching harnessing nuclear power for weapons. Following World
War II, the potential for nuclear weapons was realized and scientists began steadily working on
nuclear weapons for Russia. However, at the time, there was a lot of anti-nuclear propaganda in
Ukraine. Despite the antinuclear efforts, Soviet Union representatives told their citizens that
they needed to develop nuclear weapons to protect them. The Chernobyl plant was later built in
1977. After the Chernobyl disaster, some declassified KGB documents revealed that the power
plant was built with deficiencies that may lead to accidents. In other words, the USSR, to
develop nuclear weapons, contributed to the Chernobyl nuclear disaster by ignoring warnings
against nuclear power and not creating safe nuclear power plants. (Cheban, n.d.)
Explain how connecting your historical event and current event improves the understanding of
your topic.
•
The events of World War II led to the Soviet Union’s role in the nuclear arms
race. As a result of
their play for power, the Chernobyl power plant was hazardously not built to code and, from the
very start, dangerous to be a for its people and nation. In other words, the Soviet Union in its
attempt to establish itself as a larger world power, instead led to its own demise.
References
Cheban, O. (n.d.)
Ukraine and Soviet Nuclear History.
Wilson Center.
https://www.wilsoncenter.org/publication/ukraine-and-soviet-nuclear-history
Chernobyl. (April 28, 2022).
https://www.history.com/topics/1980s/chernobyl
Dagger, R. (August 17 2022).
Communism.
Britannica
.
https://www.britannica.com/topic/communism
U.S. - Soviet Relations (n.d.) Office of the Historian.
https://history.state.gov/milestones/1981-1988/u.s.-
soviet-relations
USSR established. (November 24 2009).
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/ussr-established
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