The collapse of Communism

Afghanistan
1. The Soviets invaded Afghanistan in December 1979
  1. Reasons for the invasion:
    1. Preserve the communist government in Afganistan
    2. The USSR was concerned about the Muslim revolution in Iran which could have spread to the USSR areas in Afghanistan
    3. Afghanistan is close to Western oil reserves - the soviets wanted to develop their interests here
  2. Consequences
    1. 1 million Afghans died
    2. 20,000 Red army soldiers died
    3. The USA became involved
      1. The USA secretly began to send large shipments of money, arms and equipment to Pakistan for the Mujahadin
      2. Carter was furious the invasion took place and withdrew the US out of the Moscow Olympics = tension between the superpowers
        And he refused to sign the SALT II that would have further limited the number of weapons
        Carter cut trade with the USSR
  3. Effects
    1. It had worsened the economic and political problems of the USSR
      1. The USSR was locked in a costly, unwinnable war
      2. The economy was weak with too much spending on the arms race and the war
      3. Brezhnev had reverted to Stalin's policy of repression - no constructive reform
Collapse of the USSR
1. February 1990 there was a huge demonstration in Moscow against the communist system
  1. Demanded freedom from the Soviet Union
2. In Dec. 1991 the President of the Russian republic formally ended the Soviet Union and also disbanded the Communist party
3. Gorbachev resigned as Soviet President as there was no longer a Soviet left to control
4. In 1991, East and West Germany were reunited to become Germany
Mikhail Gorbachev
1. Gorbachev became the new leader of the USSR in March 1985
2. He set about reforming the old Soviet system
  1. Perestroika
    1. Re-structuring the economy
    2. Changing some economic policies to allow more competition and more incentives to produce goods
      1. More socialist
  2. Glasnost
    1. Openness
    2. Openness in government. Gorbachev thought people should be allowed, within reason to say what they believe with more open debate
      1. Allowed free speech
3. He was a good leader because
  1. 1. He recognised the economy was failing
  2. 2. Improved foreign relations
    1. He accepted Reagan's invitation to meet with him in Geneva in Nov. 1985
    2. In 1987, after several meeting with Reagan, they signed the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces treaty which removed all medium range nuclear weapons from Europe
    3. Visited Washington in 1988
  3. 3. He set about reforms - perestroika and glasnost
  4. 4. Recognised the soviet public were unhappy
  5. 5. Wanted the USSR out of Afghanistan
Collapse in Eastern Europe
1. Poland
  1. Free elections in 1989
    1. Lech Walesa became first non-communist leader since 1945
2. East Germany
  1. 1000s fleeing every year
    1. Honecker's troops refused to fire on demonstrators, forcing him to bring about reforms
      1. Nov. 1989 Berlin Wall torn down
3. Czechoslovakia
  1. Nov. 1989 involved huge anti-communist demonstrations
    1. New leader - Havel allowed free elections
4. Hungary
  1. Communist leader accepted need for reforms including free elections
5. Romania
  1. In Dec. 1989 the unpopular communist leader and his wife were shot during a short bloody coup
6. Bulgaria
  1. The communist leader resigned in Nov. 1989 and free elections held in 1990
7. Baltic states
  1. 1990, they declared themselves independent of the Soviet Union
Solidarity in Poland
1. The formation of the first independent trade union in Poland
  1. Initiated by workers in Gdansk shipyard led by Lech Walesa
    1. 9.5 million members at its peak
2. Aims
  1. Free trade unions
  2. Right to strike
  3. Better standard of living
3. In 1980, the government conceded to all Solidarity demands because:
  1. 1. Large membership
  2. 2. Lech Walesa was very popular
  3. 3. Had the support of the Catholic church
4. Government reactions
  1. Brezhnev ordered 'training manoeuvres on the Polish border
  2. Walesa and 10,000 other Poles were imprisoned
  3. 150,000 members given 'preventative and cautionary talks'
  4. In 1981, the new leader declared Solidarity was illegal and set up martial law
The Berlin Wall
1. 9th November 1989, the East German government announced much greater freedom of travel for East German citizens, including crossing the border into West Germany

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