End of Cold War timeline

Question 1

1985 (March) Mikhail Gorbachev - After the brief tenure of Chernenko, Gorbachev becomes the General Secretary of the USSR. He inherits a number of problems, including:

Answer 1

• A renewed arms race that he could not afford, especially after SDI is announced
• Global overstretch: The USSR was propping up regimes across the Horn of Africa
• The Soviet economy was stagnating and desperately needed input from the West (total production of the USSR was just 37% of USA’s GNP).

Question 2

1985 (April) Nuclear Détente

Answer 2

Gorbachev stops increasing the number of SS-20s being installed in Eastern Europe and in October started to reduce the number.

Question 3

1986 Perestroika

Answer 3

Gorbachev begins the process of restructuring the Communist Party and the Soviet Economy to be more responsive to the needs of the people.

Question 4

1986 (Spring) Glasnost

Answer 4

Gorbachev eases censorship of the media and legalised foreign broadcasts –> The Soviet public was quickly exposed to the Chernobyl nuclear disaster and the Soviet failures in Afghanistan. Investigative journalists start to uncover state corruption and the atrocities of Stalin’s rule

Question 5

1987 Washington Summit

Answer 5

Gorbachev agrees to the NATO plan to withdraw all medium-term missiles on both sides of Europe.