COLLAPSE OF COLD WAR Flashcards
what happens at the end of the fall of the satellite states 1989
- november 1989 - velvet revolution, czechoslovakia
- december 1989 - malta summit
- december 1989 - uprising against communist dictator in romania
- january 1990 - ussr the only remaining communist of the estern bloc
list the events of the fall of the berlin wall
- anger growing towards east german government - lack of freedom & restrictions
- 1987 - pressure from usa to get rid of berlin wall
- 1988 - conert in east berlin 300,000 attendees
- august 1989 - after hungary opens border with austria, east german government tries to prevent people from going
- september 1989 - protests begin in liepzig, october - protests grow to 70000 people weekly (encouraged protests in berlin and east german cities)
- november 1989 - egone krenz discusses how to stop the people leaving via hungary. agree to open border on 10th november 9am
- 9th november - gunter schabowski held a press conference, made the mistake of opening the border too early
- many flocked to the crossings
- harald jager (crossing guard) decides to open gates
what happens at the middle of the fall of the satellite states 1989
- august 1989 - 1st non communist pm in poland since 1946
- september 1989 - hungary opens border with austria
- october 1989 - czechoslovakian and polish governments allow east germans to enter west embassies
- october 1989 - east german leader replaced
- 9th november 1989 - berlin wall comes down
what happens at the beginning of the fall of the satellite states 1989
- december 1988 - ideology should play less important part in soviet foreign policy
- march 1989 - sinatra doctrine
- april 1989 - troops leave hungary
- june 1989 - free elections in poland
list gorbachev’s summits and its outcomes
- november 1985 geneva - gorbachev and reagan meet for the first time
- october 1986 reykjavik - couldnt agree to give up sdi
- december 1987 washington - signed the inf treaty (first time actually destroy weapons)
- 1988 moscow - inf details resolved , reduction of warsaw troops, soviet forces leave afghanistan
1989 malta - gorbachev and bush, marking end of the cold war
1990 paris - cfe agreement signed, limits the non nuclear forces that warsaw pact and nato could have in europe
1991 moscow - start 1 signed (nuclear weapons reduced by a third)
why was sinatra doctrine necessary and what dangers were posed
necessary
- cost of arms in satellite states - contradicts glasnost
dangers
- loss of control
why was glasnost necessary and what dangers were posed
necessary
- people should not need to fear the state
- propaganda in the west
dangers
- reforms could lead to criticism of communism and government
- commuism could be overthrown, west could take over
why was perestroika necessary and what dangers were posed
necessary
- cold war draining the economy
- low standard of living was striking unrest
dangers
- economy worsened - not well executed /planned
- economy had been bad for 40yrs on tipping point
what was the sinatra doctrine
freedom od choice for ussr states to make their own decions - cancels brezhnev doctrine
list the opinions of gorbachev in the west and east
west
- nobel peace prize
- chamred us citizens
east
- giving away empire (not recieving anything back)
- went out to talk to the people 1985 - friendly and approachable
what did glasnost and perestroika mean
glasnost - openness, freedom of speech, greater democracy
perestroika - restructuring, reform of economy
List key events from Reagan’s presidency
- 1981 patco strike
- reaganomics - cut to public spending for schools, hospitals and massive tax benefits for businesses
- neoconservatism with thatcher
- 40% increase in military spending between 1981 and 1985
- evil empire speech 1983
- 1983 strategic defence initiative - missiles to shoot down any offensive nuclear weapons targeted at usa
- 1981 talk of intermediate range missiles - Brezhnev refused Reagans offer to remove all weapons from Europe if ussr does same
- 1983 usa invades Granada to crush communist forces taking over govt - Reagan doctrine to rollback spread of communism
- got Saudi Arabia to increase its oil production - led to Russias oil losing value, massive economic crisis for country
List key events from Gorbachevs premiership
- perestroika - added capitalist elements to ussr economy
- pressured chancellor of east Germany (Honecker) to give more freedom to east Berliners
- 1991 annouced end of ussr
- glasnost - liberalisation of politics in ussr and gave freedoms, less controlled press
- 1987 intermediate range nuclear forces r treaty with usa - banned all nuclear/conventional ballistic missiles (could travel 500-5000 miles) -> signalled end of arms race
- 1985 Reagan invited Gorbachev to meet in Geneva - invited to beach house (against rules), good relations
- February 1986 - democratisation and acceleration of economy policies, intention os solving money troubles of Russia, providing people with more choice of who they want in politburo
- Gorbachevs new policies had ripple effects throughout soviet sphere - difficult to reassert control over Warsaw pact states without resorting to military force
- 1989 ended invasion of Afghanistan, pulled our remaining oldsters
- December 1989 - Malta peace summit between bush and Gorbachev
How did communism collapse in Eastern Europe
- may 1989 - fence between Hungary and Austria is dismantled by Hungarian govt
- June 1989 - in poland solidarity wins majority in free elections
- September 1989 - East Germans on holiday in Hungary and Czechoslovakia refuse to return home, escape through Austria into west Germany
- October 1989 - Gorbachev visits east Germany, makes clear to Honecker he wouldn’t use red army to stop demonstrations in East German cities
- November 1989 - East German govt eases travel restrictions, march to Berlin Wall force guards to let them through and wall dismantled, velvet revolution in Czechoslovakia
- December 1989 - ceausescu overthrown/executed, huge demonstrations in Bulgaria against communist govt
- march 1990 - Latvia declares independence from ussr, other Baltic states follow
Negotiated revolutions 1989
- Poland - free elections and emergence of solidarity movement, first non communist leader is elected
- Hungary - move towards multi party democracy, communist party renames itself socialist party
- Bulgaria - free elections promised for June, huge demonstrations against communist govt
What was the impact of opening Berlin wall 9 November 1989
- Czechoslovakia - velvet revolution, govt opens borders with west
- Romania - short bloody revolution, execution of communist leader and elections
- Yugoslavia - political change leads to break up
- Albania - political and economic reform sparked
Why did communism end in Eastern Europe
External
- economic - west imposed technological trade embargoes to ussr since 1950s, ussr couldn’t compete with SDI
- political - Reagans hardline approach to communism, thatcher supported SDI
- Helsinki accords led to increased expectations/disappointment
Internal
- social - pope john Paul ii inspired Catholics in Eastern Europe (Poland), within satellite states there were widespread protests, few eastern European people embraced communism, disillusionment in Eastern Europe with communism
- political - communist regimes in 1980s were ruled by corrupt men, communism accused of being morally bankrupt, people spoke out against communism were still imprisoned in labour camps, Eastern Europe called empire by rape (created/maintained by force), growth in nationalisation in satellite states that challenged communism
- economic - people in Eastern Europe had low living wage and low wages, ussr was technologically backwards (1980 50000 pcs in ussr, 30 million pcs in usa), ussr economy stagnant since 1970s, poor economy eroded legitimacy of communist system, trade links with west during detente developed interest in capitalist free markets
- Gorbachev announced that countries should find own way to socialism
Who was Gorbachev under threat by
- No longer has mandate - no secure power base, no democratic basis to fall back on, new union treaty not liked by all and is president of a defunct USSR -> Yeltsin has a mandate
- Not liked by reformers or the communist hardliners - satisfies neither side
- June 1991 - Yeltsin becomes leader of new Russia
What happened in the coup of 18-19 August 1991
- 2 days before union treaty was to be enacted, USSR didn’t want this to happen - made last effort to make sure doesn’t happen
- Gorbachev on holiday in Crimea - little support for coup and collapses
- Yeltsin stops coup by rallying the crowds in Moscow - seen as hero and Gorbachev is sidelined -> Gorbachev resigns on 23 August
- communist party made illegal in Russia in august 1991
What were consequences of ussr coup
- 9 republics who voted to sign the treaty now refuse to implement it
- Gorbachev tries to draft new treaty - rejected by all republics
- 1991 - Ukraine hold referendum, now completely independent from Russia
- new federation created - CIS (commonwealth of independent states - made up of Ukraine, Russia and Belarus) established in December
- Late December - 8 more republics join (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kirghizstan, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan)
- December 1993 - Georgia joins finally
- This republic has no binding agreements (states do as they wish) - CIS is voluntary and essentially ‘ghost’ of USSR
List causes of Yugoslavia war
- funding from usa to tito (funding dictatorship against ussr) - after his death usa turns way
- devolution - federal systems in Yugoslavia, increasing ethnic nationalism
- failures/weakness of international community - un unable to actually defend Bosniaks (being ethnically cleansed)
- failure to understand situation in Yugoslavia - bush continually asks for summaries, 1992 Clinton re-examines policy that bush came up with which delays process of finding peace (more bosniaks killed every year)
List events of Yugoslavia war
- Yugoslavia created after German occupation -> Serbs, Croats, Bosnian Muslims, Albanians, Slovenes and others, comparatively relaxed communist regime (tensions between groups suppressed under leadership of Tito)
- Tito’s death 1980 war breaks - tensions re-emerged, more autonomy within Yugoslavia by nationalist groups, 1991 declarations of independence in Croatia and Slovenia -> Serb-dominated Yugoslav army lashed out in Slovenia then Croatia, thousands killed in latter conflict paused in 1992 under UN-monitored ceasefire
- conflict spreads - Bosnia (mix of Serbs, Muslims and Croats) tried for independence, bosnian Serbs (backed by Serbs elsewhere in Yugoslavia) resisted -> under leader Karadzic bloodshed threatened if Bosnian Muslims and Croats broke away, despite European blessing for move in 1992 referendum war started
- ethnic cleansing - Yugoslav army units (Bosnian Serb Army) took Serb-dominated territory, 1 million Bosnian Muslims/Croats driven from homes in ethnic cleansing, Serbs suffered too -> Sarajevo besieged and shelled, UN peacekeepers were ineffective
- imperfect peace - international peace efforts failed, UN humiliated, over 100,000 died -> war ended 1995, Nato bombed Bosnian Serbs and Muslim/Croat armies made gains on ground, US-brokered peace divided Bosnia into 2 entities (Bosnian Serb republic and a Muslim-Croat federation)
List causes of end of Cold War
- defeat of Soviet Union in Afghanistan - losing/making no progress, wasting money and resources -> 50,000 troops (by a few months 100,000 troops), 15000 soviet soldiers died, cost ussr $7.8 billion
- failure of communism in Eastern Europe - life appears better in the west, economic issues underpin political discontent, lack of consumer goods, totalitarianism (leaders leading for too long)
- soviet economic weakness - satellite states taken out big loans in 1970s from west during detente for consumer goods
- Gorbachev - glasnost/perestroika
- Reagan - neoconservative, good relationship with thatcher, hardline stance
What satellite state was most prosperous
- east Germany
- however unhappy that their counterparts in the west had higher standards of living
- could watch west German tv - turn aerials westwards in 1970s
Describe economy of east Germany
- borrowed heavily from west during 1970s-80s
- sed spending 9% of budget on armed forces -> 50000 border troops
- goods exported out of east Germany - led to shortages
- sold dissidents to the west to make money
