11. End Of Cold War

Question 1

Role of Reagan (3)

Answer 1

• Initially Reagan denounced the USSR, used USA’s economic superiority to increase US military spending and announced the Star Wars Programme
• However when Gorbachev came to power and announced the end of the Brezhnev Doctrine, Reagan moved from a position of rollback to diplomacy and negotiated the 1987 Intermediate Nuclear Forces Treaty: a reduction in arms on both sides
• Reagan’s combination of bullying and negotiation was important in ending the Cold War

Question 2

Economic difficulties of both superpowers (3)

Answer 2

• the USA’s Star Wars Programme 1983 cost billions of dollars and before long the US economy was in difficultly
• As Moscow tried to keep up with US technological advances, the already crumbling Soviet economy came close to total collapse
• Both countries needed to reduce costs as a matter of urgency

Question 2

Why could the USSR not afford to spend money in order to keep up with US defence spending (6)

Answer 2

• Living standards were appallingly low
• There were significant levels of corruption within the Communist Party and as a result money was being wasted
• millions were on the verge of starvation because of the poor performance of the country’s agricultural sector
• Many of the USSR’s main industries were in dire need of modernisation
• technologically, the USSR was decades behind the west
• the war in Afghanistan was draining billions from the economy

Question 4

Glasnost meaning (4)

Answer 4

• Openness
• There would be freedom to debate
• Freedom of Media
• Freedom from governmental control

Question 5

Why did Gorbachev introduce his policies of glasnost and perestroika? (3)

Answer 5

• USSR had to change politically and economically to survive
• The first step was to end the arms race so that money could be invested in the Soviet economy
• Gorbachev also began to encourage his people to offer constructive criticism of the communist system as a way of helping it to modernise and improve

Question 6

Perestroika meaning

Answer 6

• Restructuring of the soviet economy through the introduction of more western-style policies

Question 7

What happened in 1988 and what did this mean ? (3)

Answer 7

• Gorbachev announced the end of the Brezhnev Doctrine
• There would be no attempt to hold countries back if they sought their freedom from the E Bloc
• To show that he meant what he said, Gorbachev began to withdraw soviet troops from Eastern Europe

Question 8

When did most countries break free ?

Answer 8

1989

Question 8

How else did Gorbachev ensure the survival of the USSR aside from economic reform ? (4)

Answer 8

• His economic reform would need to be preceded by huge cuts in defence spending
• Cuts in defence spending would require a better relationship with the west
• In 1986 He signalled a major change in Soviet foreign policy when he indicated the USSR’s desire to get rid of all nuclear weapons
• And his willingness to abandon previous Cold War Policies

Question 9

How did Reagan and Gorbachev reach agreement ? (3)

Answer 9

• They held a series of Summit meetings
• Both sides agreed to a reduction in weaponry
• in the 1987 INF treaty, which ensured the removal of nearly 4,000 nuclear warheads and the halting of the destruction of the weapons

Question 10

Which leaders met in 1989 and where ? (2)

Answer 10

• George H. Bush met Gorbachev in Malta in 1989 and both leaders declared that the Cold War was over
• In July 1991, the Warsaw Pact was dissolved, removing one of the key symbols of East-West divisions

Question 12

Result of the failed coup in August 1991 (3)

Answer 12

• The Communist Party was outlawed in Russia
• USSR ceased to exist
• all 15 member Republics had declared their independence (three of the largest states, Russia, the Ukraine and Belorussia, formed a new union called the Commonwealth of Independent States)

Question 13

What was the iconic event of the collapse of communism ?

Answer 13

• The fall of the Berlin Wall on 9th November 1989

Question 14

Two effects of Gorbachev’s policies from 1989-91 (4)

Answer 14

The end of the Cold War:

• He knew that the USSR couldn’t afford to keep up with US technological advances and knew economic reform in USSR would have to be preceded by huge cuts in defence spending, so the solution was to build a better relationship with the west.
• As a result Reagan and Gorbachev held a series of summit meetings and agreed the Intermediate Nuclear Forces Treaty of 1987 and the end of the Cold War in 1989

The collapse of communism in the Soviet Union:

• There was divide in USSR between those who wanted change and those who thought there was too much change.
• In August 1991 a coup of army hardliners failed, but within four months the USSR has fallen apart, communist control had ended with the outlawing of the Communist Party and Gorbachev had resigned