Cold War: The collapse of Soviet control of Eastern Europe

Question 1

Summarise Gorbachev’s new thinking 1985 (The beginning of the END)?

Answer 1

1. Mikhail Gorbachev came to power in March 1985. He inherited a poor economy because of the Soviet War in Afghanistan lasting 10 years. He wanted to improve living standards for those in the USSR. He pushed for reforms to change the USSR’s government spending habits and allow a more open society.
2. Gorbachev thought the best way to solve economic problems was to rebuild economy from scratch. He argued it was necessary to for government to be more flexible and allow some private ownership of property and business.
3. He introduced the twin policies of Perestroika (economic restructuring) and Glasnost (openness & free speech)
4. Gorbachev wanted more openness to halt the constant falsification of government figures.
5. The powers of the KGB (secret police) were limited and criticism of government was permitted.

Question 2

How did Gorbachev try to save Soviet economy and relieve pressure from the huge investments on military?

Answer 2

Some ways Gorbachev tried to save the USSR was to:

• Reduce defense spending
• Avoid danger of nuclear war
• Not to interfere with the running of countries outside Soviet Union
• Realised USSR was bankrupt and could not afford arms race with USA
• Withdrew Soviet troops from Afghanistan
• Reduced Soviet aid worldwide (previously the USSR supported communist countries worldwide through COMECON)
• Sought détente to reduce spending on defence and to be able to borrow money

Question 3

READ OVER:

A quote of Gorbachev said in 1988:

Answer 3

We are not abandoning our convictions, our philosophy or traditions, nor do we urge anyone to abandon theirs.”

(Gorbachev speaking in 1988)

Question 4

How did GORBACHEV and BUSH become friends?

Answer 4

In 1985, Reagan invited President Bush to a meeting in Geneva. After discussing policy, Reagan invited Gorbachev to go with him to a beach house, which was strictly against rules. But Gorbachev went, and the two leaders spoke well over their time limit and came out with the news that they had planned more summits.

Question 5

What was the INF Treaty (Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces)? (19??)

Answer 5

In 1987 Gorbachev signed the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty with the USA, which banned all nuclear and conventional ballistic missiles that could travel between 500-5,000 miles. This was a revolutionary event, and signalled the end of the Cold War.

Question 6

What happened at the Malta Summit?

Answer 6

• In December 1989 at the Malta Peace Summit between the new US President Bush and Gorbachev, Gorbachev said, “I assure the President of the United States that I will never start a hot war
  against the USA.”
• In 1989 Gorbachev ended the Russian invasion of Afghanistan and pulled out all remaining soldiers. He pressured the chancellor of East Germany (Honecker) to give more freedom to East Berliners, which eventually led in 1989 to the collapse of the Berlin Wall.
• The Warsaw Pact dissolved, and was replaced by the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), with Russian Republic as dominant member.

Question 7

What was the Collapse of the Soviet Union?

Answer 7

In 1990 the three Baltic states, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, declared independence from the Soviet Union – these were not just Soviet satellites; they had been part of the USSR itself.

Question 8

How were People fed up with Gorbachev?

Answer 8

• Felt he had done too little to stop the fall of communism in Eastern Europe – saw this as an act of weakness
• The economic reforms, perestroika, he had introduced had had no immediate effect: still food shortages and rising prices
• Other Russians wanted the complete collapse of the communist system. In February 1990, 250,000 people demonstrated against the communists in Moscow. In the annual May Day parade in Moscow’s Red Square, Gorbachev was booed!
• In August 1991, hard-line communists led a coup against Gorbachev. They imprisoned him in his own dacha (country home) in the Crimea. To seemed as though the USSR was about to return to the bad old days, when reform movements were stamped out by the communists.
• Boris Yeltsin wanted to destroy Soviet communism and led a demonstration against the coup. He insisted that reform had to continue in order for Russia to be saved. Yeltsin was seen as hero who would save Russia from a slide back into communism repression. He was also seen as the man with the power.
• He formally ended the USSR in December 1991! Later in the same month, Gorbachev resigned as Soviet president (there was no longer a Soviet Union for him to be president for!). The communist red flag that flew over Kremlin was lowered for the last time.