Zusammenfassung der Ressource
Why did the
Cold War end?
- PROTESTS IN EASTERN EUROPE
- Poland
- Solidarity was illegal trade union
group, made illegal in 1981 by
Jaruzelski who imposed martial law
- Had papal support from Pope John Paul II
- Made legal eventually in 1989 and
beat the communist party in free
elections, winning all but 1 seat
- Walesa elected as president of Poland in 1990
- East Germany
- East Germans could see changes
made in USSR- Glasnost, wanted
change in ideology
- Thousands fled to West
German embassy in Budapest,
stayed there and protested as could enter Hungary
- Eventually allowed entry to West
Berlin, trains given to transport
people through- people threw identity
cards at guards
- Still huge protests in Leipzig
in Germany, Honnecker
forced to resign
- Miscommunication with
government, Shabowski
unsure on when borders to
be opened- said
immediately
- people fled to borders, guards confused-
eventually opened borders to West
Germany:
- Honeckers successor, Egon Krenz allowed
wall to be dismantled by Berliners soon after
as a sign of reunification
- Hungary
- Romania
- ECONOMICS
- Reagan's Strategic Defence
Initiative put huge economic
pressure on USSR
- Reignited the arms race aiming to
outmanouvre the USSR
economically
- USSR and soviet bloc stagnating- no
money to develop technology, industry was
bad
- Gorbachev created 'Perestroika'-
privitisation of some industry- move
towards capitalism
- spending $40 billion a
year on Eastern Europe,
couldn't afford it anymore
- CHANGE IN IDEOLOGIES
- Gorbachev
- saw no point in carrying on war, came up with new
ideologies
- Glasnost- 'openess'- wanted people to voice
new ideas, freedom of speech
- Democratization- wanted free and
fair elections after all
- not part of the gerontocracy, actually had ideas
- Reagan
- staunch anti-communist
- developed a genuinely good
relationship with Gorbachev and
achieved many things with him
politically
- first US president to be
100% against nuclear
weapons
- End of Brezhnev and Reagan doctrines
- Reagan doctrine said they'd give aid to any
country where they're being persecuted by a
minority
- Didn't want to get involved anymore
- brezhnev doctrine said an attack on one
communist country was an attack on all and
would serve as an ally and support them in
resisting
- didn't want to get involved any more, no
more communist interfeerance
- Summits
- Geneva Summit 1985- Reagan and Gorby
- discussed SDI and both refused to
budge on arms race but they both
wanted peace
- Reykjavik Summit 1986- Reagan and Gorby
- human rights became a hot topic which
they started to agree on
- talks called off at last minute but the progress
they did make was enforced in the INF treaty-
intermediate range nuclear forces treaty
- Washington summit 1987- Reagan and Gorby
- Progress of START discussions, Strategic Defense
Initiative(SDI), Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty,
Afghanistan, the Iran–Iraq War
- Human rights, emigration, improvement in relationship
between the Soviet Union and the United States, arms
control
- Moscow Summit 1988- Reagan and Gorby
- finalized the Intermediate-Range Nuclear
Forces Treaty (INF) after the U.S. Senate's
ratification of the treaty in May 1988
- continued to discuss bilateral issues like
Central America, Southern Africa, the
Middle East and the pending withdrawal
of Soviet troops from Afghanistan.
Reagan and Gorbachev continued their
discussions on human rights.
- Malta Summit 1989- George W Bush and Gorby
- At a minimum, it marked the lessening
of tensions of that era, and signaled a
major turning point in East-West
relations. During the summit, Bush
expressed support for perestroika and
other reforms in the Communist bloc.
- No agreements were signed. main
purpose was to provide the United
States and the Soviet Union with an
opportunity to discuss the rapid
changes taking place in Europe with
the lifting of the Iron Curtain.The
summit is viewed by some observers as
the official end of the Cold War.