The Cold War Ends 1979-1990

Presidency of Ronald Reagan
1. Reagan pioneers the Strategic Defence Initiative (SDI) in an attempt to break the nuclear deadlock
  1. SDI may not increase Soviet arms spending, but serves to maintain it at current levels at least
2. With the rise of Gorbachev in 1985, Reagan is prepared to open negotiation with the USSR
  1. Thatcher - 'Here is a man we can do business with.'
3. 'Triumphalist' approach asserts it was Reagan's economic and foreign policy that won the Cold War
4. Staunch anti-communist approach in his first term contrasts with his more negotiable stance in his second
  1. Described the Soviet Union as 'the Evil Empire' in 1983
Premiership of Mikhail Gorbachev
1. Gorbachev offers a far more dynamic approach to contact with the West
  1. Premierships of Andropov and Chernenko were ineffective and highly conservative
  2. Meets with Reagan in Reykjavik, Malta and Washington for fruitful talks largely successful in calming tensions with the West
2. 'New Political Thinking' pioneers 'Perestroika' in an attempt to reconstruct the ailing Soviet economy
  1. Policy of 'Glasnost' attempts to democratise the Soviet Union
3. Abandons the Brezhnev Doctrine, and allows the governments of Eastern Europe to choose their own political paths
  1. Refuses to interfere in the overthrow of socialist governments in Poland, Hungary and Czechoslovakia
Economic decay of the Soviet Union
1. Inherent weakness of the command rather than demand Soviet economy in stark contrast to the more robust US economy
  1. Growth dropped from 6% in the 60s, to 3% in the 70s and finally to 2% in the early 80s
  2. Soviet economy fundamentally weak in producing new computer technologies
2. Cost of supporting the weak communist governments in Eastern Europe amounted to over $80 billion in the 1970s
3. Costs of maintaining the arms race during the 80s meant that Gorbachev was inclined to offer arms reduction deals with Reagan
Popular Uprising in Europe
1. Abandonment of the Brezhnev Doctrine by Gorbachev encourages the people of Eastern Europe to rise up
  1. Gorbachev's refusal to help governments of Honecker and Jaruzelski mean that many regimes are deposed relatively bloodlessly
  2. Gorbachev overestimates the strength of the communist regimes
  3. 1989 saw mass migration of East Germans to West Germany, as the borders of Hungary and Czechoslovakia began to open
    1. Pressure on East German government to open border with West culminates in the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1990
      1. German reunification in October 1990 marks huge shift in balance of power in Europe
2. Pope John Paul II influences the uprising of the Polish people under Lech Wałesa's Solidarity movement
  1. Election in 1989 brings liberal democracy to Poland under Solidarity
3. 'Moral Bankruptcy' of Marxist-Leninism undermines faith in socialism across Eastern Europe
Gaddis - 'At the beginning of 1989, the Soviet Union, its empire, its ideology - and therefore the Cold War itself - was a sandpile ready to slide.'

Next up

The Cold War Ends 1979-1990

Description

Resource summary

Similar

	Created by ChristianLowe over 10 years ago