Cold War Issue 6 Flashcards
Background
By the end of the 1970s the period of dentante had ended, and it looked as if the Cold War would reform, however small tensions had began to arise.
Factors
Role of Ronald Reagan, Role of Mikael Gorbachev, Satellite States & Poland, Afghanistan
LOA
……was a significant reason to why the cold war ended because …..
Role of Reagan (KU and A)
KU- Reagan was very anti-communism and made a speech in which he called SU an ‘evil empire’
A- Made relations worse for a while and began the thought of another Cold War where the Soviets knew that they did not have the resources to win
KU- Reagan sought out to test Soviet weaknesses and strengthen the west
A- He increased military spending in 1986 to $367bn to scare Soviets in their bad economy
KU- Reagan introduced a programme which improved US armed forces and prevented Soviet missiles hitting US
A- Terrified SU because it showed that Reagan was prepared to win a war
Role of Reagan (A+ and E)
A+- He could have caused a second Cold War because of his hostilities with USSR
E- He refused to give into the SU and instead exploited their weaknesses during USSR’s bad economy which showed USSR that they no longer had the resourced to fight
Role of Mikael Gorbachev (KU and A)
KU- Gorbachev realised the real cost that the was was having on Soviet economy
A- Gorbachev was not motivated by war and he wanted to make SU more self sufficient
KU- Gorbachev introduced a new policy of ‘Perestroika; which meant restructuring
A- Now satellites had their own governments and relied less on SU
Change in Satellite States and Poland (KU and A)
KU- Soviet troops left Poland and other Satellite states and multiparty elections were held.
A- Communism was no longer forced in Poland and the country was now democratic
KU- The Berlin wall collapsed on 9th Nov 1989
A- Showed that people were seeking the West’s capitalism and wanted rid of communism in the country
KU- In 1989, Czechoslovakian political prisoners were released
A- Showed that communism was deteriorating because people who disagreed with it were released
Change in Satellite States and Poland (A+ and E)
A+- Argued that id the Soviet Union had a stable economy then these new changes/collapse of communism in the satellite states would not have happened
E- Showed through media that Communism was failing to Capitalism
Afghanistan (KU and A)
KU- Russians invaded Afghanistan in 1979 where rebels used guerrilla tactics
A- They blew up Russian supply lines and transport - USSR was already weak.
KU- Russian morale was decreasing as over 20,000 soldiers had died
A- Soldiers feared to be posted and performed worse which led to the war lasting longer
Afghanistan (E)
E- Caused breakdown of the USSR military and soviet Union was no longer a world power
