Collapse Of Soviet Union And End Of Warsaw Pact Flashcards
When had the Warsaw Pact been formed?
After the Western allies set up NATO
What did the Warsaw Pact formally establish?
That Europe was divided in two armed camps and the Warsaw Pact was seen as a threat to the democratic West during the Cold War
What was the Warsaw Pact also for the Soviet Union?
A means to co-ordinate forces to defend the communist East from any threat from the West
What was the Warsw Pact a symbol of?
Soviet dominance in Eastern Europe
How was Warsaw Pact useful for USSR?
To keep an eye on communist allies and force decisions on them. Warsaw Pact troops were those who kept Hungary and Czechoslovakia in line
When did it become impossible for the Warsaw Pact to survive?
Events of 1989 saw communist governments coming under pressure across East Europe
When did military co-operation between Warsaw pact states end?
Early 1990
When was Warsaw Pact formally dissolved?
July 1991
What did the break-up of the Warsaw Pact indicate?
. The division between West and East was gone
. Cold war was over and there were no longer two armed alliances across the ‘Iron Curtain’
. Iron curtain gone
. Confrontational politics that had almost led the powers to nuclear war were gone
How did the end of the Warsaw Pact allow satellite states to regain their independence?
They no longer had to follow policies created in Moscow, or run their economies to benefit the Soviet Union.
How many members of the Warsaw Pact abandoned communism when the pact was dissolved?
Every single one
What played a major role in the downfall of Gorbachev?
Losing control over satellite states
What did hard-line communists blame Gorbachev for?
Losing control of Eastern Europe and threatening Spviet security
When did Gorbachev’s position become even worse?
When the Baltic states of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia all delcared themselves independent of Soviet Union during 1990
What happened in August 1991?
Communist hardliners staged a coup against Gorbachev
